My meeting with Mr. Athley, VP Maharishi Ayurveda

Hi, i know this is coming in late but i beter put it down before i
lose all of what i discussed with mr. athley. I will write out all
that i talked about in order. Please do the cutting and editing
yourself. this is unedited and unabridged.

the format of questioning was what dr. jain provided us with.

I asked him a general question about the history and ethos of his
company and he began with the movement initiated by the founder of the
company, maharishi yogi...or whatever his name is.

1955 - this guy intoduced his concept of ayurveda and yoga and
MEDITATION to be more precise to the G7 countries + Russia + the
islamic countries as well.

1983 began scientific validation of Ayurveda accross countries, not
just in india.

1987- there were 3 big shot ayurveda doctors, whose names i have
forgotten but they are there on the website. these guys started
educationg more ayurveda doctors and helped make essential
formulations for most of the medicines manufactured by maharishi
ayurveda.

1988- set up the NEPZ plant and started exporting ayurveda stuff -
labelled as "herbal food supplements".

Now we are talking about the distribution of the stuff.
these people have presence in most of europe, US and japan. a total of
40 distributors - loosely translates into a little less than 40
countries. Mode of distribution is direct Marketing and Postal Orders.
Most drugs that are sold are Over the Counter products (OTCs)

Maharishi ayurveda has been operating sales in india since 89. with
about 900 different products. Please keep in mind that the number of
products and the total volumes are greater for the export market and
less so for the indian market.

Promotion - they have established 120 small health centres across the
countries they are operating in. These small health centres operate as
nerve centres in the areas they are located in in spreading awareness,
holding workshops and short term programs in holistic treatment
(panchkarma techniques).

I asked him about the yoga link to ayurveda and all that he said in
the reply, he basically meant that ayurveda and yoga are essentially
interlinked in reality and otherwise also help each other's popularity
in the west.

The company started exports to holland and switzerland in 85 (?).
Also he said that the 'SEAT' of the maharishi is in holland right now.
wonder what he meant by that. esports to US and UK started in 87 and
rest of europe and japan in 89. there was this Dr. Yukiniwa who
conducted research on free radicals in the atmosphere which have
degrading effect on the human body and appreciated ayurveda for its
counter effect on 'free radicals'.

When asked about competition from non indian companies and systems of
medicines, he sited Phythotherapy being popularised by some German
companies in the european union.

Among the certifications maharishi ayurveda has got are :
1st co to get ISO 9000
HACCCP by DNV agency in holland
GMP by WHO
GMP by govt of india
PICKS in australia

85 - 90% of the total revenues of the company are had from exports.
40% of this is from US making it the largest export market. followed
by Italy, norway, UK, and holland.

Talking about the regulations faced by the company,
anything that is termed herbal must be 100% organic
Should have been tried in the country of origin for more than 30 years
(ayurveda faces no prblem in this regard coz it has been proven that
it has been practised in india since thousands of years)

The company regularly holds a Global workshop in india with
participants from 40 countries.
OTC products are branded as maharishi ayurveda products. for food
supplements, these have been given MA (maharishi ayurveda) numbers eg
MA11 , MA 45 indicating the formulation number.

Pricing : the pricing of the products is loosely cost based but the
purchasing power of the intended customers is also taken into account.
Marketing and pricing of the products is done by the local marketers.
The export prices are uniform for all markets.

Promotion : regular programs are held at 'transcedental meditation centres'
the company also undertakes 'editorial marketing'. Except india, no TV
adverts are used in the world. In india they even had the maharishi
channel for some time. which had the educative programs creating
awareness about ayurveda.

a 2 pronged strategy towards popularising the concept.
In the West they work by sensitising people about their quality of
life. and creating a disease free society.

Another multi faceted approach is using vaastu, jyotish and other such
ancient sciences in conjunction with ayurveda and yoga.

The company projects itself as a knowledge based organisation, and has
expensive products (premium priced) which are validated

There is negligible adspend on the whole.

Competition from chinese, tibetan systems of medicine and homoeopathy and unani.

In central asia and Parts of europe, own traditional systems of
medicine are another source of competition.

The company does participate in trade fairs. Are regular participants
in the world health assembly in switzerland. have recently
participated in fairs in Lebanon, Brazil, and UAE.

DISTRIBUTION : the national distributors are independent of the
company however work under and MOU with the parent company. The
company's role is of only monitoringo nce the goods have been handed
over the the national distributor. The company's task there after is
that to see that there is no tampering of the goods.
The labelling too is done by the local distributors.

There is no manufacturing utilities outside india. Although packaging
is done abroad.

Earlier the company modelled the distribution networks for different
countries itself. now it lets the distributors do it, although with
consultation with the company.

LOGISTICS : the company has only one warehouse outside india, in UAE.
use Seaways, road as well has Airways for transportation. Majority of
load transported by sea.

margins for the distributors vary widely.

environment : by some study it has been predicted that by 2050 the
market for ayurvedic products will be worth $ 5 trillion across the
world.

competition : Dabur has facilities in UK, Himalaya in Italy. There is
a hamdard type company in Pakistan wich manufactures a "joshinda"
which is very popular abroad.

Ayurveda has spread with buddhism in earlier times.
Accupunnture is equivalent of manusparsh in ayurveda.

I asked him about market segmentation but didnt get a clear answer.
he talked about Mail orders, e-business in different countries, and
OTC. with OTC being the biggest chunk in the sales. The indian,
pakistani and banlgadeshi community abroad is also a big consumer of
the company's products.

the company is into health care and not just medicines. "absence of
disease is not health"

Majority of the OTC drugs are those of self medication and are usually
for acidity, cough cold, choraiza.

the company is trying to spread formal education of ayurveda across
the world. Small term courses in germany have been put in place which
apprise medical students of ayurveda.
China is biggest competitor in all courses of the company's business.

The company endevors to change the perspective towards ayurveda as an
"alternate system of medicine". They want it to be the primary defence
against diseases.

The difficulties faced by the company : Rules and regulations are
different for most countries and many formulations have to be altered
to pass the strict laws.

The company would like a more proactive ministry of external affairs
that should promote ayurveda as an export item from india.

there is this "amrit kalash" product and it constitutes for 35-40 % of
its sales abroad.

the philippines, vietnam, CIS countries and the baltic states are
prospective markets.

THE END