black currant nnb1 japan

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s u P E R F R u I T C A s E s T u D Y

Called kurorasasuguri in Japan, blackcurrants are marketed there under their French nomenclature, cassis, and it is by this name and its Japanese transliteration kashisu, that they are commonly recognised. Since 2005, kashisu, cassis or blackcurrants – call them what you will – have been getting Japanese opthalmologists, dermatologists, university professors and, unsurprisingly, those involved in the nutrition business more than a little bit excited.

It’s cassis’ ability to maintain and improve eye health which is creating much of the fuss: according to surveys conducted by the Japan Institute for Labour, Policy and Training, nearly 80% of Japan’s workers experience some form of eyestrain from using PCs or mobile devices. A further 90% of

workers complain specifically about “tired eyes” or “painful eyes”.

Consequently, the market for eye-health supplements and foods in Japan is large – worth approximately ¥99.5 billion ($822 million/€609 million) at retail prices. Some 90% of the eye-health market is governed by lutein-and bilberry-based foods, beverages and supplements, accounting for ¥91 billion ($753 million/€558 million) in retail sales (with bilberry holding the lion’s share).

But when bilberry prices started escalating in 2006 (due to poor crops), supplement and food companies began to inquire more intently about cassis as an ingredient for eye health. In that year, retail sales of functional foods, beverages and supplements containing cassis reached a sturdy ¥3.5 billion ($29

million/€21 million) – 40% growth over 2005. The value of the cassis market is now about one tenth of the bilberry market – but given that the bilberry market took 10 years to reach more than ¥40 billion ($331 million/€245 million) in sales, cassis’s performance so far is fairly impressive.

Interest by Japanese manufacturers in cassis was in part spurred by extremely high bilberry prices, but two other factors have really set the cassis market rolling. One is the establishment of the Japan Cassis Association – an organisation which educates Japanese consumers about the potency of cassis as a fruit that is good for the eyes – and the other is the entry of major food company Meiji Seika into the cassis market.

The Japan Cassis Association was founded in 2005 to coincide with Japan’s “eye protection day”. Through the Association cassis producers, researchers, importers and manufacturers promote the benefits of cassis as an ingredient in supplements and foods targeted at eye health. With missions such as “enlightening people about prevention of eye disease through consumption of cassis” and “establishing a cassis industry and culture”, the Association via its website www.j-cassis.jp explains the history of the fruit, describes its properties and origins, and reports on blackcurrant research. Japanese consumers also learn about uses for the fruit and, in particular, its potential benefits for prevention of focus disorder, eye-strain and improvement of blood circulation. Most significantly, the Association was responsible for the very rapid rise in the popularity of cassis as a functional ingredient.

Curiously, although the French name

Japan makes a superfruit out of the humble blackcurrant

Blackcurrants may be one of the most under-appreciated of berries. In the West, marketers have for decades focused only on this fruit’s high vitamin C content. But blackcurrant drinks are by-and-large a mature, even stagnant area, and product innovation has been close to zero. It’s only in Japan where blackcurrants’ superfruit potential is being realised. By Mei-Lin Hansen.

The Japan Cassis Association was established to educate uninformed Japanese consumers about the health benefits, nutrition properties and great taste of blackcurrants.



for these deep purple berries is the one most commonly used by the Association, it is more often than not New Zealand varieties of blackcurrant that the Association refers to in its website. This is because it is a group of blackcurrant growers from New Zealand that has done more than any other to introduce their potent berry varieties to the Japanese market.

Currently, NZ$5 million ($3.6 million/€2.7 million) worth of NZ blackcurrants are exported to Japan as ingredients for supplements, snacks and functional food products and in an instant quick-frozen (IQF) form for products such as jams.

But new and more diverse end-uses for blackcurrants owe much to the combined R&D and marketing know-how of two corporate members of the Japan Cassis Association – the New Zealand Berryfruit Group (NZBG) and food, pharmaceutical and healthcare company Meiji Seika Kaisha Ltd.

One half of the NZBG is the export marketing company Horticulture Marketing Limited (HML). Alan Dobson, HML’s general manager, said the collaboration with Meiji has allowed NZBG to “create a market in Japan from nothing and convince people to make New Zealand blackcurrants into functional foods and drinks and nutraceutical products like dietary supplements”.

NZBG and Meiji have developed an extensive range of blackcurrant-based supplements, functional foods and extracts, obtained from Just the Berries (JTB), the New Zealand company that makes up NZBG’s other half. Rutinoside anthocyanins from NZ blackcurrants are the vital source for JTB’s “purified nutraceutical products”.

Together NZBG and Meiji are educating health conscious Japanese consumers about Rutinoside anthocyanins, which are found in NZ blackcurrants in very high levels, but are not found in blueberries. According to JTB, it’s these anthocyanins that “help maintain optimal eye health”.

After research carried out at Japan’s Hirosaki University confirmed that cassis improved blood flow around optical nerves, Meiji cleverly used marketing and educational materials

to link the benefits of cassis-based products with the improvement of blood circulation and the eradication of “sagging eyes” – a complaint which, according to a 2005 cassis feature in Nikkei Health, “worries … one out of three people” concerned about the appearance of their skin.

Meiji has developed a range of supplements, foods and beverages targeting eye and skin health and blood circulation. Marketed under the Meiji brand, three categories of cassis-based products are available: Cassis Anthocyanin; Cassis Polyphenol and general Cassis Products. Cassis-i Shot, the centerpiece of Meiji’s Cassis Polyphenol product range, is a mini-drink targeted at women in their 20s and 30s. The daily-dose 100ml bottle, in shining purple, contains 130mg of blackcurrant phenolics – the level of phenolics that are required, so consumers are told, to produce a visible improvement in sagging eyes.

An eight page feature in Nikkei Health magazine in 2005 introduced the blackcurrant to its mostly female readers, using before and after photographs of skin discolouration and testimonies from a range of medical professionals all invested in explaining and eradicating “sagging eyes”.

Meiji also organised an innovative poster promotion for female consumers of Cassis-i Daily Shot. Entrants were required to count the number of be-spectacled sheep pictured in a M.C. Escher-esque symmetry drawing. The poster, featuring pink and purple

sheep wearing glasses, provided a quirky link to the New Zealand origin of blackcurrants and their eye health benefits. Twenty prize winners were flown to New Zealand for a six day tour of the country’s South Island, including a stop-off at blackcurrant farms. Later, the prize winners were served meals featuring blackcurrant genoise, fruit salad and sorbet.

WHY NZ BLACKCURRANTS?

According to research carried out in New Zealand, NZ blackcurrant cultivars have higher anthocyanin and polyphenol levels when compared with blackcurrants from other sources. Research by the New Zealand Institute for Crop and Food Research (CFR) revealed that the anthocyanin content of European blackcurrants is 250-500mg per 100g (average) whereas the content in NZ blackcurrants is a much higher 570mg per 100g (average). Ben Ard and Ben Rua, two NZ-unique, high yielding varieties grown on a large commercial scale have around 25% higher anthocyanin levels than blackcurrants from Poland, Canada, Scotland and Sweden.

A significant number of further studies carried out by Japanese scientists from Tohuku and Hirosaki universities are revealing the superior antioxidant activity of cassis polyphenols. They are linking the berry’s juice, anthocyanin and polyphenol extracts with a range of health benefits including reduction in tiredness, short-sightedness and eye

Meiji suppleMents, foods and beverages containing nZ blackcurrants

Meiji produces 3 categories of NZ blackcurrant-based products. Cassis Anthocyanin; Cassis Polyphenol and Cassis Products – catering for a Japanese market that is well informed about the nutritional and health properties of berry fruit.

cassis-i shot is one of the most innovative products in the Cassis-i range. This 100ml daily dose “shot” is targeted at women in their 20s and 30s who are concerned about skin and eye health. Each 100ml bottle contains 130mg of NZ blackcurrant polyphenol, vitamins C and A, and calcium and iron. The daily dose bottles can be purchased in groups of 30 or 60. The RRP for 30 bottles is ¥7,500 ($62.82/€46.77) and for 60 it’s ¥14,250 ($119.35/€88.87).



cassis feature from Nikkei Health june 2005*

“Do you know blackcurrants? The fruit is black, sweet and sour, high in polyphenol content and has the effect of improving blood circulation. Blackcurrants have an effect on cold and stiffness in the shoulders, and fatigue of the eyes ... I bring to your attention and introduce the power of blackcurrants.” – Nikkei Health, June 2005.

The text at the bottom right of this Japanese magazine feature on cassis highlights “sagging eyes” as a skin/beauty related problem. The caption reads:

Once you have sagging eyes the problem is difficult to eradicate.difficult to eradicate.to eradicate. Conventional treatments are:• Massaging around your eyes• Concealing with cosmetics• Using high frequency thermotherapy

Even if you massage, it does not disappear immediately. Cosmetic creams only hide the effect and non-conventional high frequency thermotherapy does not have a decisive effect.I have discovered a new simple method!The detail is in the next page.

Graphs, barcharts, figures and professionals’ testimonials are characteristic of promotional material in Japanese health magazines.

As well as bar charts, this page uses thermographs to illustrates the effect of blackcurrant polyphenols on blood circulation. The following excerpt

provides an explanation of the thermograph:

[Blackcurrants] have improved poor blood circulation.After having dipped a hand into cold water for one minute in the experiment which investigated recovery of skin temperature, the recovery was clearly more rapid [when blackcurrant had been consumed].

“This work is based on the bloodflow improvement action of blackcurrant polyphenols”.

And other excerpts provide quotes from a Meiji research scientist: … although the oxygen radical, which is a powerful enemy of the skin, occurs after a blood vessel contracts, the powerful antioxidant activity of blackcurrants is useful for the elimination of this oxygen radical. It also turns out that there is an action where a small amount of carbon monoxide is generated in the body, and makes a blood vessel extend – improving blood flow. Senior research scientist Matsumo of the Meiji Seika Health Food Research Institute outlined this in a blackcurrant talk.

*(translation and notes prepared on behalf of BCNZL by Keith Owen International Marketing Ltd.).

disease, as well as some benefits related to cerebral performance.

New Zealand is currently the second biggest supplier of blackcurrants – accounting for around 3%-5% of the world’s total blackcurrant supply. At present rates (about NZ$1.00 ($0.73/€0.54) per kilo over the entire NZ industry), NZ blackcurrants – even varieties with higher levels of anthocyanins – face significant price pressure from low-priced Polish blackcurrants. Polish yields are well above those of New Zealand’s. In 2002-2004, for example, Poland produced a whopping 132,000 tonnes of blackcurrants on average (that’s 70% of EU-25 production – according to the European Commission Agriculture and Rural Development) making the need for New Zealand producers’ strong differentiation on health even more palpable.

The result of a focus on health is that the market for NZ blackcurrants remains strong because where they are being introduced – Japan and South East Asia – they’re becoming known as a higher value product.

Whether the Japanese cassis market will eventually reach the ¥10 billion ($83 million/€62 million) mark, and whether cassis will “take off ” as an alternative to expensive bilberry and blueberry extracts and finished products, depends to a large degree on how many strong and competent players join Meiji Seika in the development, manufacture and marketing of blackcurrant products.

At present, Meiji’s major role in the manufacture/import of blackcurrant extracts and its domination of the finished blackcurrant product market makes it difficult for any companies wishing to experiment with cassis. When Meiji puts Cassis-i on the shelves of convenience stores, for example, other Japanese beverage companies are reluctant to compete.

All going well, when the partners are able to substantiate health claims, NZ blackcurrants will feature in even more health supplements and functional foods across the globe than is currently the case. It could very well be that in the near future, what was once an obscure, little-known berry in Japan may become one of the stars of the superfruit list.


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most supermarkets in 300ml bottles for £1.49 ($2.92/€2.20) and 1-litre cartons for £3.29 ($6.45/€4.85).

The Berry Company, “the first berry-based juice company in Europe”, was launched last year with a range of berry juices by Khaled Yafi, a man who has no doubt that açaí will take off in Britain.

“I think that typically the UK follows the US in terms of eating and fashion trends,” Yafi told NNB. “Note the pomegranate boom that started in the US with Pom Wonderful. In the UK now there are about six smoothly running pomegranate juice companies.”

Yafi says that açaí and another buzz berry, goji, not only out-antioxidant pomegranate, they also taste better.

“This should therefore make a massive impact in a marketplace increasingly won over by innovations and healthy eating trends.”

The fourth new entrant, Sparky Superfoods’ Wild Açaí berry “daily shot”, is the first not-from-concentrate fruit smoothie to be launched in a 100ml daily dose bottle. Containing açaí, banana and strawberry, each 100ml daily shot is also fortified with omega-3. Sparky also markets a blend of açaí and mango that sells in 1-litre cartons in Sainsbury’s for £2.29 ($4.49/€3.38). A 330ml bottle has just been added which sells for a hefty £1.89 ($3.72/€2.79).

The 100ml Sparky Wild Açaí shots which were launched in 140 Tesco Extra and Hyper stores in February, with a national rollout to follow, are available as a 4-pack for £1.99 ($3.92/€2.94). Two weeks after the launch, models at London Fashion Week were reportedly swearing by the shots, calling them “botox in a bottle”. Certainly the progress of this product, the UK market’s first smoothie shot, will be watched with great interest.

RIDING THE MEDIA WAVE

McCall and Yafi are only too aware of the media’s current fascination with all things healthy and both are quietly thankful that they do not have to dip too deep into their own pockets to spread the açaí gospel.

“I have not used TV and have spent very little on paid advertising; I have let the press promote the rise of superfoods and almost jumped on their bandwagon,” says Yafi.

“Consider lifestyle magazines; every single one has now a column on eating

right and dietary advice. The UK press consider it a social responsibility to alert the reader/consumer to what’s out there. This is a much more dominating tactic than using paid advertising because it’s unbiased.”

McCall has restricted his marketing and advertising to print-based media. “TV’s a little beyond our current means,” he told NNB.

“There has been considerable interest from various publications ranging from national newspapers through to celebrity and health magazines. The reaction thus far has been extremely positive.”

THE FUTURE OF AÇAÍ IN THE UK

“I hope [açaí] grows as rapidly as has been the case in America,” says McCall.

“Undoubtedly there will be more entrants into the market I expect to see brands such as Sambazon and Zola, amongst others, trying to establish themselves over here. I’d expect the açaí market in 5 years to resemble the current pomegranate market. Açaí is a more

expensive fruit and as such has a higher retail price point which may inhibit its growth, but who really knows? Personally I think the future is bright.”

“Of course the bubble could burst,” admits Yafi, whose company also markets a juice made from another buzz berry: goji. “It’s not possible that the market will continue to get excited forever and ever about every new food that emerges every couple of months. There are after all limits on supermarket shelf space.”

“I do however believe that açaí and goji can cement their positions as regular fixtures in most European supermarkets in the years to come as they possess great taste, are unique, and can be blended with all sorts of other flavours. This makes them exciting long term ingredients.”

And, having recently tasted juices made from both berries for the first time, I find it impossible to argue with Yafi: expect açaí and goji to catch on in a big way this year in the UK.

B e V e r A G e s C A s e s t u D Y

6

5

4

3

2

1

Orig

inal

330m

l (20

%)

Açaí

& P

omeg

rana

te

1 lit

re (1

5%)

Happy Monkey

Açaí

& R

aspb

erry

300m

l (20

%)

Açaí

& R

aspb

erry

1 lit

re (2

0%)

The Berry Company

Açaí

& S

trawb

erry

330m

l (25

%)

Açaí

& M

ango

330m

l (25

%)

Green & Kerley

Daily

Sho

t 4x

100m

l (12

%)

Açaí

& M

ango

330m

l (12

%)

Sparky Superfoods

Açaí

& M

ango

1 lit

re (1

2%)

7

8

Deto

x Sm

ooth

ie

250m

l

Innocent

Orig

inal

Ora

nge

Juic

e 1

litre

(Tropicana)

4.51

2.98

4.96

3.29

5.42 5.42

4.98

5.73

2.29

7.40

1.62

Priceper litre

(£)

Brand & % açaí

PRICE COMPARISON OF AÇAÍ-CONTAINING BEVERAGES IN THE UK

Note that while Sparky’s 330ml bottle is more expensive than both the Happy Monkey and The Berry Company equivalents, its1-litre carton is cheaper than both its rivals’ corresponding products. Innocent’s Detox Smoothie is by far the most expensive açaí beverage available, in line with their policy of premium-pricing all their products.açaí beverage available, in line with their policy of premium-pricing all their products. Tropicana Original Orange Juice is included as a comparison only.

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B e V e r a g e s C a s e s t u D Y

Before the upscale supermarket chain Waitrose introduced the Happy Monkey brand of açaí juices in its stores nationwide in June 2006, the berry was really only available in frozen pulp form in trendy juice bars. But the juice bar market is small, with the biggesthe juice bar market is small, with the biggest chain, Crussh, extending to just 15 stores, all in the nation’s capital.

The Waitrose deal transformed açaí from deal transformed açaí from being a hard-to-pronounce and hard-to-find smoothie ingredient into a nationally available juice drink. Happy Monkey is the “original UK açaí superjuice drink” and the company’s two offerings – Original and Açaí & Pomegranate – are 100% fruit juice and contain no artificial sugars, preservatives, flavourings or colours. Happy Monkey Original is available in 330ml bottles and is a blend of açaí berries and red grape juice selling for £1.49 ($2.88/€2.18). The Açaí & Pomegranate blend comes in 1-litre cartons and sells for £2.98 ($5.84/€4.40).

BRAZILIAN EPIPHANIES

Hamish McCall, the managing director of the managing director of Happy Monkey, is the prime mover behindthe prime mover behindthe prime mover behind the popularisation of açaí in the UK, andaçaí in the UK, and

like the founders of American açaí companies Sambazon and Zola before him, (see related story on page 17) he had anhe had an epiphany in Brazil.

McCall created his açaí-based juices after a holiday in Rio de Janeiro, where he spotted locals drinking a “weird purple, gloopy” concoction. He summed up his business and environmental relationships with the country in the following way for New Nutrition Business:

“First and foremost I love Brazil, it’s one of the most beautiful and diverse countries on earth and it had an instant impact on me the moment I arrived. I think I’m incredibly lucky to have been able to found a company that, I hope, does a little good all round – from the people who buy our products to the local communities that harvest the berries in the Amazon and ultimately the Amazon rainforest itself.”

The social and environmental benefits that the fledgling international açaí industry has brought to the Amazon Delta were huge influences on McCall when he was entertaining the possibility of setting up a business to import açaí into the UK.

“There’s no doubt açaí is one very healthy little berry but if harvesting it meant chopping down large parts of the Amazon and exploiting the local populace there’s no way I would have got involved.”

HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE THAT?

While the UK market has a history of embracing new, innovative products and has proved more than receptive to superfruit trends from across the Atlantic, there are unique hurdles to be cleared for companies like Happy Monkey.

“The only real problem is with the name

of the fruit: nobody knows how to pronounce it correctly. We try to address that with a phonetic on the front of all packaging but most people still ask for ‘ackai’ or something similar,” McCall explains.

Another potential hurdle is supply, which McCall sees as more of a strategic challenge than a geographical one:

“Berry supply is always a potential problem. There is no harvest for 5 months of the year. It requires careful forward planning to make sure you have the stocks to meet demand.”

MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO

Already four other açaí-containing beverages have been launched on the UK market since Happy Monkey kicked things off. The inspiration for Green & Kerley’s Açaí & Strawberry and Açaí & Mango blends, which were launched late last year in health food and organic stores like Fresh & Wild, hit the company’s founders whilst on a beach in Brazil. The blends come in 330ml bottles and retail for £1.79 ($3.51/€2.64) in health food and organic stores.

UK smoothie market leader Innocent has recently squeezed 35 açaí berries into its 250ml Natural Detox Smoothie which sells in Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Tesco for £1.85 ($3.63/€2.73). The smoothie also contains all the usual antioxidant suspects in a blend of seven juices which obscure the unique taste of açaí. Not so the more straight-up açaí/raspberry blend from rival The Berry Company, which is available in

Açaí set to energise UK juice marketWhile the UK market for açaí products is still in its infancy – the first bottled juice containing the fruit went on sale only last year, five years after the first in the US – there is every sign that companies are determined to make the Amazonian buzz berry as popular in Britain as it is across the Atlantic. Paul Vincent reports.

Unusual suspects: After Happy Monkey kicked things off last year, at least four other beverages have been launched.

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Sambazon and Zola are no longer alone in what is fast-becoming a very crowded market for açaí -based products. Not only is the small Brazilian berry fruit popular in beverages, it can now be found in food products such as nutrition bars and also in butters.

“If you can do this at a level that’s sustainable and organic and fair-trade, and you’re building marketing that says it’s great for the brand and for Amazon, consumers are going to like that extra benefit,” Jeremy Black says.

“We knew in the beginning that we couldn’t lead with, ‘Hey, eat this fruit and help save the rainforest’. But now we’re at the point where that can be an important part of our messaging as well.”

AÇAÍ IN INCREASINGLY ABUNDANT

SUPPLY

Further evidence of the rising popularity of açaí was found at this year’s Natural Products Expo West which saw a significant increase in the number of products featuring the “tasty, exotic” fruit over the previous year’s offerings. Vying for attention in what is fast-becoming an overcrowded açaí marketplace were products ranging from “superjuices” to snack bars and spreads. A selection of the many and varied açaí-based products to appear at the Expo are described below:

Artisana’s Raw Organic Coconut Butter: Amazon Bliss which lists açaí among its “exotic, delicious, power-packed, superfood” ingredients is one of three Bliss Butters offered by Artisana – a brand under

the Premier Organics company umbrella. The brand, which specialises in the provision of nut butters made from “organic live foods”, suggests that their Amazon Bliss butter, which along with açaí contains maca, goji berries, cacao nibs and coconut butter, can be heated to spoon over fruit, or cooled to make “amazingly delicious, high energy treats.” Cacao Bliss and Goji Bliss complete Artisana’s range.

Earth’s Bounty Superfoods: Touted as a “natural energy superfood”, Earth’s Bounty’s Açaí Juice is one in a range of three “superfoods” now offered by the 15-year-old health food supplement brand. In promotional material the juice is described as an “all-natural, great tasting” beverage “from the rainforests of the Amazon in Brazil”.Consumers are also told that “Açaí contains amino acids needed for energy in the body, anthocyanins & essential Omegas – the good fatty acids. These healthy fatty acids aid in the transport & absorption of fat soluble vitamins A, D, E & K. Açaí also contains energy vitamins B-1, -2 & -3 and beta sitoseterol [sic] that helps with physical stress. Açaí’s amino acid profile & trace minerals are perfect to help muscle contraction and it has more protein than an egg.” As well as a juice, Earth Bounty’s Açaí is also available in capsules made from “organic açaí puree”.

Goji and Mangosteen juice complete the “superfood” range.

Dyanmic Health Laboratories Inc.:This New York State company which was established in 1994 launched three juices for “healthy living” at Natural Products Expo West. 100% juices Açaí Gold, Goji Gold and Mangosteen Gold featured in Dyanmic Health Laboratories recent offerings

Described as “Rich in Antioxidants”, in company promotional material and as an “age-defying superjuice” on the company’s website, the juice is available in 16oz or 32oz opaque plastic bottles. The company also offers an Açaí Juice Blend which contains pomegranate, raspberry and blueberry.

Aristo Health Inc.: Perhaps the most innovative of all the new açaí-containing releases is Aristo Health’s Body and Mind Wellness Nutrition Bar. Nutty Açaí & Lime features in a line which also includes Nutty Pomegranate & Cranberry and Nutty Goji & orange. All the bars come with chocolate and are “boosted” with omega-3s, plant sterols and antioxidants. Aristo, which describes itself as a “new generation health and wellness company specializing in functional foods”, says their new bars contain “super-nutrients” to help support optimal body and mind function.

AÇAÍ FLAVOUR OF THE MONTH AT NATURAL PRODUCTS EXPO WEST

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Unilever has debuted Amaze, a new brand it describes as the “first specifically designedfirst specifically designed brainfood for kids” in Turkey. Aimed at school kids aged 5 to 12, the Amaze range is currently made up of lunchbox snacks and flavoured milk drinks which have been developed by the nutrition and mental development programme Unilever established in 2000 and represent, the company says, the culmination of extensive research by the company into kids’ nutritional needs.

But what makes Amaze amazing?

• The brand is the first of its kind – foods and drinks specifically developed to support children’s mental development needs; it does not involve the fortification of existing kids’ products with functional ingredients. To our knowledge there is no similar product to be found anywhere in Europe or the US.

• Amaze is truly science-based: Unilever says that it conducted a review of over 200 scientific studies on nutrition and mental development in kids before creating Amaze. As a result of this research Amaze has been designed to deliver a dose of 33% of all the key micronutrients that science indicates kids need daily for optimum mental development - such as iron, iodine and B-vitamins – as well as important macronutrients such as protein and omega-3 DHA.

• Bioavailability – an issue which is increasing in importance for all companies with ambitions in the nutrition industry, Unilever emphasises that it has gone to great lengths to formulate Amaze to ensure the bioavailability of nutrients is increased.

Amaze has also been formulated to be as low as possible in trans and saturated fats, sugar and sodium and therefore conforms to the WHO’s dietary guidelines.

Amaze lunchbox nibbles and milk drinks have been on sale have been on sale

nationwide in Turkey since February, through all the grocery channels Unilever has access to in the country. They are priced at €0.38 ($0.51) and €0.49 ($0.65) respectively.

“The initial consumer response has been very positive,” Geert van Poppel, Ph.D and Director of Nutrition for Unilever’s new Vitality platforms told New Nutrition Business.

“In less than four weeks, the brand attained more than €3 million worth of news coverage in the Turkish media,” van Poppel says. “The sales channels are proactively asking to list the products which is a good early sign.”

The marketing campaign for Amaze is fully integrated to cover press advertorials, in-store sampling, TV advertising and direct communication with medical professionals and a website.

“The brand is fundamentally targeting mothers and TV is the main communication medium,” explains van Poppel.

“There are also, however, advertorials, a website and TV infomercials to help mothers understand the essentials in kids’ nutrition and how the Amaze formula would help them in giving their children a better start. The product launch has generated a great deal of interest among mothers on the Internet.”

The communications for Amaze “are designed to reflect the great science behind the product and the specifically designed, unique formula,” says Poppel, and what he describes as a “rational voice” is used in TV

ads to help mothers understand that their kids’ nutritional needs are important and that Amaze can assist them in the daily challenge of getting a dose of daily goodness into their kids.

Bioavailability experts were constantly involved in the design of the product, van Poppel told NNB. While water-soluble vitamins are generally well absorbed, he adds, the absorption of fat-soluble components from Amaze products is helped by the inclusion of essential fatty acids.

“Iron is a key brain nutrient that often has low bioavailability. We chose a form of iron that follows WHO recommendations and we added extra vitamin C to boost iron absorption. The effectiveness of adding vitamin C to enhance iron absorption was confirmed in a bioavailability study using stable isotopes”.

Interestingly, the DHA in Amaze is supplied by Ocean Nutrition Canada (ONC), whose CEO is interviewed on page 15.

WHY DEBUT AMAZE IN TURKEY?

“Turkey represents a good bridge between West and East and the developed and developing world,” van Poppel told NNB.

“Turkey was chosen as the first launchTurkey was chosen as the first launch country because it is a big market in economic transition where knowledge and mental capabilities are more and more important.

“Kids are a high proportion of the population and we know that Turkish parents have a keen interest in ensuring the mental progress of their kids. Our products will make a difference since independent research has established a lot of Turkish kids have insufficient intakes of the nutrients that are important for mental development.”

In addition, Unilever Turkey has a proven track record as an incubator for initiatives like this. Amaze will be rolled out further but, van Poppel, told NNB, but would not give any details just yet.

Unilever unveils first specially-designed kids’ brainfood range

By Paul Vincent

April 200714


e d i t o r i a L

One of the greatest myths that has hindered many companies’ strategies in functional foods is that products that offer heart health as their primary benefit have wide consumer appeal. As regular readers will know, we have long held this belief to be false and unsupported by any evidence (beyond some rather mediocre consumer research). Indeed, the evidence from actual market sales confirms that cholesterol-lowering, blood pressure-lowering and the like are all niche concepts.

One of the biggest failures in the history of functional foods has been the US market for products based on cholesterol-lowering plant sterols. Most brands have failed, and only a few survive as ultra-niche products.

Unilever is one of the companies that has experienced the frustrations of this market at first hand, but now the company is hoping to revive its fortunes with the debut of America’s first daily-dose cholesterol-lowering drink, bringing a successful European packaging format to the cholesterol-lowering category in the US for the first time (see picture).

Although there are many in the US who say that Americans “don’t like” the daily-dose concept, that’s

an argument which, we believe, holds less and less water. For one thing, European companies also said the same thing back in 1994 – and twelve years later the little bottle has become, as in Asia and South America, an increasingly popular delivery form for all types of products.

What’s more, America is a nation of pill-poppers, consuming more dietary supplements per head than any other nation

in the world. Americans want extreme convenience – a quick, measured dose of something that will fix their problem in double-quick time.

Unilever’s forthcoming launch of Promise Activ 100ml cholesterol-lowering dairy drinks responds precisely to this need – they are like liquid dietary supplements. What’s more, liquid forms of supplements are growing in popularity in the US, according to Nutrition

Business Journal, which tracks the US supplement market. They are easier to swallow than pills – a big concern for older consumers – and usually taste better.

However Activ, as the evidence of the European market shows, won’t become mass-market. It will be a niche brand, but it will at least be aat least be abe a big niche and a growing one. We just hope that Unilever’s senior management has at last learnt enough about functional foods to recognise that success will come slowly and that they must be patient. If they do, they can create, a very profitable new market, as has already happenedas has already happened in Europe.

The amazing truth of trends in actionAs we forecast in the December 2006/January 2007 issue of New Nutrition Business,the concept of foods to improve mood and brain health is rapidly accelerating into the mainstream. This reality is nowhere better demonstrated than by Unilever’s recent launch of the first “specially-developed” food to aid children’s mental development (see story on page 9).

Debuting first in Turkey – a large market rapidly increasing in wealth and sophistication – the Amaze brand is the product of several years research by Unilever into the optimum nutritional profile that such a product should have.

If Unilever can make Amaze a success in Turkey, then this brand, or similar products,

can expect to appear in other markets in short order. Unilever isn’t the only company making kids’ brain development into a significant benefit platform for its brands – in the US market (see page 7),Yoplait and Horizon (the 900-pound gorilla of organic milk brands) have chosen to add DHA-fortified lines, with kid-specific marketing messages.

But this platform will not be limited to kids. The market will soon fill up with kid-specific products and, seeking new niches, companies will next turn

to brands offering to boost the mood and mental wellbeing of adults. It’s not a question of if, but when.

Unilever tries a European success model to revive a failing US market

April 2007 5


n e w s A n A L Y s i s

table 1 - Retail sales (in euRos) of pRobiotic daiRy dRinKs in the netheRlands,2001-2006. Note that the figures for Campina Vifit for the years 2001-2004 refer only to the 1-litre and half-litre cartons of its product – the company didn’t introduce a daily dose bottle until 2005, a move which improved the fortunes of what had become a stagnant brand.

yakult danone actimel campina Vifit private label

2001 13,802,952 926,804 12,529,578 1,048,469

2002 16,433,939 1,053,510 11,828,744 553,277

2003 18,257,137 3,196,618 11,223,832 2,085,605

2004 20,386,074 13,270,200 11,030,409 4,984,330

2005 29,393,525 28,212,914 17,475,142 7,055,079

2006* 37,646,922 51,052,134 22,853,414 11,158,646

table 2 - the Rise and Rise of the netheRlandsdaily dose daiRy dRinK maRKet. Sales figures (in Euros) are for Yakult, Actimel and private label from 2001-2005 and from then include the Vifit daily dose drink.

2001 15,778,225

2002 18,040,726

2003 23,539,360

2004 38,640,605

2005 69,661,518

2006* 109,857,702

table 3 - Retail sales of pRobiotic daiRy dRinKs in the netheRlands, 2001-2006, measuRed in numbeR of indiVidual bottles sold each yeaR.

yakult danone actimel campina Vifit

2001 36,068,571 2,450,468

2002 38,080,851 2,633,708

2003 42,032,035 3,809,816

2004 48,165,832 4,057,456 -

2005 69,907,475 26,926,947 2,829,803

2006* 87,356,748 69,183,536 5,666,589

table 4- maRKet shaRes in pRobiotic daiRy dRinKs in the netheRlands. Danone’s relentless support for Actimel has propelled it to market leadership and transformed the category.

yakult danone Vifit private label

2001 87.5% 5.9% 79.4% 6.6%

2002 91.1% 5.8% 65.6% 3.1%

2003 77.6% 13.6% 47.7% 8.9%

2004 52.8% 34.3% 28.5% 12.9%

2005 42.2% 40.5% 25.1% 10.1%

2006 * 34.3% 46.5% 20.8% 10.2%

Source: ACNielsen

FAILURE TO CREATE A NEW POINT OF

DIFFERENCE?

With Bifiene, Yakult has something of a problem. While products like ActiFruit have a clear point of difference and are clearly innovative, Bifiene seemingly offers no innovation and no point of difference. Like the main Yakult brand, Bifiene’s message is a simple one: a daily dose of probiotic bacteria for better digestive health. With less attractive packaging, a premium price and a sole selling point of a health benefit that can already be obtained from other products, it’s only likely to appeal to the niche of consumers who are most concerned about their digestive health and to the handful who are interested in what types of bugs they’re actually consuming. In our opinion, if Bifiene achieves sales equivalent to 10% of those of the main Yakult product it will be doing well.

Perhaps Yakult’s strategy is to salami-slice the ultra-healthy niche and dominate it – but it seems that they’ve missed an opportunity to introduce one of the many more interesting and innovative products they market in Japan and many other countries.

fRom Japan to euRope

The Bifiene brand was launched in Japan in October 2005 and it replaced two existing brands – one called Miru-Miru, the other Bifir. Bifir had been marketed in Japan since 1978 and was the 9th-biggest digestive health brand with sales in 2004 of ¥5.25 billion ($50 million/€33 million).

bifiene comes in three variants in Japan:• bifiene V: distributed in supermarkets and convenience stores, with B.

breve Yakult as the active ingredient• bifiene m: for home delivery, with lactoferrin, DHA and vitamins A and D,

as well as B.breve• bifiene s: for home delivery, with iron, collagen, folic acid and vitamins

B6, B12 and E, as well as B.breve

Continued from front page

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After establishing Bifiene in the Netherlands, Yakult is likely to next roll-out the brand in Germany, Europe’s biggest and longest-Europe’s biggest and longest-established probiotic market.

The German market is driven by the traditionally high consumption of dairy products, as well as the growing popularity of foods promoted with “soft health claims” such as wellness or balance. Last year, nearly 70% of Germans purchased a probiotic yoghurt or drink and four in 10 claim a positive attitude towards digestive health products.

Furthermore, the daily dose bottle format has become the most important one in Germany – more important than spoonable yoghurts – and, according to some sources, two thirds of probiotic products’ sales are generated by daily dose drinks. In 2006, the probiotic daily dose market accounted for €390 million ($521 million).

The German dairy market is ruled by one giant: Danone’s Actimel. It dominates probiotic daily dose sales with over 75% market share. Yakult is second at 7%, followed by Nestlé’s LC1 (which Nestlé no-longer controls – Müller Dairy licences theüller Dairy licences theller Dairy licences the brand) and the Fit & Aktiv brand from Bauer. A fifth brand, Zott Jogolé, was removed from the market at the beginning of 2007 – after only one year.

Nestlé’s LC1 was first to market in 1995. At launch the company spent €8 million ($11 million) educating consumers about the connection between the bacteria strain in LC1 and bowel function. While LC1 was promoted with scientific messages about strains of bacteria, Danone debuted Actimel one year later with a less complicated health message and a catchy slogan, “Actimel aktiviert Abwehrkräfte” – which translates as “Actimel activates your immune system”.

In 1996, the €75 million ($100 million)

probiotic market was divided between Nestlé and Danone, with LC1 in the lead. One year later, the market had nearly doubled to €142.5 million ($204 million) in retail sales and had reached €190 million ($254 million) by 1998.

But by the end of 1999 Nestlé had been overtaken by Danone Actimel, as a result of Nestlé concentrating too much on science and missing the trend of drinkable probiotics. When the company finally introduced LC1 in a drinkable format, it chose the wrong serving size: a 200ml bottle which had less appeal for consumers than the handy 100ml size.

Yakult entered the German market in 1997. Despite a premium price strategy, Yakult was able to take a 7% market share, which as Nestlé LC1 faltered, put Yakult in second position in daily-dose bottles. The brand image was heavily built on health effectiveness. “We do not sell yoghurt, we sell bacteria,” claimed the German Yakult director Volker Baltes when asked about the positioning of his brand.

As elsewhere in Europe, Yakult maintained its strict single SKU, 7-bottle pack strategy (one bottle for each day of the week). The introduction of Yakult Light – a low-sugar version – was the only product variant.

By contrast Danone Actimel has used a continuous stream of new flavours, point-of-sales dominance and an eight-digit marketing budget far ahead of Yakult’s. By 2003, Yakult’s market share had shrunk to 5%.

A brand analysis showed that consumers associated Yakult with only one attribute: gut functionality. In terms of price, flavour and general attractiveness, Yakult scored far behind its main competitor.

In 2004 the company decided to soften the brand image and introduced an extensive media campaign to link the brand more

closely to its heritage and match the brand with Japanese health expertise. The new campaign emphasised the distinguishing features of Yakult but also reflected a more holistic viewpoint of inner balance. Yakult used an image of a girl in a yoga position and summed up the spirit of wellness in a tagline “feel your inner strength”. The campaign took a step back from its previous medical seriousness, turning around Yakult’s development.

Despite the fact that Yakult was able to regain market share, it has never threatened the leadership of Actimel, a brand supported by an annual budget 18 times higher than Yakult’s. The Japanese may have been the innovators in probiotics, but when it comes to promotional budget, there are few who can compete with Danone. In 2006, Danone spent a staggering €65 million ($87 million) for the German Actimel TV-spots alone, according to ACNielsen Media Research.

In 2006, the probiotic daily dose category in Germany grew just 0.5% – a dramatic drop compared to the 20% growth rate in 2005. Fuelled by the market potential, several me-too brands from German retailers are expected to enter the segment.

Danone might not worry too much about that – it has already beaten off a challenge to its leadership from Aldi’s private label. The probiotic industry does not fear the challenge from competitors such as Aldi.

“Private labels will not pose a threat to the brand-loving probiotic market,” says Monica Wien of Yakult Germany. “Rather than the intrusion of private labels, we expect that the new Health Claim Regulation will lead to a revision of the market, as only products with a scientifically proven effect will be allowed to communicate health claims.”

Germany next for Yakult Bifiene?By Kati Leskinen

The race is on! Yakult, Nestlé and Danone “bottle” it out for daily dose probiotic supremacy in the German market.

Yakult Honsha, the world’s biggest marketer of digestive health products, is bringing one of the most successful of its home-market brands to Europe in a bid to boost flagging sales.

Launched in the Netherlands in February, and likely to be launched later in the year in Germany too, Bifiene is a milk drink with the active ingredient Bifidobacterium breve Yakult, delivering a dose of at least one billion bacteria per 100ml package.

Although plastic bottles have become the standard container for daily-dose dairy products in Europe, Bifiene is packaged in a 100ml Tetra Pak, as it is in Japan, where the product has been marketed – albeit under a different brand name – since 1978. The packs are sold in threes and retail at Albert Heijn, the Netherlands’ biggest supermarket chain, at €2.99 ($3.99) per 3-pack.

The Netherlands is an important country in the history of functional foods in Europe – it was where the whole European daily-dose market had its naissance in 1994 when Yakult launched its flagship 65ml daily-dose product, called simply Yakult.

The Dutch daily dose dairy-drink market has grown strongly in recent years and in 2006 was worth, at retail prices, around €110 million ($147 million) – a staggering 800% growth over 2001 – mostly driven by the extremely aggressive and effective marketing of Danone Actimel, which entered the Dutch market in 2000.

Despite being first-to-market in Europe, the Netherlands is the only country where Yakult has had any enduring success. Weathering

the assault of Danone Actimel, Yakult even managed to maintain market leadership in the Netherlands until 2005. Now, even though it has lost ground to Danone, Yakult still holds a 34% market share – far higher than in either Germany (7%) or the UK (13%).

Much of Danone Actimel’s success in Europe relates to its very effective use of “challenges” as a marketing tactic (see November 2005 NNB). These challenge the customer to take Actimel every day for 2 weeks and to claim their money back if they don’t feel any difference. On average, the number of money-back requests is in single figures while the challenge concept tends to boost sales by millions.

The only Dutch dairy company competing in the sector was Campina, one of the two biggest Dutch dairy groups and one of the world’s biggest dairy companies. Campina was also spurred by the introduction of Yakult in 1994 to launch its own probiotic daily dose product, called Vifit. Vifit’s active ingredient

is LGG (Lactobacillus Goldin & Gorbach), which it licenses from Valio Dairy of Finland. LGG is the world’s most-researched probiotic and can be found in around 30 dairy brands worldwide.

Unfortunately, Vifit was Campina’s last attempt at doing anything innovative for some time and the company – which has a reputation for conservatism and a remarkable self-confidence – stood back and did nothing while the daily-dose sector romped ahead. It wasn’t until 2005 – almost ten years after first launching Vifit – that Campina extended the brand into a 100g daily dose. Campina’s failure to see the clear signs of how the market was evolving have left Vifit as a minor probiotics player in its home market.

The Netherlands is also home to one of Europe’s most innovative daily dose products – ActiFruit from Hero, one of Europe’s biggest juice companies. ActiFruit established a real point of difference in a crowded market by providing digestive health benefits from fruit – each 100ml bottle has a 3.3g dose of fruit fibre (pectin) – and this is clearly communicated on the label: “fibre from fruit”. Thus for the many people – particularly women – who want digestive health benefits in a convenient format but want to limit their intake of dairy products, ActiFruit provides a perfect alternative.

Athough privately-held Swiss-based Hero has declined to comment on its brand’s performance, industry sources tell NNB that sales of Actifruit, which was launched in November 2006, have been going well.

N e w N u t r i t i o n

B u s i n e s swww.new–nutrition.com April 2007 iSSN 1464-3308Volume 12 Number 6

T H E J O U R N A L F O R H E A L T H Y E A T I N G , F U N C T I O N A L F O O D S & N U T R A C E U T I C A L S

Minute Maid lifts its nutritional portfolio

Biggest fish in omega-3:

Robert Orr

The rise and rise of Açaí in the US

Page 15-16 Page 25Page 3

Continued on page 5

Yakult starts its European fight-back

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