From niche to top selling, why do Australian functional foods continue to be hot?

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functional food track continues to be hot. How can the success story of Australian brands be replicated?

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Text: Sabrina Li

Source: foodaily daily food (ID: foodaily)

With the gradual awakening of contemporary consumers’ health awareness, functional food has emerged. Function first and nutritional health have gradually become the core topics of consumers’ attention.

According to Weibo data, China has become the world’s largest functional food consumption market, with an output value of more than 270 billion in 2020, an average growth rate of more than 15% in recent three years, and a sharp increase in the market share of functional food and beverage industry in the food and beverage consumption market. According to the prediction of China Business Industry Research Institute and Euromonitor, the scale of China’s functional food market will exceed 600 billion yuan in 2022.

In this situation, Australian functional food has gradually been recognized by domestic consumers with its excellent products and good efficacy. So how do brands stand out in the highly competitive functional food market? Foodaily has found a long-standing Australian health food brand Melrose Mallory, which has successfully surpassed a number of well-known Australian nutrition brands to become the category champion through fine research and subdivision of the track.

So, what are the new trends in the domestic functional food market? Why are Australian brands favored by Chinese people? Facing the refined functional needs of consumers, how did Melrose become the sales champion in the subdivided field?

Under the upsurge of new consumption and national health,

Functional food market continues to rejuvenate

In recent years, the continuous improvement of national income level, the increasing demand for chronic disease management caused by population aging, the new demands of young consumer groups for health, urbanization and living environment problems, and sub-health status have generally aroused people’s attention to health and nutrition, which has become an important driving force for the development of China’s functional food industry. The industry is in the stage of rapid growth.

At the same time, e-commerce sales channels are gradually emerging. Online channels have captured a new round of traffic dividends. With the advantages of rich categories and flexible and convenient consumption, they are well in line with the needs of functional food consumers, and are gradually replacing traditional channels and direct sales.

In terms of dosage forms, traditional health care tablets, hard capsules, soft capsules, oral solvents and other dosage forms biased towards drugs will make consumers feel nervous about taking drugs. Consumers expect functional foods to be more routine and snacks, and solid formulations, gel sweets and other common forms are more popular. According to the data of China Commercial Industry Research Institute, the sales of functional fudge in China is expected to exceed US $8.6 billion in 2022.

Source: nutringredients Asia

In the eyes of overseas e-commerce, it is increasingly convenient for overseas e-commerce to enter the country. From the “war report” of e-commerce festivals such as tmall 6-18 and double 11, and from the trend of domestic food enterprises sharing overseas high-quality resources in the form of acquisition or shareholding, it is not difficult to find that Australia, thousands of miles away from the mainland, has become an industry “highland” widely favored by consumers and enterprises.

So, what makes the highly reputable and widely sought after Australian functional food industry?

In Australia, the functional food industry is mature and has developed into a world-class industry in the past 30 years, providing support for research, employment and high skilled manufacturing. Based on the aging population and more awareness of the importance of preventive health, today’s health trend has shifted from treatment to prevention of health problems, and consumers are more aware of preventive measures to maintain good health. Data show that about 70% of Australians take functional foods.

At the same time, high-quality products also promote the international demand for Australian products. The total business volume of the industry exceeded a $5 billion for the first time in 2018 and increased by a $2 billion between 2013 and 2018. Among them, China is the largest exporter of Australia’s natural health products and has a strong growth trend.

Multi factor blessing,

Melrose’s breakout circle
in Australia

Melrose was founded in 1979. Adhering to the brand concept of “health starts from diet”, Melrose provides natural healthy food for consumers and advocates people to enjoy a healthier diet and lifestyle. As early as 1996, Melrose introduced the classic Melrose green plant essence powder with advanced consciousness, pure organic ingredients and organic Chlorella, organic spirulina, organic wheat grass and organic barley grass as the core raw materials.

According to the latest data of iqvia aikunwei, a global medical and health industry consulting company, Melrose green plant essence powder pressed many well-known nutrition brands in Australia and won the sales champion of plant essence powder super food from February 2020 to March 2021. After years of deep cultivation of functional foods, how did Melrose Melrose become the champion of the category?

Source: Melrose Milo

1. Plant power in natural environment

The content of plant nutrients changes from time to time. The nutrient content of immature plants does not meet the standard, and the nutrient elements will be lost sharply after over ripening. Temperature should also be paid special attention. The content of nutrients in products at different temperatures is also fluctuating.

In addition, the whole process of food processing also has a severe impact on the retention of nutrients. From harvest to transportation, from cleaning to processing, many studies have proved that each step of product production will cause the loss of nutrients to varying degrees.

When unavoidable, how to deal with it?

Organic wheat straw is an important raw material in green plant essence powder. Melrose has also taken a series of measures to maximize the harvest and retain the nutritional value of wheat straw.

Superior natural environment ensures the excellence of raw materials. From breaking the ground to growing, the Southern Hemisphere climate with high annual average temperature and abundant precipitation is the most advantaged caregiver for the growth of organic wheat straw. The wheat straw used by Melrose comes from the original farm environment with organic certification. The land of such farms usually needs to rest for 2 to 4 years, return to the original state, and can continue to be used for organic crop cultivation after strict long-term monitoring. Through the careful maintenance of several generations of farmers, the soil in this area provides unique nutrients for the planting and growth of wheat straw.

Source: Melrose Milo

Accurate time management is also the key to quality assurance. Melrose only uses wheat straw that grows to 20 to 30 cm and harvests at the coldest time of the day. The fresh harvested wheat straw will quickly complete the first round of testing at the source of the farm, and the qualified wheat straw will immediately enter a series of processing such as cleaning, steam, disinfection, drying and grinding, so as to maximize and stabilize the nutrients from the origin.

Chlorella and spirulina are the “nutritional strength” in the essence powder. After screening, Chlorella vulgaris and organic spirulina will be extracted by centrifugal filtration process to store the essence of algal active substances to the maximum extent. The qualified algae will be screened and will enter the spray drying process, thus making the “essence powder” of the green plant essence powder.

2. Standardized development under strict supervision

Australia is recognized as one of the countries with the strictest drug management and the most difficult market access standards in the world. The TGA certification of the Australian drug administration (TGA) is the most stringent official Drug Certification in Australia. In addition, ACO certification (Australian certified organic) is one of the most respected and stringent standards in the world, and it is also the most recognized organic certification by consumers.

Usually, these two certifications take several months, and the standards are extremely strict, requiring many laboratory tests and quality certificates of origin. After it is passed, it needs to be reviewed many times every year to continuously monitor the product quality. If the product does not meet the requirements, it will be ordered off the market.

Source: Melrose Milo

It is understood that Melrose’s own factory has obtained TGA certification, and its green plant essence powder has also obtained ACO certification. With high standards and strict requirements, the products are always produced with high quality. The certification of the two stringent standards also opened the gap between Melrose green plant essence powder and similar products, and improved consumers’ awareness and trust in products.

3. Aim at the subdivided population and the different needs of different generations

The improvement of consumption level, the transformation of lifestyle and the rise of many demands have led to the continuous development of functional foods towards subdivided categories. However, in the segment market with serious internal volume, meeting the needs of a single population does not have a competitive advantage, and the multi-faceted players with complex functions are more dominant.

With the liberalization of the two child policy, more and more food suppliers began to pay attention to the children’s market. However, in the field of functional food, the category of children’s market is relatively single. Children and adolescents are the golden period of growth and development. Comprehensive and high-quality nutrition is the basic requirement to ensure growth. Children’s partial eating of meat and the habit of not eating vegetables and fruits are easy to cause unbalanced nutritional intake. Melrose green plant essence powder is full of nutrition. The plant protein, plant fiber and chlorophyll rich in organic barley grass are important nutrients to help the body maintain health. In addition to containing 70% of “green blood” chlorophyll, the initial bud of organic wheat grass also contains 18 essential amino acids and more than 20 vitamins, such as folic acid, vitamin B and so on.

Source: Melrose Milo

For the Z generation who indulges in fun and the office workers who often stay up late and work overtime, the long-term irregular life leads to a healthy “beyond their means”. At the same time, life and work pressure is high, metabolism slows down, and intestinal health problems appear. The rich chlorophyll in green plant essence powder can improve the metabolic capacity of the body, and organic Chlorella can help accelerate intestinal peristalsis and reduce the burden on the intestinal tract. Multi pronged approach to revitalize the long-term sub-health body.

With the aggravation of aging society, China’s aging population has reached 260 million. With the continuous expansion of the market scale of the elderly, the market pain points will be clearer. Under the background of consumption upgrading, the demand of the elderly for functional food is also increasing day by day. Physical aging, functional degradation, the elderly have a natural demand for such dietary supplements. The rich plant nutrients in green plant essence powder can improve immunity and enhance body vitality. The existence of antioxidants can slow down aging and reduce the risk of arthritis, cancer and other diseases by resisting free radicals and reducing blood acidity.

4. Scientific endorsement and rigorous research and development

With the loosening of the policy, more functional raw materials are approved for consumption. The threshold of market access has been lowered and more and more players have joined, resulting in the current market situation of “mixed fish and Dragons”.

Due to the lack of independent research and development capacity and heavy dependence on the upstream supply chain, some functional foods have fallen into homogeneous competition. At the same time, products without rigorous scientific test endorsement are popular. These products often lack effectiveness, and even endanger health and make consumers lose trust in the brand. Therefore, good R & D ability is the core competitiveness of a functional food brand.

Source: Melrose Milo

Aware of the great role of R & D in the long-term foothold of the brand, Melrose mellow has established a long-term cooperative relationship with Australian universities and is jointly committed to the R & D of healthy food technology. Following safety first is the only criterion. Melrose mellow also has clinical trial partners. The products will be professionally tested by the Royal College of medicine in Adelaide to provide the safest health protection.

5. Broaden consumption scenarios and diversify the use of products

Under the diversified demand, consumers are no longer satisfied with the single use of products. If we can immediately solve the current needs of consumers and associate the product with the scene, it is very suitable for cultivating people’s long-term eating habits. Daily scenes are also worth exploring for brands. The more daily they are, the more frequently they can consume food and lower the consumption threshold. Through co creation with users, we can enrich the use scenarios and deepen the user experience.

In this situation, Melrose green plant essence powder is not limited to simple preparation and drinking. The powdery characteristics make the product suitable for more use scenarios. It can not only be used as baking raw materials, but also participate in catering sauces.

Source: Melrose Milo

At the same time, Melrose also launched # a new one-day # short video production competition with Melrose in xiaohongshu, creating with users and fans to jointly explore the creative eating methods of products and enhance the stickiness with users through high-frequency interaction.

Source: Melrose Milo

Summary

Melrose Melrose stands out as a leader in the same category by deeply cultivating and subdividing categories, accurately insight into consumption demands, promoting progress with scientific research, and escorting strict certification and safe production.

Product power is always the first principle of brand development. After the category flow dividend is exhausted, who can go further in the track of functional food in the future will fight for the quality of the product itself.

Only by concentrating on product R & D and quality building and winning a broad consumer base with high quality can we remain invincible in the torrent of consumption.

Cover source: Melrose mellow

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From niche to top selling, why do Australian functional foods continue to be hot?

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