The Economist - UK (2022-03-26)

66 Business TheEconomistMarch26th 2022

BusinessinIndia

Sharkattack

S

peaktothebankersandindustrialists

atthetopofIndia’seconomicpyramid

andyouheara commonrefrain.AllIndi­

ans,theycontend,areatheartsocialists—

themselvesincluded.Thepopularityofthe

Indianversionof“SharkTank”,atvcele­

brationofcapitalism(similarto“Dragons’

Den”inBritain)inwhichordinarypeople

seekfundingfortheirbusinessideasfrom

a gaggleofsuccessfulentrepreneurs,sug­

geststhatthisconventionalviewmaybe

out ofdate.The show’s 36­episoderun,

wrotetheHindustanTimes, shiftedthetop­

icofdinnerconversationsthroughoutthe

vast country from cricket to business

plans.Termslike“grossprofit”and“tam”

(total addressable market) have entered

commonparlanceamongits1.4bnpeople.

Showswithstarjudgesawardingtalent

(andpanningitsabsence)havelonghada

placeonIndiantelevision.Buttheyhave

historicallyinvolvedsonganddance,not

spreadsheets. Sony Entertainment re­

ceived 85,000 applications for “Shark

Tank”.These werewhittleddown to 198

pitchespresentedtojuriesoffivejudges,

themselveschosentoreflectIndia’snew

businesselite(ratherthanbeingscionsof

industrialconglomeratestheyhadfound­

edfirmspeddlingeverythingfromcosmet­

icsanddrugstoa matchmakingappand

electronicpayments).

The enterprising hopefuls’ televised

presentationswereheavieronenthusiasm

thanpolish.Ratherthanbeinga liability,

thisresonatedwithviewerswho,asmany

blogsandsocial­mediapostsattested,saw

themselvesinthecontestants.For“Shark

Tank”was,initseffervescentdiversity,not

unlikeIndiansociety.Ofthe 67 startups

M UMBAI

Whata realityshowsaysabout

Indiancapitalism

The startup subcontinent

India, new companies registered, ’000

Sources: Ministry of Corporate Affairs; World Bank

200

150

100

50

0

211816141210082006

buymoreoftheretailers’ownlabels.

OnMarch23rdGeneralMills,theAmer­

ican maker of Cheerios and Wheaties,

amongothersugaryfare,reportedhealthy

margins and quarterly sales that were

higherthaninthesameperiodin2019,be­

forethepandemic(thoughflatcompared

withlastyear).Thefirminsistedthatde­

mandfor packaged foodshouldremain

strongallyearasmanypeoplecontinueto

workfromhomeatleastsomeofthetime.

Robustappetiteforitsproductswill,the

firmsays,allowittoraisepricestooffset

therisingcostsofcommodities.

Thatmaybeoptimistic.Shoppers’pa­

tiencewithinflationiswearingthinon

bothsidesoftheAtlantic.Investorsexpect

marginstonarrow.Thesharepricesofbig

American, European and Chinese food

firms alike took a knock after Russian

tanksrolledontoUkrainianfieldsonFeb­

ruary24th(seechartonpreviouspage).n

Injectablecosmetics

Botox smiles

C

osmeticproceduresusedtobethe

preserve  of  middle­aged  women  and

often  involved  surgery.  Today  they  are

increasingly sought by girls who want the

photoshopped  faces  of  their  favourite

social­media influencer, and by a growing

number  of  men  wishing  for  fewer  wrin­

kles, fuller lips and sharper jawlines. Glob­

ally,  more  than  14m  nonsurgical  proce­

dures were conducted in 2020, even amid

the pandemic, up from fewer than 13m two

years earlier. Increasingly, scalpels are giv­

ing way to syringes.

Research  and  Markets,  a  firm  of  an­

alysts, reckons that the global sales of non­

invasive  aesthetic  treatments,  currently

around  $60bn,  could  more  than  triple  by

2030. A large part of that growth will come
from injectables. These include Botox and
other  substances  that  freeze  facial  mus­
cles, as well as dermal fillers which plump
softer tissue. Demand has been fuelled by
the proliferation of selfies and, during the
pandemic,  high­resolution  video­calls.
Snapchat and Instagram filters give users a
glimpse of what they could look like with a
filler­generated  “liquid  facelift”.  The  con­
trast  with  what  they  see  on  unadorned
Zoom can be stark.
In America 2.4m injectable procedures
were carried out in covid­hit 2020, roughly
one  for  every  100  American  adults.  About
700,000  such  treatments  were  performed
on  Germans,  not  renowned  for  an  obses­

sion  with  looks.  Brazilians,  who  are  fam­

ously  beauty­obsessed  but  much  poorer,

subjected  themselves  to  around  500,000.

Demand for “prejuvenation” work is espe­

cially  strong  in  Asia,  where  younger  pa­

tients  (for,  despite  the  convenience  these

are  still  medical  procedures)  want  to  pre­

empt a craggy visage before any lines actu­

ally  appear.  Since  injectables  have  to  be

topped up every few months, they guaran­

tee producers of the substances and clinics

that administer them a source of recurring

revenue. The younger the customer starts,

the better for business.

According  to  a  report  by  McKinsey,  a

consultancy,  over  400  aesthetics  clinics,

which  administer  injectable  treatments

(among  others  including  things  like  laser

fat  removal)  raised  more  than  $3bn  from

investors  over  the  past  five  years.  In  2020

AbbVie, an American pharmaceutical firm

paid  an  eye­popping  $63bn  for  Allergan,

which  has  controlled  nearly  half  the  mar­

ket for injectables since it launched Botox

for  aesthetic  use  two  decades  ago  and  Ju­

vederm, a dermal filler, a few years later. 

New products are beginning to threaten

Allergan’s  dominance.  Hugel,  a  South  Ko­

rean company, now has a rival offering that

is  half  the  price  of  Botox.  It  is  eyeing  the

Chinese market, where the stuff is still less

common  than  dermal  fillers.  Ipsen,  a

French  drugmaker,  and  Merz  Pharma,  a

German one, also make Botox­style inject­

ables. Ipsen’s Dysport has done well in Tur­

key  and  Russia.  Merz’s  sales  are  growing

briskly in the emerging economies of Asia

and Latin America.

Some  modern  dermal  fillers,  mean­

while,  are  formulated  with  ingredients

such  as  hyaluronic  acid  that  are  typically

found  in  mild  skincare  products.  That  is

less offputting to potential customers than

Botox,  which  is  derived  from  a  toxin  that

occurs  naturally  in  spoilt  sausages.  Other

new  treatments  are  dispensing  with  for­

eign  substances  entirely—though  this

doesn’t always seem all that more appeal­

ing. Certain cosmetic clinics offer to inject

stem  cells  from  a  patient’s  own  fat  into

their  face,  or  platelets  from  their  blood  to

rejuvenate the skin. 

There  is  a  wrinkle.  The  injectables

craze,  especially  among  youngsters,  wor­

ries regulators. Botox is a prescription drug

in most places but many dermal fillers are

not.  “Treatments  are  often  trivialised  on

social media and people don’t understand

the  full  ramifications  of  what  can  go

wrong,” says Tijion Esho, a cosmetic surge­

on  in  Britain.  Misplaced  injections  can

lead to abscesses or, in some cases, necro­

sis. An outcry from doctors and victims of

botched procedures forced the British gov­

ernment  to  announce  in  February  that  it

would require a licence for people admin­

istering  nonsurgical  treatments.  England

has already banned them for under­18s.n

Companies offering less invasive

aesthetic procedures are booming