Brand new: Ripper Nutrition, Uplift Food and Morinaga among the top names in our latest round-up
Ripper roll-out: Sports nutrition brand targets Asia with NPD, charity, and demographic diversity
US-based sports nutrition brand Ripper Nutrition has chosen Asia as its first overseas market, with a long-term plan to diversify its range of products to cover overall health and wellness for all life stages.
Founded by two-division world boxing champion Badou Jack, the brand is starting with a multi-year, multimillion dollar deal across the region with Hong Kong-based ERS Ventures, which specialises in marketing and distributing consumer products internationally.
The agreement will entail ERS Ventures' role as exclusive distributor in Asia for the brand and its two products, the pre-workout Oxy Ripper and post-workout Amino Ripper, which will be sold first in Hong Kong and China, followed by other Asian countries.
Prebiotic plan: Aussie brand looks to psychobiotics to fuel product and market expansion
Australian brand Uplift Food is seeking to expand its range of products for gut health and cognitive function, basing its formulations on the emerging science of psychobiotics.
According to founder Kara Landau — also known as the Travelling Dietitian — the brand's flagship product, the Daily Uplifter, has so far received positive consumer feedback since its debut in Australia in March and subsequent US launch.
The product — which comes in 425g packs for the Aussie market and 192g packs for the US market — is a vanilla-flavoured prebiotic powder that can be added to a variety of foods and beverages, designed to support gut health and by extension, brain health and positive mood.
Morinaga's 41-year-old probiotics product wins most innovative ingredient award at Gulfood Manufacturing
Morinaga Nutritional Foods (APAC) has been named the Most Innovative Health Ingredient for its probiotic strain Bifidobacterium longum BB536 at the Gulfood Manufacturing Industry Excellence Awards.
The award was held in conjunction with the Gulfood Manufacturing trade show.
This was the first time that the Japan-based firm is participating in Gulfood and the win has come as a surprise for the team, Jason Foo, vice-president at Morinaga Nutritional Foods (APAC) told NutraIngredients-Asia and FoodNavigator-Asia at the trade show.
“We came to Gulfood mainly to raise awareness...I think the award definitely helps to let people know who Morinaga is (aside from the international giants).”
ChromaDex’s TruNiagen sales rise, but legal costs, higher operating expenses drive bigger loss
ChromaDex reported rising sales of its TruNiagen finished product. But increased operating expenses outpaced rising sales resulting in the company reporting even bigger losses than were forecast.
ChromaDex, based in Irvine, CA, is a laboratory services provider and regulatory consulting company. But in recent years the company has increasingly focus on its Niagen ingredient, which has an anti-aging positioning, having been researched for its role in supporting NAD+ activity within the cells.After licensing the technology for the ingredient from Dartmouth College, the company first acted as a straight supplier of the ingredient.
Efforts to commercialize the ingredient with brand partner stalled, however. That development culminated with a high profile legal struggle with its erstwhile biggest customer, Elysium Health. In the wake of the unraveling of that relationship, ChromaDex attracted a big investment from Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing and embarked on a new strategy of becoming a fully integrated supplement manufacturer. Through itermediaries, Li is reportedly now the company’s largest shareholder.
Nature’s Sunshine shows strong growth in Asia, Eastern Europe as sales erode elsewhere
Network marketing company Nature’s Sunshine has shown strong sales gains in Asia and in Eastern Europe. But that wasn’t enough to make up for sales slides elsewhere.
Nature’s Sunshine, a multi level marketing company based in Lehi, UT, sells a variety of dietary supplements, meal replacements and other products under its own brandname and that of a subsidiary—Synergy Worldwide. The company has expanded to markets worldwide.
In its third quarter earnings statement, Nature’s Sunshine reported rising sales in China, a market where the company has been operating for a little more than a year. Sales in that country rose by 19% to $7 million. Sales in Russia and Poland were strong, too. NSP (Nature’s Sunshine Products) sales rose 15% in Russian and Eastern Europe, totaling more than $8 million in the quarter.
