China focus: Sinopharm and Probi, Bioglan expansion, proposal for a new functional foods category, H&H Group, and Doctor’s Best
Filling a gap: Sinopharm, Probi join hands in developing sports nutrition for bone, joint health
Sinopharm Foreign Trade and Probi AB have developed a new sports nutrition product for supporting bone and joint health, targeting seniors who would like to maintain an active lifestyle.
It combines three probiotic strains Lactiplantibacillus plantarum HEAL9 (HEAL9™), Lactiplantibacillus plantarum HEAL19, and Lacticaseibacillus paracasei 8700:2, and has been clinically shown to support bone health – including increasing bone density and lowering the risk of osteoporosis.
How Aussie brand Bioglan hopes to pave way for muscle health understanding in relation to ageing across APAC
Bioglan is hoping to foster a deeper understanding of muscle health and its relation to ageing, with plans to expand its current efforts from the domestic Australian market to other APAC countries, including New Zealand and China. Aside from muscle health, Bioglan also hopes to drive market share in other emerging categories, including eye health, krill oil, and brain health. The brand has been dialling up on education around muscle health, ageing, and sarcopenia by engaging pharmacists especially in the past one year.
A new functional foods category in China? Proposal draws mixed reactions from regulatory experts – In-depth analysis
At China’s annual Lianghui (Two Sessions), Feihe Dairy’s Chairman Leng Youbin suggested adding a third category of functional foods to the regulatory system. Currently, China classifies supplementary foods into two categories: ‘Special medical foods’ and ‘health foods’. Leng feels that the current categorisation has shortcomings that could be addressed with the introduction of the functional foods label. However, there are concerns around its practicality and industry compliance.
Swisse’s owner H&H Group reports double-digit growth in China’s adult nutrition market
Strong performance in mainland China has also pushed the company’s overall adult nutrition and care (ANC) revenue to a yoy growth of 14.1 per cent to RMB$1.5bn (US$211m) the company said in its financial results released on May 17.
Citing statistics from Early Data and Kantar Consumer Panel, H&H Group said that Swisse was ranked number 1 in mainland China’s online vitamin, herbal and mineral supplements (VHMS) market and number 2 in the overall VHMS market.
Heart health impact: Owner of Doctor’s Best breaks record sales for co-enzyme Q10 in FY23
Co-enzyme Q10 was one of the best-performing supplement categories for Xiamen Kingdomway, breaking new sales record last year, said the parent company of Doctor’s Best in its FY23 financial results. The company said that this was because demand was higher than supply. At the same time, capital cost had also gone down slightly.
Co-enzyme Q10 is a core business for the firm and demand was driven by consumers’ desire to prevent the occurrence of myocarditis – the inflammation of heart muscle – post COVID-19 recovery.
