Dr Reddy's, Nestle India to set up JV for nutraceuticals in India

HYDERABAD: Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has entered into a definitive agreement with Nestlé India Limited to set up a joint venture (JV) company with an eye on bringing innovative nutraceutial brands to consumers in India and other agreed territories.

The JV, which will be headquartered in India, is expected to become operational in the second quarter of financial year 2024-25.

It will bring together Nestle Health Science’s (NHSc) global range of nutritional health solutions as well as vitamins, minerals , herbals and supplements and the established commercial strengths of Dr Reddy’s in India, Dr Reddy’s said on Thursday.

The JV will leverage the capabilities and services of the Nestlé Group and Dr Reddy’s with select brands being licensed by the two players to the JV company.

While Nestlé Group will licence brands such as Nature’s Bounty, Osteo Bi-Flex, Ester-C, Resource High Protein, Optifast, Resource Diabetic, Peptamen, Resource Renal and Resource Dialysis to the JV, Dr Reddy’s will license brands like Rebalanz, Celevida, Antoxid, Kidrich-D3, Becozinc in the nutrition and OTC segments.

The JV will help the two partners combine their strengths and grow their complementary nutraceuticals portfolios in categories such as metabolic, hospital nutrition, general wellness, women’s health and child nutrition for consumers across India, it added.

Suresh Narayanan, chairman & managing director, Nestlé India, said, “This JV will allow us to bring our science-backed nutritional solutions to more people across the country and enable us to build a robust retail and distribution network to take our brands closer to consumers.”

Terming the JV as a novel approach, Dr Reddy’s CEO for branded markets (India & emerging markets) MV Ramana said it will leverage mutually complementary strengths of both parent companies to enable better access and affordability for consumers.