Abbott Healthcare Pvt Ltd, the Indian arm of the American healthcare player, Abbott Labs, will modify its nutrition products to suit Indian tastes. The company will conduct research for the same at its R&D centre in Bangalore and develop products with flavours suitable to the local market.

The company will initially manufacture six nutrition products at its newly inaugurated Jhagadia facility in Gujarat. The company has started production of its first nutrition product in India, PediaSure, in the kesar badam (saffron-almond) flavour.

John Landgraf, Executive Vice-President, Global Nutrition, Abbott, said, "The product taste is designed to suit the Indian market. The Indian market is significantly big, hence, we will cater to the local market first and not consider exports from this plant at present."

Speaking to the media after the inauguration, Amal Kelshikar, Country Head and General Manager, Abbott Nutrition, said the blended category of India's nutrition products market is growing at around 11 per cent annually. The blended segment is estimated at around Rs 5,100 crore. However, the market being fragmented, the exact figures have not been documented so far.

Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel inaugurated the company's Rs 450-crore facility here on Thursday. The facility, with a manufacturing capacity of 40 million pounds of products annually, will provide employment to more than 400 people.

The Jhagadia plant will manufacture high-quality nutritional products such as Similac for infants, PediaSure, a nutrition brand for toddlers, Ensure for adult nutrition, Mama’s Best for expectant and breastfeeding moms, and Glucerna, nutrition for people with diabetes.

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