The company officially launched in 25 Watsons Singapore stores in the last week of November. Prior to that, its products are available in Singapore via the firm’s Australia direct-to-consumer website.
Founded by certified nutritionist Jessica Sepel in 2018, JSHealth’s bestselling product in Australia is its Hair + Energy capsule formula for supporting hair health, hair growth, and energy levels.
The New South Wales-based brand is also popular for its Detox + Debloat tablets, its Skin + Digestion tablet formula for supporting skin health and relieving digestive discomfort, and its Vitality X and Collagen Powder made from marine hydrolysed collagen.
In recent years, the brand has become one of the largest brands in Australia’s community pharmacies.
It has also expanded into the US and the UK.
Speaking to NutraIngredients-Asia, Sarah Lawman, head of Australia, JSHealth, said the firm saw growth opportunities in Singapore, where there was an appetite for both international and local brands, as well as premium, science-backed products.
Moreover, the demographic and lifestyle of the Singapore consumer market resembles that of Australia.
“The demographic of Singapore in terms of lifestyle and economic patterns resembles what has happened here in Australia and resembles the Australian market where we’ve had such great success.
“Therefore, for us looking at Asia, Singapore is like a natural stepping stone for us. And I also think that the shift in the Asian market towards beauty-focused supplements is something that we can play on, since we are obviously a beauty-focused brand,” she said, adding that there has been much discussion about hair growth supplements in Asia – a benefit area which the brand is also known for.
The brand has introduced eight of its bestselling SKUs for its brick-and-mortar launch in Singapore. They are Hair + Energy, Detox + Debloat, Advanced Magnesium + , Skin + Digestion, Skin Bright +, Metabolism + Sugar Support, PM+ Sleep + Calm Mind, and Vitality X + Collagen.
Market gaps to bridge
One of the market gaps that the company hopes to bridge in the Singapore health supplement scene, is in offering premium products that come with therapeutic doses.
This is also one of the most overlooked areas when consumers select the types of supplements to purchase, according to Lawman.
“Our dosages are all at therapeutic dosages, and a lot of consumers do not fully understand that not all supplements are created equal.
“Our founder, Jessica, is really passionate about including therapeutic doses in all of our formulas so that the customers are actually adequately supplementing when they’re taking our products and addressing their pain points, as opposed to just adding a little bit of, for example, magnesium to their diet, or a little bit of iron to their diet,” she said.
For example, the brand’s Advanced Magnesium + tablet formula contained 201mg of total magnesium for maintaining and supporting muscle relaxation and function.
She pointed out that other products sold in the market generally contained about one-quarter of the firm’s magnesium formula.
“Our Advanced Magnesium formula has 201mg of magnesium per dose, whereas a consumer might go and purchase a cheaper magnesium, and it’s only a quarter of the dosage.
“But they might think that what they’re getting is a similar product, but just with two different brands and two different price tags. This is why I think that educating consumers on the dosage and levels of ingredients is important to us.
“Obviously, there are upper limits and restrictions on some ingredients based on the different regulatory requirements seen in different markets,” she said, adding that the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) was one of the guidelines that the firm looked at when deciding on the doses.
The brand also hopes to provide products that use “clean excipients”, meaning non-active ingredients for coating and binding the tablets.
“I think a lot of customers also do not understand that it’s not just the active ingredients in the formulas that are so important.
“It’s also about the excipients that we used, for example, in the coating of the tablets, which I think is what that sets us apart,” she said.
