Health enthusiasts interested in gaining muscle know the value of protein supplements. However, whey protein isolates made from milk are also beneficial for other reasons: recovering from injury, adding extra protein to a vegetarian’s diet, and even as a means of losing weight. Recognizing that protein supplements are a thriving industry, anish garg Y Namrata Agarval launched based in Delhi in 2019 to provide high quality products.
“We wanted to offer good nutrition to consumers at affordable prices. We understood that there was a gap in the market for a trusted Indian brand committed to delivering the nutrition declared on the product packaging. So we started Abbzorb to make sure that consumers can trust Indian products backed by results from internationally accredited independent labs,” the founders explain in a conversation with YS weekend.
Anish Garg, co-founder of Abbzorb
the backdrop
Anish obtained an MBA in finance from Moore College, USA. He then became one of the Directors of Business Development for Continental Milkose, which has brought on board a number of major institutional clients from the FMCG sector, including Hindustan Unilever, Nestle India, Dabur and Aimia. He also has extensive industry experience in the field of nutraceuticals, ingredients and co-manufacturing.
Meanwhile, Namrata, who has a bachelor’s degree in biology, handles the company’s financial and administrative functions.
After about a year of research to prepare authentic and cost-effective supplement formulations, Abbzorb began manufacturing their proteins based on whey and derivatives of amino acids such as creatine, BCAAs and glutamine. To do this, they hired an in-house research team to develop products in their laboratories, which are also equipped for testing and analysis.
“A few years ago, there was a lot of manipulation going on in the supplement market, many of which were being adulterated. This led to many problems, not only health problems, but also a decrease in the confidence of customers who became suspicious of dietary supplements, believing that they were not good for health”, shares Anish.
To this, Namrata adds: “The reality, however, is that whey protein is one of the best sources of protein, as it offers high bioavailability and contains all nine essential amino acids extracted from cow’s milk. It is completely natural and can be consumed by everyone, once its authenticity is assured, which is the hallmark of our brand”.
The founders support this claim through a verification mechanism followed by quality reports from NABL affiliated laboratories. Plus, their diverse team of dedicated nutritionists, athletes, product experts, and customer service officers are ready to provide inclusive support for all inquiries.
what’s on offer
Abbzorb launched with twelve products including whey protein, mass gainers, whey protein isolate, and creatine, among other offerings, in its first year. Each of their health supplements addresses the three pillars of performance, quality, and taste.
“We strive to bridge the gap between the consumer and the product manufacturing process. We do this by providing test reports that are accessible to all, detailed ingredient and nutritional lists, and drastically reducing the use of additives. We stay true to our initial concept of delivering only the best to the customer, with no curtains between the product and them. Our team is constantly brainstorming product development to increase consumer reliability. All of our products have a verification method that can be used to identify our genuine range. Each batch comes with an individual lab report,” says Anish.
The team consists of a food technologist, a dairy technologist, a nutritionist, and a three-stage sensory panel with a broad spectrum of application, raw material, nutrition, and health knowledge. They work in a state-of-the-art research and development laboratory as well as a controlled atmosphere manufacturing facility to ensure minimal nutritional losses and effective product bioavailability.
Abbzorb products are sold exclusively online to reduce the chances of product fortification in the offline market. They can be purchased from their website, as well as at Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal and soon Nykaa too.
Prices start from Rs 299 for their 500ml bottle of raw apple cider vinegar and go up to Rs 4499 for their 1kg pack of whey isolate chocolate. They also sell merchandise including t-shirts, gym bags, shakers and more. These are reasonably priced and range from Rs 199 for an Abbzorb shaker bottle with mixing ball to Rs 399 for their t-shirts.
Whey protein chocolate is their most popular product. The offer of ultra-filtered and fast-absorbing whey protein isolate and concentrate 26.22 grams of protein per tablespoon. Each serving of Abbzorb Whey Protein contains 66 mg of digestive enzymes to aid in the easy absorption of protein. In addition, their products do not contain added sugars or soy protein, or preservatives.
The zero carb promise helps consumers gain lean muscle and support muscle recovery. Plus, each serving of Abbzorb delivers more 7.5 grams of naturally occurring branched chain amino acids Y 129 kcal of energywhich is required for intense workouts as it is effective in muscle gain and protein synthesis.
Growth and future plans
According to a report published on mordorintelligence.com, the Indian whey protein market is expected to register a CAGR of 11% during the period 2019-2024. India is one of the fastest developing nations in this segment globally, which puts Abbzorb in a promising spot.
They started the business with Rs 50 lakh as investment and since then they have recorded impressive growth. In fiscal year 2020-21, they grew by 346 percent on Abbzorb.com, 111 percent on Amazon, and 265 percent on Flipkart. His rate of returning customers is 50 percent.
Its direct competitors include brands like GNC, Musclblaze, Nutrabay AS-IT-IS and Myprotein, but Anish feels they are in a category of their own, due to their transparency and affordability.
Namrata says: “We would like to scale by tapping into new audiences/markets and would like to offer our range of products to all those consumers who have not tried Abbzorb. We are going to increase our spending on marketing to achieve this.”
Anish highlights his future plans: “We are not planning to open any physical stores as of now, but we might explore the idea in the future. For the time being, however, we are eager to enlist an eminent personality as our brand ambassador to instill even more confidence among our consumers. We hope to get a rush of new consumers this way.”
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