'Insane potential': Swiss longevity start-up Avea overachieving in China, eyes APAC expansion with NMN and collagen range

15-Jul-2024 - Last updated on 15-Jul-2024 at 13:30 GMT

Avea's Collagen Activator is one of its bestselling products © Avea

Swiss longevity start-up Avea is seeing strong growth in China on the back of a livestreaming event, alongside Singapore and Japan, and is eyeing entry into South Korea with its NMN and collagen products.

Currently in its third year of operation and usually selling only via its website, Avea is already seeing a year-on-year growth rate of well over 400%.

“Our home market is Europe, but we believe that our products resonate very well with discerning consumers in APAC. So select markets in Asia are very important to us too,” said Avea Co-Founder Duri Granziol, who also heads the EMEA and APAC regions.

“The APAC expansion is going very well. We have by far overachieved our estimates for China which is where we started first last November. We’ve been active in Singapore and Japan since March. For South Korea, we are working on our set-up but we want to solidify our current markets a bit more before we invest in this exciting new market.”

Building consumer trust in China

Granziol recognises that discerning customers in China want proof that Avea is a real European brand with real facilities, not just a marketing organisation that white label products.

As part of its marketing efforts, Avea hosted China’s star livestreamer Lao Zhong to a week-long visit to its head office, where she toured its facilities and met production and research partners in Switzerland.

According to Granziol, top influencers in China are extremely careful about what they promote and do detailed research before they accept a deal. The customers are equally wary before trusting a brand – they will wait for an announced livestream and get the full story on a product before making their purchase.

“The sales potential is insane. We had more than 200,000 viewers for our life stream and sold over $300k worth of products in an hour,” said Granziol, who noted that Avea’s bestselling products are its NMN range and its patent-pending Collagen Activator that can increase collagen production up to four times more effectively than conventional collagen supplements.

Ageing on your own terms with NMN and collagen

Granziol observes that people are increasingly embracing the concept that ageing is a process of deteriorating mechanisms that can be influenced, rather than just a fact of life.

“Asia has huge potential for longevity-oriented supplements. More consumers are consciously deciding on what to eat and how to supplement their nutrition with their health and ageing in mind,” said Granziol.

Traditional medicine in Asia has a preventive aspect, and people in the region are used to consuming plant extracts and other supplements to maintain balance and avoid deteriorating health. Asian consumers are therefore familiar with the core concepts of Avea’s supplements, which aim to maintain youthfulness and balance from within.

“A great example is that Asian consumers have been consuming collagen to maintain skin elasticity for a long time. So we have less education to do, and can just provide our customers with the latest science and ingredients for something they are already doing.

“Like in Europe and China, there is great demand for NMN in Japan, and consumers already understand the benefits of collagen. We can offer Swiss-quality products that improve beauty and youthfulness from within for the discerning customer,” said Granziol, who also sees similar demands in the rest of APAC.

When asked about the challenges of entering the crowded beauty spaces in Japan and South Korea, Granziol thinks Avea has an edge because of its unique ingredients and rigorous scientific approach.

“Japan and South Korea are very competitive markets indeed. There are many brands in these markets but there are opportunities for Avea. Most brands have great branding but there is less focus on the actual scientific background and quality of the ingredients. This is where we think we are different. We provide a wealth of information for consumers to understand why we selected certain ingredients and where we source them from. We have been very successful with this approach in Europe and see some very encouraging trends in Japan where we recently launched.”

Avea aims to empower consumers with evidence-backed solutions so that they age on their own terms.

Its Collagen Activator contains Colgevity, a patent-pending collagen precursor developed with scientists from ETH, a renowned science and technology university in Zurich. This blend of three amino acids – glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline – are the building blocks of collagen fibres and increases the bioavailability of the product.

Its Vitality Bundle includes NMN and Booster. NMN is an essential building block of NAD+, a crucial enzyme that declines as we age. NAD+ supports the regulation of DNA repair, energy production and metabolism, promoting healthy ageing. The Booster contains the antioxidant Ubiquinol CoQ10 (100mg), an active and more bioavailable form of CoQ10, and resveratrol, a well-researched polyphenol that protects against environmental stress.

Avea’s R&D headquarters is in Switzerland and they have distribution companies in the US, Singapore and the UK. Its products are available in more than 20 countries mainly through its website. With a focus on Europe and APAC, Avea is looking to work with trusted retail channels to widen their reach. It is also currently working on clinical research that is specific to the Asian market.

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