HUL takes Horlicks into protein shakes and powders to target India’s mainstream nutrition market
HUL is testing ready-to-drink Horlicks Protein shakes and expanding its powder range, initially targeting urban consumers. The ₹120 shake and roughly ₹83-per-serving powder play aims to use Horlicks’ mass nutrition equity and HUL’s distribution to grow beyond India’s still-small protein-consumer base.
What happened
Hindustan Unilever · HUL is testing Horlicks Protein ready-to-drink shakes and recently expanded into powders, targeting India’s underpenetrated mainstream
Key facts
- HUL foods revenue: ₹14,061 crore in FY26
- Foods share of HUL revenue: 22%
- Horlicks annual revenue: over ₹2,000 crore in 2023
- Protein powder sachet price: about ₹83 per serving
- Ready-to-drink protein shake price: ₹120
- Indian households consuming protein products: about 3%
- India whey protein market: $178.45 million in 2025; projected $221.98 million by 2031
- India protein supplements market: $912.9 million in 2025; projected $1.58 billion by 2034
- HUL Q1FY27 price hikes: 5%
- HUL Q4FY27 volume growth: 6%
- HUL Q1FY27 revenue: ₹17,341 crore, up 10% YoY
Why this matters
HUL’s move signals that established FMCG nutrition brands are targeting protein whitespace, increasing the strategic value of differentiated formulations, functional-beverage capabilities, and distribution-ready nutrition assets.
What to watch
- Repeat purchase and subscription rates for the ₹120 RTD shake after initial sampling periods.
- Expansion from pilot urban markets into general trade, tier-2 cities, and HUL's rural distribution network.
- Evidence of cannibalization versus incrementality within Horlicks and other HUL nutrition beverages.
- Changes in pack sizes, introductory discounts, or effective per-serving prices, which would signal demand elasticity or margin pressure.
- Competitor launches of affordable protein RTDs, sachets, family packs, or mass-media campaigns framing protein as daily nutrition.
- Consumer response to taste, satiety, sugar content, protein quantity, and digestive tolerance in reviews and retailer feedback.
- Modern-trade shelf placement and refrigerator availability, which will materially affect RTD velocity.
- Expand distribution first through urban supermarkets, chemists, e-commerce, office-adjacent stores, and high-frequency convenience channels before a broader general-trade rollout.
- Use Horlicks' existing family-health equity to create distinct consumption occasions: breakfast replacement, post-work fatigue, school-age nutrition, and healthy snacking rather than gym-only usage.
- Prioritize sampling, bundle offers, and multipacks to convert single-serve experimentation into repeat purchase and measure whether RTD buyers subsequently adopt powder formats.
- Benchmark protein grams, sugar, calories, and price per gram against milk-based drinks, whey products, and incumbent health-food powders; reformulate or resize if value perception is weak.
- Expect competitors to increase claims around protein quality, lower sugar, digestive comfort, and affordability, raising scrutiny of formulation transparency and labeling.
- If urban repeat rates are strong, HUL can use its distribution advantage to take protein nutrition into tier-2 cities, potentially expanding the addressable market faster than specialist brands can.