March 8, 2013: Malted drink brand Ovaltine which had presence in India many years ago is going to make a comeback. Twinings India, a subsidiary of UK based Associated British Foods will be re-launching the brand in India. Ovaltine was earlier owned by Norvatis, the food division of which was later acquired by Associated British Foods in 2002.
In India, Ovaltine would be competing against Horlicks and Bournvita and to an extent Nestle’s Milo. According to Ian Gowlette, Managing Director, Twinings India, “In the UK, Ovaltine is bigger than GSK’s Horlicks and the leading brand in the malted food category. Worldwide, our biggest competitor is Nestle’s Milo. Ovaltine addresses all age groups from kids to pregnant mothers and 50-plus adults”. Ovaltine has a good presence in countries like Brazil and Thailand apart from UK and has both white and brown variants in malted drinks category.
Twinings already has launched its brand of tea which is considered niche and the company is planning to position Ovaltine as a premium product as well which is healthy and tasty. It would be interesting to note if Ovaltine which is relatively a late entrant in the Indian malted drink market will be able to make a mark in the market which is completely dominated by Horlicks and Bournvita. These two brands command majority of the market share in India and it would be interesting to see how Twinings India breaks the clutter.
