See our top 10 most read brand stories of 2020, featuring BioCeuticals, Comvita, OLLY, and Doctor’s Best.
Blackmores’ practitioner-only health supplement brand BioCeuticals has replaced the labelling for its botanical-based immunity product ArmaForce, after consumers complained of unknown side-effects such as taste loss.
The new labelling states clearly the dosage recommendation for the product, which is one tablet per day for a maximum of two weeks.
ArmaForce with the new labelling was out in the market in September, a BioCeuticals spokeswoman told NutraIngredients-Asia.
“BioCeuticals has taken the proactive decision to update product labels with a new safety warning,” she said. The product is currently sold from behind the counter, which means that it is only available for sale upon a pharmacist's advice.
Australia and New Zealand health foods companies have seen strong online sales of immune boosting supplements from the China market.
This had helped to offset a drop in their in-country sales due to a decline in the number of visiting Chinese tourists.
Mānuka honey maker Comvita said in its NZX market update that its online sales during the first 10 days of March in China had grown by 70%, largely driven by the sales of its immune boosting products.
Comvita’s flagship product is the Propolis and Mānuka honey, which is said to display anti-viral and immunity-boosting benefits.
India-based dairy company Milky Mist has launched a probiotic curd, also called Dahi, with claims of boosting the immune system and aiding digestion.
It contains the strain Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. Lactis (BB-12) which is supplied by ingredient manufacturer Chr. Hansen.
This is the company’s first foray into probiotic curd. Milky Mist has about 23 product categories and 170SKUs ranging from cheese, yoghurt, to curd.
Dr K Rathnam, chief executive officer at Milky Mist, told NutraIngredients-Asia the company first conceived the idea of the probiotic curd back in June, influenced by the rising interest among consumers for products that improve general health, wellness and immunity.
Indonesia’s traditional herbal and pharma giant Sido Muncul's market expansion plans will continue despite the COVID-19 pandemic, with the firm revealing that its factory production is running at full force.
The company introduced seven new herbal and vitamin products to the market on Feb 20, and added that the sales of its flagship herbal product - Tolak Angin - had jumped amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
Coming in the form of soft capsules, the new products are Tolak Angin; Tolak Linu; Sari kunyit; vitamin E (100 I.U); vitamin E (300 I.U); vitamin D3 (400 I.U); and virgin coconut oil. Some of them, for example Tolak Angin and Tolak Linu, are already present in the market in other dosage forms, such as powder and sachets.
The herbal product, Tolak Angin, which mainly consisting of rice, fennel, Indian screw tree fruit, and clove, is designed to help with anti-bloating, flu, and dry throat.
Indian pharma firm Dr Reddy's Laboratories has made its first foray into the nutritional space in the country with a diabetic drink, Celevida.
The drink is said to help manage blood glucose levels among Indian patients.
Diabetes is a growing challenge in India with 73 million people suffering from diabetes, and 80 million people with pre-diabetes, and the country is expected to have the world’s largest diabetes population by 2035. Changing habits of diet and a sedentary lifestyle have contributed to the rise of diabetes in the growing population.
The company’s chief executive officer of branded markets (India and emerging markets), M V Ramana told NutraIngredients-Asia the move into nutrition drinks was “part of our overall strategy to strengthen our business portfolio for high-growth therapy areas. Nutrition is shown in various studies to improve clinical outcomes as well as quality-of-life in several disease conditions.”
Australia-based The Lupin Co had seen a five to six times increase in demand for products such as its prebiotic-rich lupin flakes, flours, protein bars and cereals earlier this year.
They are sold in over 800 independent health food stores in Australia and via the Redmart e-commerce platform in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
The firm also has a presence in UAE, Bahrain, UK, and US, where they mostly provide in bulk for food manufacturers in industries such as bakery.
According to David Fienberg, managing director at The Lupin Co, lupin contains about 38% dietary fibre, mostly soluble fibre and resistant starch, acting as a prebiotic.
A nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) supplement made by US supplement firm Doctor’s Best had hit the US$1m sales in the first 10 days of its launch in China.
Over 5,000 bottles have been sold on its Tmall flagship store, its parent company Xiamen Kingdomway Group said.
Following the sold-out of the initial batch of 1,406 bottles, subsequent pre-orders of 3,605 bottles were received within three days between July 16 and 19.
Together, the product has brought in sales amounted to RMB$7.68m (US$1m).
Australian-listed Jatenergy has revealed record-breaking sales as demand for its lactoferrin dairy products surged in China.
The firm hit a record monthly revenue of AUD$8.5m (US$5.4m) in February and AUD$8.1m (US$5.2m) in March, it said in its Q1 financial report.
Taking the limelight is its Neurio lactoferrin milk powder offerings, which cater to infants, middle-aged adults and the elderly.
At its peak in February, the product range brought in sales of AUD$5.2m (US$3.3m), almost a five-fold jump from last February’s AUD$1.09m (US$702k).
San Francisco-based brand, OLLY has introduced its gummy vitamin supplements in Singapore, after Unilever acquired the company in 2019.
The launch of OLLY in Singapore includes nine products: Goodbye Stress, Sleep, Glowing Skin, Undeniable Beauty, Daily Energy, Probiotic + Prebiotic, The Perfect Women’s Multi, The Perfect Men’s Multi, and Kids Multi+Omega-3.
Before its launch in Singapore, OLLY’s vitamins could only be found in Target, Sephora and Amazon in the US.
In Singapore, OLLY is available at Watsons physical stores, Watsons online, as well as e-commerce platforms, RedMart and Lazada, the latter with a flagship store set-up.
An Indian start-up specialising in making protein bread and cookies saw online sales go up by 15% in mid-March, with the firm said consumers were increasingly making more healthy food choices amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to India’s first high protein bread maker, The Health Factory, consumers have started to “eat right”.
The company has seven product SKUs, consisting of two high protein bread and five high protein cookies. The protein content in its protein bread can go up to 48g per loaf and 6.77g per serve for its cookies.
The two-year-old start-up currently sells its products on Amazon, its own website, via a four-week subscription order, as well as physical retail stores such as Foodhall and Nature’s Basket.
