told Inside Retail. “The vitamins and supplements market in Australia is worth about $2.5 billion, whereas in India, the total addressable market is about $1 billion; it’s about half the size of the Australian market. And it’s growing very quickly, he said.  “The Indian market is also predisposed to what we do because they’ve had centuries of practice. Traditional medicine is very important and those who are in the rising middle class are looking for alternatives in international brands, and Australian brands feature very prominently in their consideration.” In Southeast Asian markets, Symington said household penetration of vitamins remains quite low in comparison to Australia, where household penetration is at 70 per cent, presenting a big opportunity for the brand.   “Even though they’re predisposed to products, household penetration is less than 40 per cent in India, it’s around 25 per cent for products like ours. There’s a big category development opportunity where we can get consumers to trade up from local brands and local remedies to brands like Blackmores and drive household penetration,” he said.  Partnership with Amazon The expansion is supported by a partnership with Amazon India and other major e-commerce platforms before expansion to traditional retail in key cities.  Symington said the e-commerce giant’s knowledge and experience in these markets has made it a much easier process.  “Amazon has reach into all states and provinces in India. In terms of driving awareness and access to products, e-commerce is the only viable option when entering into emerging markets,” he  said.  “In the past, you would line up with a distributor, you’d have to go store by store, use wholesalers, and you [would] quickly lose control of distribution. In particular, with premium, health-related products, we need to be really careful that we have certain control over where those products are going and how they are being managed.” Blackmores has launched in India with six products, tailored to suit the lifestyle and dietary preferences of local consumers, with more to be rolled out in the coming months. The initial range focuses on vitamin D for bone strength, Glucosogreen for joint health and CoQ10 for heart health.  “We’re matching up the health benefits and the local consumer needs to make sure that we’ve got the right products. It would be pointless sending products which may work in Australia but they are either too expensive or there’s not enough education in the market on those products. We think we’ve landed on the right assortment,” Symington said.  Currently, Blackmores operates in 12 other markets across Asia-Pacific, with China being the brand’s strongest performer, followed by fast-growing Indonesia.  “China continues to be an important market for us, even with the geopolitical situation we’ve been able to maintain a fairly steady and growing business in China. Chinese consumers are still very interested in the high quality, natural supplements that we offer, and the cross border e-commerce platforms that we sell through is really the marketplace for international brands,” Symington said.  “The Indonesia business has really grown very fast in the last three or four years. This is our fifth year in Indonesia, but already Indonesia is about the same size as our business in Thailand, which we’ve been in for 30 years.” Blackmores is also growing its presence in Vietnam, where it has a stable infant formula business and a burgeoning vitamin business, as well as in the Philippines.