India’s VMS Kingpin. Except Everyone Forgets to Notice.

From Merck’s Lab Coat to P&G’s Distribution Machine

Let’s start with the pedigree. In 2018, Procter & Gamble — the $70 billion consumer goods behemoth — bought the international consumer healthcare arm of Merck KGaA for $4.2 billion USD. India’s piece of that pie: Merck Limited, rebranded as P&G Health Ltd. The company was then 140+ years old and had already been making vitamins, minerals, supplements (VMS), and specialty pharma since the 1920s.

Today, P&G Health owns the portfolio that your mother has been nagging you to drink since childhood: Neurobion (B-complex, the de facto standard for “feeling good”), Evion (vitamin E, for your skin that you refuse to care for), Seven Seas (fish oil, which tastes worse than it works), Livogen (iron supplement for when you can’t eat enough spinach), and Nasivion (nasal spray that clears your nose in 30 seconds, sold like candy). Together, they’ve captured roughly 51% market share in India’s VMS category — which, by the way, is growing at 7.8% annually and is now a ₹12,000+ crore market nationally. The category itself is accelerating. The company is complacent.

Post-acquisition, P&G has thrown distribution muscle at this portfolio. Rural coverage expanded to 20,000+ towns. Pharmacy reach hit 650,000+ outlets. The firm also pivoted from a “carrying and forwarding agents” model to direct distributorship in 2023 — a shift that hit margins briefly but is now showing dividends. FY25 (9-month) showed +8% sales growth and +27% PAT growth, except the quarter-on-quarter narrative is muddier: Q3’s 21% sales growth married to a -14.6% PAT drop feels like watching someone run uphill with a sandbag.

What Are They Actually Selling? And Why Does Everyone Trust Them?

P&G Health operates in one of the most predictable segments in pharmaceutical retail: preventive nutrition. The category is split roughly 70% into vitamins and minerals (B-complex, vitamin E, iron, calcium) and 30% into specialty pharma (nasal sprays, anti-diarrheal, pain relief). Unlike treatments, which require a doctor’s prescription, VMS products sit on pharmacy shelves and wait for consumers to self-diagnose a deficiency.

The moat here is entirely brand-driven. Your mother bought Neurobion because her mother bought Neurobion. Your doctor recommends Seven Seas post-liver issues because it’s the “safe” choice. Evion holds 22% market share in vitamin E — which is just… remarkable when you think about how many vitamin E manufacturers exist globally. The distribution network — 650,000+ retail outlets reaching 1.5 million+ end consumers annually — is what keeps smaller players like Himalaya and Nature’s Bounty at bay. P&G doesn’t innovate much in VMS; it distributes aggressively and advertises relentlessly.

Production happens at a single facility in Goa. The company discontinued injectable manufacturing in Sep 2023 — a strategic move to cut capex and outsource to contract manufacturers, freeing up ₹40+ crores in annual productivity. R&D spend is 0.4% of turnover. Operating leverage is substantial: OPM has held at 26–30% for four years straight.

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