Brand focus: The 10 most-read stories featuring nutrition brands in year 2023

And the winners are…Check out who took the top prizes at the NutraIngredients-Asia Awards 2023​

AstaReal, Morinaga Milk, Glac Biotech, and GNC China were some of the winners of this year’s NutraIngredients-Asia Awards, held to recognise the brightest and best products, ingredients and initiatives across the nutrition industry.

Over 180 submissions were received for this year’s award entries, breaking a new record.

Some of the winners included AstaReal, which took home the Ingredient of the Year: Beauty from Within award, while GNC China won the Product of the Year: Omega-3.

More product formats: Aussie nutra brand seeks to incorporate active ingredients into pantry staples​

Australian nutraceutical firm Renovatio has incorporated its patented activated phenolic antioxidants into pantry food items, on top of its existing tablets and capsules supplements.

For instance, it launched a functional apple cider vinegar, available in 500 ml bottles, across Australia, including Woolworths supermarkets.

The product was developed as the firm found that the activated phenolics were able to elevate the benefits in apple cider vinegar due to it being “a very high-potency antioxidant because of the high absorption or bioavailability.” ​It had also trialled the effects of activated phenolics with sweet chilli, tomato ketchup, and salad dressing.

A balancing act: Yakult on achieving the right taste for new reduced sugar product and gut-brain axis research​​

Yakult launched a reformulated version of its flagship original product in Singapore this year.

Known as Yakult Gold, the product contained a lower amount of sugar and was also added with 1.5 µg of vitamin D.

It has been qualified as a Nutri-Grade B product in the country, which also meant that the firm would be allowed to advertise the product, since the original version is a Nutri-Grade D product.

Danone China partners with Qingdao University to drive gut health, early life nutrition, healthy ageing R&D​

Danone China and Qingdao University had inaugurated an innovation centre to drive research and development across gut health, early life nutrition, and healthy ageing in March.

Known as the Qingdao University – Danone Nutrition and Health Innovation Centre, the centre would conduct research related to different life stages, with a focus on the gastrointestinal health and the gut microbiome.

The centre would also take into consideration the unique needs of Chinese consumers so as to develop new nutrition products for them.

Kirin / Blackmores deal – Exclusive analysis: Japan giant eyes immunity growth and functional food innovation​​

Kirin’s planned acquisition of Blackmores was seen as a move to boost R&D, new product development, and its distribution footprint across Asia-Pacific, according to exclusive insights from the Japanese giant and industry experts.

Kirin had announced its plan to acquire Blackmores with AUD$1.88bn (US$1.24 billion) in late April.​

On the other hand, Blackmores could expect to gain from Kirin’s R&D capabilities, especially in terms of dosage formats and environmentally friendly packaging.

‘Second business category’: South Korea’s AceBiome identifies joint health as its next major focus​​

South Korean probiotics firm, AceBiome, popular for its weight management probiotic BNRThin, said it was adding joint health as one of its core business focuses amid an ageing society.

The firm had launched the joint health product ‘AnaParactin’ in late April to support joint, cartilage, and bone health.

However, unlike most of its other products, ‘AnaParactin’ does not contain probiotics, but was instead formulated with ParActin – a patented extract of Andrographis paniculata leaves.

Super-premium: Swisse outpaces industry growth in China, ANZ, and taps top-end segment for future boom​​

Swisse’s vitamin and mineral supplement sales had grown faster than the market rate in key markets such as China, Australia and New Zealand, and that it was expecting more room for growth in South East Asia.

This was according to the annual financial report released by its parent company Health and Happiness Group (H&H Group).

In the case of China, the company said that the sales growth was led by the introduction of more ‘blue-hat’ SKUs and innovative categories.

Human milk inspired: Danone to launch new infant formula containing novel milk droplet in China – Growth Asia exclusive​​

Danone would be launching a new infant formula containing milk droplets that closely mimic the structure found in mothers’ milk in China, the VP and head of Danone Early Life Nutrition revealed at our Growth Asia Summit 2023.

From the bacteria composition to milk droplet structure, human milk has been the key inspiration for Danone’s new infant formula product development process – a concept which the company terms as “biomimicry inspiration”, said Gregg Ward, VP (Science Nutrition and Digital health, China, North Asia & Oceania) and Head, Danone Early Life Nutrition and Danone Open Science Research Center.

This is because human milk or breastfeeding offers a plethora of benefits, from optimal growth, brain and eye development, lower incidence of infections and illnesses, and lower risk of allergies. 

H&H Group appoints former Coty, Reckitt Benckiser exec as CEO as Swisse hits $1bn milestone​​

Health and Happiness Group (H&H Group) had appointed a former Coty, Reckitt Benckiser exec as its  CEO who had assumed the role in September this year.

Camillo Pane (53), a former CEO at Coty and SVP of Global Category Officer Consumer Health at Reckitt Benckiser, was appointed to take over Laetitia Albertini, who had quit in December 2022.

Akash Bedi, chief strategy and operations officer, was the interim CEO during the transition period.

Bayer Consumer Health looks to tie-up precision health innovation with existing supplement brands​​

The Consumer Health Division of Bayer has been looking for a tie-up between its flagship health supplement brands and its newly formed precision health group.

The company said it believed that precision health would occupy 10 to 20 per cent of the consumer health care industry within the next decade.

It had announced the formation of its Precision Health Group in late May and said that the priority was in developing products that enabled people in taking greater control of their personal health through digital solutions.