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The Himalaya logo is a visual definition of its brand identity. The leaf that forms the crossbar of the letter H evokes the company's focus on herbal healthcare. The teal green represents proximity to nature, while the orange is evocative of warmth, vibrancy and commitment to caring. The Himalaya brand carries with it the promise of good health and wellbeing. Himalaya's history is one of innovation through research. Our quest to produce natural, safe and effective remedies has been driven by several factors: an enduring belief in the power of Ayurveda, a close observation of nature and the systematic application of primary research methods for validation and testing. We believe that the ideal healthcare system lies in the synergy between Ayurveda and modern science. It will be our constant endeavour to create innovative products that satisfy the health and personal care requirements of contemporary living.

The Beginnings . . . making of an Indian multinational

The Himalaya Drug Company was founded in 1930 by Mr M. Manal with a clear vision to bring Ayurveda to society in a contemporary form and to unravel the mystery behind the 5,000 year old system of medicine. This included referring to ancient ayurvedic texts, selecting indigenous herbs and subjecting the formulations to modern pharmacological, toxicological and safety tests to create new drugs and therapies. Eighty one years ago, on a visit to Burma, Mr Manal saw restless elephants being fed with a root to pacify them. The plant from which this was taken is Rauwolfia serpentine. Fascinated by the plant's effect on elephants, he had it scientifically evaluated. After extensive research, Serpina, the world's first antihypertensive drug, was launched in 1934. The legacy of researching nature forms the foundation of Himalaya's operations. Himalaya has pioneered the use of modern science to rediscover and validate

Ayurvedas secrets. Cutting edge technology is employed to create pharmaceutical-grade ayurvedic products. Today, these products have found acceptance with medical fraternities and serve the health and personal care needs of consumers in 82 countries His vision was to Put Ayurveda on par with modern medicine. Mr Meraj Manal, the son of founder, Mr M. Manal, is the current Chairman of Himalaya Global Holdings As a confirmation that Himalaya is dedicated to providing the highest quality and consistency in herbal care, the Company was awarded an ISO 9001:2000 certification in 2003. Since its inception, the company has focused on developing safe, natural and innovative remedies that will help people lead richer, healthier lives. Today, Himalaya products have been endorsed by 300,000 doctors around the globe and consumers in 71 countries rely on Himalaya for their health and personal care needs. Other than India, Himalaya has a strong presence in United States, Middle East, South East Asia, Europe and the CIS region. The Himalaya Drug Company (HDC) has eight international patents to its credit. HDC (The Himalaya Drug Company) has 4 lines of business under its umbrella 1. Consumer Products Division 2. Pharmaceutical Division 3. Animal Care 4. Baby Care The bustling Indian FMCG sector is worth over Rs 86,000 crore, growing at 15% and the potential that the space holds makes it an attractive avenue for businesses to enter. Himalaya has formulate popular drugs like Liv.52, Cystone and Serpina that made it a household name. However, 69 years after incorporation, in 1999 Himalaya turned to FMCG and today is an Rs 1,000 crore brand growing at 26% CAGR in India and 35% CAGR internationally.

Ravi Prasad, executive chairman, The Himalaya Drug Company is optimistic about the FMCG space. Reminiscing the decision to enter the space, Prasad says, "Global trends in personal care began to change in the 90s. Customers were going 'back-to-nature' and were demanding herbal and natural therapies. The general perception was that products containing herbal actives were gentler on skin and safer compared to chemical products. These evolving trends presented interesting opportunities for Himalaya," he says. The R&D strength that the company possessed, due to its pharmaceutical lineage, made the move to herbal personal products easy. Himalaya's first offering in the personal care space were personal care products under the brand Ayurvedic Concepts in 1999. Subsequently, the company has launched 63 products in personal care, nine in baby care and 66 in pharmaceuticals. The consumer product division contributes 40% to the company's turnover in India, while internationally the division contributes 55% to its kitty. In 2001, two years after entry into personal care, Himalaya undertook a massive rebranding exercise from changing the logo and product packaging to redoing the company's website. They have created the umbrella brand Himalaya Healthcare. Internationally Himalaya has been more successful as the 35% CAGR indicates. Some of the important markets for the brand abroad are US, Russia, South-East Asia and CIS countries among others. For Himalaya there was big competition this time around from Head & Shoulders, Pantene, Clearasil, Lakme, Nivea, Ponds and Garnier. According to Prasad, his products are now available in over 55 countries and International Market contributes between 20 per cent to 25 per cent to the company's turnover.

Location Starting off operations in Dehradun way back in the 1930s, the company later spread its wings to Mumbai and across the country. In 1975, the company set up an advanced manufacturing facility in Makali, Bangalore, India, which today houses the corporate headquarters. In 1991, the company relocated its R&D facility to Bangalore. Himalaya prides itself on being a completely research-oriented company. Indeed, it is this emphasis on R&D that allows Himalaya to produce safe, efficacious and consistent remedies using ayurvedic principles. The R&D department is focused on product development, quality control and standardization. All products are derived through rigorous research and produced in state-of-the art facilities. The products represent commitment to continuous investment in the best people, practices and technology. Himalaya does not support "Borrowed Science" or the practice of using published literature to substantiate efficacy claims. Each Himalaya product undergoes years of primary research and clinical trials before it reaches the market. The medicinal range of products carry the Himalayan hallmark of researching Ayurveda and capturing its benefits in formulations. Using modern research methodology and manufacturing practice, Himalaya has made available to people all over the world, an alternate method of treatment, which has no known side effects.

Production:
Himalaya produces quality polyherbal formulations. To monitor quality, many endangered herbs are grown by the Company on its farmland. The principles of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) are rigorously followed in the plant and the Company prides itself on being environment friendly. As part of the environment control system, it had installed a modern effluent treatment plant long before regulations mandated it. A high stress on quality, several quality circles and special project teams working on Total Quality Management (TQM) projects make quality a way of life in Himalaya. The manufacturing plant uses automatic, high-speed punching, coating and filling machines. The tablet

coating facility is one of the largest in India. The plant can produce nearly 5 billion tablets and 60 million bottles of liquids annually. This enables Himalaya to produce phytopharmaceuticals with uniform levels of batch-to batch consistency. This ensures that the customer gets the same high quality product regardless of where it is purchased

Himalaya entered into joint venture with a Mexican manufacturing company The Bangalore-based Himalaya Herbal Healthcare entered into a joint venture with a Mexican manufacturing company. The agreement is for manufacturing Himalaya's pharmaceutical range of herbal products and could be extended to the company's other products. the deal is to provide the technology for the manufacture of herbal medicines in South America and also look at co-marketing of the products," The facility caters to the Mexican and Brazilian markets initially and subsequently to the entire South America market., this is the first unit to manufacture Himalaya's products in North America and the third such unit outside the country. Himalaya has recently set up similar units to manufacture and market herbal and healthcare products in Egypt and Syria. According to the agreement, Himalaya will provide the know-how and expertise to set up the plant, to commission it and will also supply raw material for the manufacture of the herbal products. The company however, is not planning any financial investment in the project. The Rs 300-crore, closely held herbal healthcare company is looking for partners in other countries also for such on-shore projects. Himalaya currently has a presence in 56 countries. Most of its products are manufactured in the country and exported to its different markets.

Himalaya is also working on a new research and manufacturing facility "The new facility complies with international guidelines," In addition, the company is also working on a retail strategy. It has set up a chain of exclusive outlets and is also working on a 'shop in shop' concept. According to Mr Prasad, the company plans to expand its presence in the retail sector both in the country and overseas.

Himalaya Drug chalks out global expansion plans

The Himalaya Drug Company, the leading herbal healthcare company, which has recently moved its major operations from Delhi to Bangalore, has chalked out ambitious plans to go global with offshore manufacturing facilities in the US and Europe through transfer of technology. Towards this aim, the company has brought all its products under one unified global brand "Himalaya". In the run-up to make its presence strong and reach out to global customers, Himalaya has already set up offices in the US and UAE. It has also formed marketing joint ventures with leading healthcare companies in Africa, Europe and South America. Himalaya has already set up an offshore manufacturing unit which will commence production in UAE, which will initially produce seven of healthcare and personal care products, "they have transferred the know-how to a local pharmaceutical company in the UAE for manufacturing some of the products so as to eliminate transit delays in exports and minimize freight costs. This facility will take care of marketing our products in the entire Gulf region," According to Mr. Prasad, the global market for herbal healthcare is estimated at $50 billion. "While the potential is immense, India has a long way to go for promoting its brand of herbal (read Ayurveda) healthcare products as the country's entire share of this global market is not even $1 billion currently. Our global plan is to first promote the alternative system of medicine and its concepts by aggressively marketing our various products and build volumes to begin manufacturing in the respective geographic regions for reducing overheads, including freight and input costs'"

According to Mr S.M. Mitra, executive director, medical practitioners and consumers who earlier looked at the herbal system of healthcare as "alternative", are now beginning to integrate it into their mainstream system as "complementary." Liv.52, one of Himalaya's bestselling brands has already created history in international markets. It is the only Indian brand to have been approved by the Swiss Department of health care, Switzerland eight years ago. He said the company is looking at outsourcing some of the products from companies in Bangalore, who have adopted good manufacturing practices. With the largest tablet coating facility in the country, Himalaya manufactures over 10 million tablets per day, operating in two shifts in five days a week. It also claims that "for every one-third on a second, a Himalaya product is bought somewhere in the world." As part of its global initiatives, Himalaya plans to develop pharmaceutical grade speciality health and personal care products and expand global presence and direct participation in marketing. It also aims to conduct clinical research globally and select partners to cover broad distribution channels and transfer of technology.

Global

reach

After establishing a footprint across the globe from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria, from Guatemala to Poland, from Turkey to the US, from the UK to Venezuela and Zambia, Himalaya plans to be on the shelves of mainstream stores across South East Asia and the Far East in the next 2 years. With the launch of it's first 'store-in-store' at Watson's OUB Centre outlet in Singapore in May, Himalaya became the first Indian brand to have a mainstream presence in the herbal healthcare space. Watson's was chosen as it was among one of the most visited, personal care stores in Singapore. It is also the first brand to be invited to open an exclusive outlet in Kuala Lumpur Commercial Centre, the most prestigious shopping mall in the city. Himalaya enjoys pride of place among brands like Gucci, L'Oreal, Christian Dior and Kenzo outlets. Himalaya plans to enter Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, the Far East, Europe and Latin America. Himalaya has filed 17 global patents for its pharma and personal care products and has applied for permission from the Health Sciences Authority to put stickers on its products, stating they are safe. The company is also planning a

Rs165 crore campus on 200 acres of land in Bidadi, an hour away from Bangalore, where it plans to set up an R&D centre in Phase I, followed by an Export Oriented Unit in Phase II.

Himalaya zooms in on herbals market in CIS

The Himalaya Drug Company intends to capitalize on the growing market in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) which holds a lot of potential for the herbal healthcare industry. A sizeable share of Himalaya's export earnings come from the CIS markets. Now the company plans to introduce its skin care and hair care products followed by its baby care range in the Russian market. "We have already created a strong brand recall for our therapeutic range and will leverage this to expand our presence in the competitive personal care segment, Ravi Prasad, president & CEO, The Himalaya Drug Company said in an email interview. Amongst the CIS countries Himalaya is present in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. It is looking to deepen its presence in these markets and create a significant niche in this entire region. At present, the export sales figure stands at 20 per cent of the total earnings (which were not disclosed) and this is expected to grow significantly by next year. We are looking at a 20-25 per cent growth in exports, stated The Himalaya Drug Company chief. The company exports quite a few of its products to the CIS. At least 25 products from its therapeutic, wellness and personal care range are marketed in these countries, including multi ingredient pharmaceuticals and pure herbs (single ingredient capsules). Its flagship product Liv 52 is doing phenomenally well in the Russian market and is a household name. Both general practitioners and specialists eagerly prescribe the product. Tuberculosis specialists recommend Liv.52 to protect the liver from anti-tuberculosis drug toxicity. The high efficacy of Liv.52 is supported by studies conducted in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Moscow Medical Academy, Scientific Research Phthisiopulmonology Institute. Cystone, another Himalaya product, is equally popular in Russia. It is mainly

used for the treatment of urolithiasis and inflammatory diseases of the urinary tract. Cystone is the leader among herbal formulations prescribed for these conditions. The success of our therapeutic range has worked as a catalyst for us and we are now looking to introduce more products in this market, he informed.

Organisation structure:
The human resources policy at the company is committed to create a congenial working atmosphere, which facilitates the overall development of the individual and the organisation by providing continuous learning opportunities, thereby achieving the individual and organisational goals. The company has a performance-linked model for its employees where each individual sets his goals / key result areas for the year in the beginning of the year, which is evaluated at the end of the financial year. "Based on the results achieved, employees will be rewarded. Every employee is assessed by his immediate superior and further by his departmental head on a one to one interaction session to know and understand the strength and the areas of improvement required, Attrition rate at Himalaya is between 10 and 11 per cent, which is well within the industry average. The attrition rate is only at the executive level and this is due to pursuing further studies or getting jobs outside Karnataka. Attrition rate at workforce level is nil." Himalaya retains its workforce by giving freedom to its employees to experiment. This includes freedom to decision-making and empowering employees in their respective areas.