Singapore start-up seeks further China success with anti-hangover powder sachet

15-Mar-2019 - Last updated on 03-Apr-2019 at 07:57 GMT

Singapore health supplement start-up Innoso is seeking further success in China with its Hangover Detox powder sachet. © Innoso

Singapore health supplement start-up Innoso is pursuing further success in China as it ramps up the production of its anti-hangover powder sachet, which sold out after just six weeks.

The first 6,000 boxes of Innerpur Hangover Detox was introduced to the market in mid-December and was sold out before Chinese New Year. Available in both China and Singapore, the former contributed to about 60% of the sales, CEO Rebecca Wang told NutraIngredients-Asia.

Wang revealed that the second batch of products, totalling 20,000 boxes, would be on sale in China, Singapore and Vietnam soon.

This is the second product that Innoso has launched. It launched its first product – InnerPur Skinny 3X, a weight management and anti-glycation dietary supplement in August last year.

Wang said that the decision to launch an anti-hangover supplement came from consumer demand.

“Drinking is still a very huge market in China. We started to think about it and saw that there were a lot of products in the Western countries that produce anti-hangover effects, but the majority of them are pills, very big pills.

“In China, people are requesting for convenience, they don’t want to carry bulky items with them, so a powder sachet is easier, and they can drink it without any water,” Wang said.

Using porous packaging technology, the product can be teared apart at any part of the stick, which provides further ease of convenience.

Besides selling in China via the firm’s WeChat mini program and other e-commerce platforms, Wang said that the product was also available in Singapore and there were plans to sell it in Vietnam.

Containing turmeric, vitamin blends, and milk thistle, Wang explained that the product speeds up the metabolism of ethanol – the compound responsible for causing hangover effects, such as dry mouth and headache.

Milk thistle also provides liver protection benefits.

Target audience

It was found that the anti-hangover supplement was highly popular with Chinese consumers in the 20s to 30s. Gender wise, the ratio of male to female consumers was about 6:4.

Wang said this could be because these consumers were more aware of the need to protect their liver and that they needed to maintain efficiency at work even after a night of drinking.

“Something that we also noticed is that the people who purchased the products are all born in the 1980s or 90s. The consumer group is very young. Firstly, this is because they are pretty educated, they know that drinking is not good for their health and there is a need for protection.

“They are also very dependent on these products because they cannot afford to feel dizzy or unable to concentrate at work during the next day," she said.

Over 90% of repeated purchase rate

A product trial involving 200 consumers in China found that the product is able to alleviate hangover effects as soon as one wakes up.

From an online survey, it was found that more than 95% of the consumers reported feeling “refreshed” the next morning.

It was also found that up to 95% of the consumers bought the product again after buying it for the first time.

The average time taken for repeat purchases was about 4.5 days and, on average, three boxes were bought during each transaction.

Future plans

Innoso is now planning to sell the anti-hangover product in supermarket winery section and also the convenience stores. It also plans to improve its product packaging.

“We are thinking of selling four sachets in one bag, which is something like a grab-and-go concept. Consumers can just grab this at convenience stores before going for a drink,” Wang said.