After 15 years of research, Healtheries and Dr John croft in New Zealand, decided to bottle the extract of the green-lipped mussel to cure arthritis. Perma Healthcare brought this wonder to India and added to its own bottomline, says Debasish Roy

Perma Healthcare’s CEO, Nikhil Rai had taken a few trips to New Zealand. His Kiwi experiences can be summed up in a capsule. To be precise, the Seatone green-lipped mussel extract capsule manufactured by Healtheries in New Zealand.

Currently, Nikhil is upbeat for the following reasons: a) His decision to go and contact the end user of this dietary supplement has paid off in a big way. b) Owing to distinct benefits being enjoyed by the consumer, he has repeat customer all across his distribution footprint, and c)His company’s success with Seatone has encouraged the board of directors to go for other similar dietary supplements for other ailments.

For one thing, Seatone, the green lipped mussel extract which is encapsulated by Healtheries, the company in New Zealand, is reportedly working wonders for both osteo arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis in India.

“An old lady called me up and blessed me saying she was a vegetable confined to her bed before she took Seatone daily,” Rai shares his jubilation with FINANCIAL TIMES.

Rai clarifies on the use of the mussel extract for the disease. “There are many types of arthritis; Osteo arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis being the most common. This extract has been found to contain a liquid containing all the chemicals needed as supplements for patients of arthritis. This natural soup is best extracted and encapsulated. Nature did not want us to tamper with it”

In fact, Rai explained that Healtheries and Dr John Croft had earlier tried to identify the particular chemical which would prove to be a good cure for the disease. However, they later were chastened as they found that the liquid as it is found in nature is the best option for the cure.

Nikhil Rai attributes his wide experience with multinationals such as Kraft and his own wily ingenuity in making seatone a grand success in India.

“Distributors were not willing to take this up initially as they are used to marketing products by large multinationals, which offer them incentives,” he explains.

After running after the channel model for two years, Rai drew upon his experience with food multinationals to home deliver the product to customers through his own warehousing network.

That is when the turning point came and Perma Healthcare became a name to reckon with.

After tasting success, Rai believes he just has to replicate and multiply the direct to consumer process to attain critical mass. “Seatone is a seasonal product and the demand peaks in India before the monsoons,” Rai explains the vagaries of the market.

“Once we cornered Delhi and Bombay markets, we know we have arrived,” Rai shares with FT gleefully.

Rai’s success hinges on his ability to deflect the sales of Seatone as a commodity to the selling of a premium experience of getting rid of arthritic pain.

“I know from my experience during my work in Europe, that the consumer does not want to pay a hefty amount at the chemist shop. Therefore, this model of delivering at home is working wonders,” he said

Rai is expecting the product to hit a plateau at anything between 30,000 to 50,000 bottles a month.

To counter this hurdle to growth he is planning his company’s future as the one stop hub for premier health products. He plans to deal in natural health care, dietary health supplements. Beauty care and health equipment. Perma will be the premium health experience at www.permahealthcare.com