Apart from supplying Burnley players with sports nutrition and health supplements, Fitlion will also provide personalised nutrition services as added health and fitness support for them.
Even as the team is still in the midst of compiling a list of products they would like from the company's existing inventory, the latter has already drawn up a personalised nutrition system with its house brand, BioG.
Personalised provision
Marketing director Lynda Lee told NutraIngredients-Asia: "This partnership brings us to a whole new level — it's not just about supplying them with products, but also making sure that these products are personalised to each player's needs.
"We have the capacity to do so because of BioG, which provides a whole new delivery system that guarantees maximum bioavailability and efficacy."
Produced in Germany using patented technology, BioG is said to be Singapore's first micro-tab supplement — the tablets are compressed into 2mm micro-tabs that can easily be swallowed by even young children and older adults.
The micro-tabs are customisable, allowing users to include five to eight ingredients most suited to their individual needs, and in suitable amounts to minimise stress on the liver and kidneys.
Lee said: "We liaise directly with the team and their head of sports science, Mark Howard, and are in constant contact with them so we know what they need. When it comes to BioG, the players will have to take a DNA test, as well as an extensive questionnaire on their lifestyle and dietary habits.
"That way, our in-house nutritionist and product specialist can determine what nutritional needs they have, create a customised composition tailored to the individual, and recommend a suitable daily dosage for each of them."
The region's leading probiotic and microbiome event — Probiota Asia — will get underway in Singapore this month with a stellar line-up of speakers, including the likes of Blackmores, Danone, Herbalife and Life-Space, set to take to the stage.
Collaboration and innovation
Fitlion is also in the beginning stages of developing a new line of sports nutrition products under its partnership with Burnley.
Lee said: "It will take a while as it is still in the R&D stages. There will also be taste tests, nutritional efficiency tests and other standard tests the products must go through, before it can be receive legal certification — all steps we must take for the products to be of the highest standard possible.
"If all goes well, we will expect it to be rolled out within the next two to three years."
Regarding the partnership itself, Lee said Fitlion was one of the companies Burnley contacted while reviewing its existing partnerships and looking for new partners.
"We felt it was a good opportunity for Fitlion to put itself on the international football scene. I guess you could say it was good timing for us — we were looking for more partners who reflected what we stood for and where wanted to bring ourselves.
"I daresay we are actually the first local e-commerce company to sign on with an EPL team."
An estimated 60% of the viewership for the EPL comes from Asia, a contributing factor to Burnley's interest in Fitlion. The partnership will also help Fitlion to expand into the wider Asian health and fitness supplement market.
Burnley team manager Sean Dyche said in an official statement: "Teaming up with Fitlion as our official nutrition partner will give us the opportunity to continue to add the necessary quality and detail in this very important area (of high-quality nutrition), and we are looking forward to working with them and progressing together over the next few years."