Since acquiring Horlicks in 2020, Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) has made many tweaks to the brand. It expanded the portfolio into “high science” nutrition and shifted the brand narrative from “health food drinks” to “functional nutritional drinks” to meet evolving regulations. It has also tried to narrow the price gap between sachets and large packs to accelerate the upgradation journey for consumers and entered the ready-to-drink (RTD) segment with milkshakes in three variants – classic malt, chocolate, and kesar badam — towards the end of last year.
Earlier this month, HUL launched the ‘no guilty, only pleasure’ campaign for Horlicks targeting Gen Z buyers and the growing segment of on-the-go consumers. It also launched Horlicks Superfoods in two states with its proprietary NutriMax technology that helps in faster absorption of nutrients.
“I think we are in a time in which nutrition is actually a key trend. That’s what we are doubling down behind, which is to remind consumers of the nutritive benefits of Horlicks and Boost. And that’s our key focus,” Priya Nair, CEO & MD, HUL, said during the earnings call for the fourth quarter of FY26.
But brand growth has remained an area of concern. The market share of Horlicks has dwindled over the past decade. While it previously dominated the health food drink (HFD) category with over 50% of the market, intensifying competition and changing consumer preferences have seen its share adjust to 40-42%, say analysts.
“During the year, we increased penetration in our lifestyle nutrition segment, unlocking access while also strengthening market leadership. However, the category was impacted due to a decline in average household consumption,” HUL said in its FY25 annual report.
While the overall malt-based drinks category is not growing at the expected pace, if its interventions work, HUL can expect Horlicks’ consumption to go up by 1,000 basis points in the coming year, says Sachin Bobde, head of research, Monarch Networth Capital.
HUL’s interventions to revive the Horlicks brand have started showing results. In its Q4 FY26 earnings call the company mentioned that the lifestyle nutrition category is growing in double digits.
HUL did not respond to queries put forth by FE on Horlicks.
Charting a new course
While HUL’s interventions are timely and almost textbook in intent and execution, experts say they totally change the DNA of the brand.
Positioned as a health drink for kids and teenagers, Horlicks’ narrative has traditionally centered on mother-child relationship. Its message of making kids “taller, stronger, sharper” stuck with parents and the rows of empty Horlicks bottles on kitchen countertops holding staples and condiments bore testimony to its immense popularity.
If the brand steps too far away from its original personality, it runs the risk of alienating its diehard consumer, say analysts. As someone who has worked on Horlicks’strategy in an earlier stint, Rohit Ohri, founder, Ohriginal, says “guilt” was never in Horlicks’ vocabulary, and the brand stood for “pleasurable nourishment”. ‘Say ‘no guilty’and you import guilt into the conversation,” he says. “Worse, ‘only pleasure’ writes nutrition out of the headline, demoting the 40% less sugar and 10 nutrients to fine print.”
In any case, Horlicks has found it difficult to woo consumers with formats other than the original all-season malted drink, says Sandeep Goyal, managing director, Rediffusion Brand Solutions. A case in point is Horlicks biscuits, launched in the early 1990s as a brand extension, which never really took off. “The DNA of the brand is nourishment — care of a child by his mother. Formats other than the original haven’t worked for the brand,” says Goyal.
In fact, at the time when HUL acquired Horlicks, analysts had questioned if the brand would be a drag on its profitability. A major red flag was that the malt-based HFD category was already facing a noticeable slowdown in volume growth, with specialised pediatric nutrition alternatives emerging. Some analysts had also said that the brand’s original “make kids taller, stronger, sharper” promise was fading, forcing HUL into uncharted territory.
“RTD is a cold-chain, taste-led, beverage-occasion business. That is a food muscle, and HUL’s track record has been modest,”says Ohri, referring its 2024 move to walk away from the ice-cream business. “HUL is now attempting its most foods-native manoeuvre with the least foods-native DNA.”
Even as HUL doubles down on Horlicks, its parent is stepping away from the food business. Unilever carved out and merged its global food business with spice giant McCormick & Company in a nearly $45 billion deal, excluding its highly lucrative Indian food operations—that has Knorr, Hellmann’s, and Horlicks—from the global transaction.
The reason is not far to seek: HUL’s foods portfolio continues to be a strategic pillar in India, generating over `15,000 crore annually with strong double-digit margins.