Vous êtes sur la page 1sur 72

Marketing Kids’

Healthy Beverages:
Ten key case studies

Published by

Report
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Published by
New Nutrition Business
The Centre for Food & Health Studies
Crown House
72 Hammersmith Road
London W14 8TH
UK

Telephone +44 (0) 207 617 7032


Fax: +44(0)20 7900 1937

Asia-Pacific Office:

19 Dryden Street
Grey Lynn
Auckland 1021
New Zealand

Phone: +64 (0)9 361 2687


www.new-nutrition.com

New Nutrition Business is an imprint of The Centre for Food & Health Studies.

This edition printed July 2009

© The Centre for Food & Health Studies Limited 2009

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are used only
for identification and explanation, without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.


A catalogue record for this case study is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-1-906297-29-9

www.new-nutrition.com
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Important notice

On behalf of your organisation (the “Purchaser”) you have purchased a single license personal to you to access, read and use this New
Nutrition Business report, and you are hereby agreeing prior to reading any of the report itself, on behalf of the Purchaser, that it will
comply with New Nutrition Business ’s conditions of supply hereafter described. Once the Purchaser, or any person within it, has had access
to any report or part of a report published by New Nutrition Business (a “ New Nutrition Business report”) protected under these conditions,
you are agreeing that your organisation as a whole, and the individuals within it, are deemed to be aware of, and consent to, these
conditions hereafter in respect of all New Nutrition Business reports.

Unless otherwise agreed in writing in advance by New Nutrition Business, this New Nutrition Business report and all other New Nutrition Business
reports (in whole or in part) may not be sold, nor passed on, communicated or disseminated in any form (including within its original
covers), nor access granted, to any third party (including but not limited to clients/potential clients/suppliers/agents/partners in other
ventures/accountants/solicitors/bankers/brokers/ licensees), or to any subsidiary, associated or holding company (whether direct or
indirect) of the subscriber, whether trading or non-trading, or to any entity trading under the same umbrella trading name where the
direct equity interest is different in any way to that of the subscriber. The Purchaser is agreeing that in the event that any of its personnel
inadvertently do so allow unlicensed usage or access by others as detailed above, that it will account to New Nutrition Business in full for
the sales proceeds at the then current prevailing single copy price as set by New Nutrition Business from time to time, for each and every
occurrence, and further that the Purchaser fully and effectually indemnifies New Nutrition Business in respect of any claim howsoever
arising by any such subsequent unlicensed user against New Nutrition Business. Similarly, if any other piece of identified New Nutrition
Business material, amounting to a section or more, becomes available to the Purchaser by virtue of a breach of this term by any third
party, which is then read or used by the Purchaser in any way, that the Purchaser is hereby agreeing to purchase a copy of the report
containing that piece of intellectual property from New Nutrition Business at the then current prevailing single copy price as set by New
Nutrition Business from time to time for each and every occurrence, (unless at New Nutrition Business’s sole discretion the money is sought
and subsequently remitted by the original subscriber), and to abide by New Nutrition Business’s license terms.

The Purchaser acknowledges that all materials and information contained in New Nutrition Business reports are the copyright property
and confidential information of New Nutrition Business and are protected inter-alia by the Copyright Law of the United States of America
and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code and other intellectual property rights and also by the terms of this
agreement, and that no rights in any of the materials are transferred to the Purchaser. The Purchaser agrees the Copyright Law of
the United States of America and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code is only relevant where New Nutrition
Business has not sought and secured protection elsewhere in these conditions, or indeed where sections are expressly excluded, without
prejudicing the enforceability of the remainder of the Title. The Purchaser agrees that the provisions of Section 107 of Title 17 of
the United States Code and sections 29 and 30 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 shall not apply to the use to be made
by the Purchaser of the Report. The Purchaser undertakes that it will not copy, reproduce, print or store in any manner (electronic or
otherwise), extract or transmit in any form or otherwise deal with in any way the whole or part of the data, materials or information
contained in this New Nutrition Business report.

This case study contains information obtained from authentic sources using primary research wherever possible. Reasonable efforts
have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the authors and the publishers cannot accept responsibility for the validity
of all materials. Neither the authors nor the publishers, nor anyone else associated with this publication, shall be liable for any loss,
damage or liability directly or indirectly caused or alleged to be caused by this case study.

Neither this case study nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, microfilming and recording, or by information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.

The consent of New Nutrition Business does not extend to copying for general distribution, for promotion, for creating new works or for
resale. Specific permission must be obtained in writing from the publishers.

www.new-nutrition.com
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

About us
This report draws on material published in our journal New Nutrition Business, which provides case studies
and analysis of success and failure in the global nutrition business. It is used by more than 1,700 corporate
subscribers in 42 countries.

Since 1995 we have been researching, analysing and forecasting the global nutrition business, and we provide
expert consultancy to companies and government organisations around the world.

Many companies make New Nutrition Business available online to all of their research, product development
and marketing staff. Our website – www.new-nutrition.com – contains the largest searchable internet database
of information about the business of food and health.

We have a small staff – all with experience in nutrition or in food and beverage marketing – but a global
perspective, with offices in London and New Zealand and affiliates in Japan and Finland.

About the author


Julian Mellentin is one of the world’s few international specialists in the business of food, nutrition and health.

Julian did his undergraduate degree at Oxford University and his MBA at Manchester Business School and
worked marketing branded products across Europe, based in the Netherlands, for 10 years before founding
this company. He has practical experience of marketing branded products in most European countries.

In addition, Julian is co-author of Functional Foods Revolution, Healthy People, Healthy Profits?, the first-ever book
on the business of functional foods, now translated into Japanese.

He is also co-author with Peter Wennström of Commercialising Innovation: The Food & Health Marketing Handbook
and co-author, with Karl Crawford, of Superfruit, a guide that sets out the marketing and science criteria for
success in the area of fruits marketed with health benefits.

To find out more about our company contact:


miranda.mills@new-nutrition.com
Or
julian.mellentin@new-nutrition.com

Or visit:
www.new-nutrition.com

www.new-nutrition.com
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Contents
1. Executive summary .....................................................................................1
2. Six strategies in kids’ healthy beverages ......................................................3

Case studies ..................................................................................................21

Immunity and omega-3 ................................................................................................ 22


Case study 1: Nestlé Juicy Juice .................................................................23
Case study 2: Smartfish ............................................................................................. 27

Water and fruit juice ......................................................................................31


Case study 3: Fruit Shoot ............................................................................32
Case study 4: Y Water .................................................................................35
Case study 5: First Juice .............................................................................38
Case study 6: Magic Fruit Potions ............................................................................. 41
Case study 7: Froose.................................................................................................. 45

Tea ................................................................................................................................. 49
Case study 8: Republic of Tea ................................................................................... 50

Teens and Tweens......................................................................................................... 53


Case study 9: Crayons................................................................................................ 54
Case study 10: The Switch ........................................................................................ 59

Charts

Chart 1: Top 5 parental health concerns, China...................................................... 5


Chart 2: Parental concerns when shopping for your kids, US ................................ 6
Chart 3: How does your kids’ product measure up against the checklist? ...........20
Chart 4: US sales growth of Juicy Juice .............................................................26

www.new-nutrition.com
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Companies, Brands & Countries Listings


COMPANIES AND BRANDS Marine Harvest Ingredients CONTINENTS/COUNTRIES/
Milk Time REGIONS
Actimel Müller Vitality
Amaze Brainfood MyOmega Africa
Britvic Natural Fruit & Beverage South Africa
Calpis Fibe Mini Company Asia
Carpe Diem Nestlé China
Clear Beverage Corporation NP Biotech Ltd Hong Kong
Coca-Cola Numico India
Crayons Ocean Nutrition Japan
Dan Active PepsiCo Singapore
Danino Pharmalogica Turkey
Danone ProViva Europe
Dog On It! Republic of Tea Austria
First Juice Robinsons Belgium
Froose Smartfish Finland
Fruit Shoot Smartweek Germany
Gefilus Kidius Supajus Norway
Highland Spring The Switch Scotland
Innocent Tropicana Go! Sweden
Izze TSG Partners Switzerland
Juicy Juice Unilever The Netherlands
Kagome Labre Valio Dairy Turkey
Kelloggs Volvic Splash UK
Knorr Vie White Hat Brands North America
Little Bird Brands Y Water Canada
Little Citizens Herb Tea Yakult US
Magic Cheese Zespri
Magic Fruit Potions

www.new-nutrition.com
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

1. Executive Summary

• The American market for kid’s food and drink is set to increase in value by 50% over the next few years,
from $16.4 billion (€11.6 billion) in 2007 to $26.8 billion (€18.9 billion) by 2011. The largest segment
of that market is beverages.

• Along with dairy, fruit juice (and fruit-flavoured water) is still the biggest and most dynamic area of
activity in child-specific products, as more companies recognise that parents are casting around for
alternatives to sugary colas and sodas in greater and greater numbers. There are a number of factors
that give fruit drinks for kids a competitive advantage over other categories. For one thing the “naturally
healthy” image of fruit drinks makes them a suitable vehicle for health benefits – as does children’s love
of fruit-flavoured, sweet drinks. They are also convenient to carry and pack in lunchboxes.

• Naturalness as an underpinning for a brand is proving to be just as strong and profitable a trend
in kids’ food as in adult nutrition. Across all food and beverage categories, the message that a food
or food component is naturally and intrinsically healthy is one of the most appealing to consumers
in all cultures. “Natural” has universal, pan-European and trans-Atlantic appeal (and a rapidly
increasing appeal among middle class consumers in Asia). As brand strategist Peter Wennström has
said, “Consumer research makes it very clear that ‘natural’ is becoming the biggest driver in every
country.”

• As almost all of the case studies illustrate, health-conscious parents are increasingly interested in
products that they perceive to be “as natural as possible” – free-from ingredients that they see as
undesirable or unnatural or potentially harmful, such as added sugar and “artificial” sweeteners,
preservatives, colours or flavours. Being able to offer one or more of the benefits of being “free-from”
dairy or wheat (to take just two examples) is essential for any brand targeting children and health-
conscious parents. Kids’ beverages should contain no added sugar – use apple or pear juice concentrate
as your sweetener, or perhaps fructose.

• No matter what the scientific credentials behind your product, no matter what your R&D or advertising
spend, your product’s packaging must perform just as strongly. Packaging innovation that projects a
product into the market has been a key part of the strategy of successful beverage brands such as Y
Water.

• Kids’ beverages should offer a health benefit that mothers can clearly see as relevant to their children
and one that is easy to understand. Ideally your product should be as natural as possible, but if you
want to deliver a health benefit from an added ingredient, the ingredient should be one that mothers
accept and understand and that means, in most countries, either a probiotic or omega-3.

• Parents’ key concerns for their children’s health are immunity and digestive health; in coming years
expect to see an increasing focus on developing brands to meet these needs. Concerns around digestive
health suggest an untapped opportunity for fibre (one that Froose beverage in the US has picked up on)
and probiotics.

• Parents are now used to the idea of omega-3 in infant formula, but sales of omega-3 products have
often disappointed. However, omega-3 products that are making progress on a niche basis are those

www.new-nutrition.com
1
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

that define themselves as experts in supporting children’s healthy brain development (such as Nestlé
with Juicy Juicy, and Smartfish).

• Another very important reason for the success of beverages relates to “the 3 Ps” – Packaging, Portability
and Portionsize. By their nature, and by the nature of the range of packaging that’s available for
beverages, drinks can be sold in single-serve, on-the-go, hand-held, lunchbox-friendly formats and in
multipacks more readily than most foods.

• Even if their strategy is a good one, kid-specific products seem to sell on a niche basis, just as most adult
nutritional brands still do. One reason for this is that the buyers of nutritional brands, be they for kids
or adults, are a group of higher-income, health-conscious people who make up only around 20%-25%
of the population.

www.new-nutrition.com
2
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

2. Six strategies in kids’ healthy beverages

In the business of food and health it is in beverages Atlanta-based healthcare and wellness consultancy
– including daily-dose dairy drinks, energy drinks, used Mintel and Packaged Facts figures to calculate
superfruit juices, smoothies and enhanced waters the massive increase, which equates to an increase
– where the most success stories are found. The of 11.5% every year over the period. The report
reasons include: pinpoints innovation focused on health as a key
driver of this growth.
• beverages offer superior convenience “The children’s food and beverage category is
• there is more scope for packaging innovation garnering interest as an area of high growth and
with beverages (vital to capture consumers’ innovation due to wellness issues and pressures,”
attention on crowded supermarket shelves) says Panna Sharma, managing partner and CEO at
• a wealth of packaging options means the TSG. “Healthy and functional foods are becoming
format and the pack-size can be customized to mainstream. TSG believes that the market is
the consumption occasion (lunch-box format sustainable and will continue to grow at double
sold in multi-packs, family breakfast) digit rates beyond 2012.”
• beverage formulators are particularly skilled at The greater appeal to consumers of beverages,
making most things taste good says Sharma, is down to their versatility on several
• consumers are more willing to experiment with accounts, including the incorporation of vitamins
beverages and functional ingredients and flexible time of
• it’s easier for consumers to accept them as consumption. “Beverages encompass several
a snack (no change needed to their eating popular categories such as dairy, juice, and water
habits). where incremental ingredient innovation warrants
margin premiums,” she adds.
Beverages are more convenient than formats such as Parental concern over their children’s diets is
bread and cookies, they are perceived by consumers driving demand for, and development of, healthier
as a “healthy carrier” of health benefits in a way food products for kids, says the report. Key
that formats such as confectionery are not, and they
allow health to become an anytime option and a
snack in a way that a “functional meal” cannot.

Beverages and kids – a natural fit


Worldwide, interest in healthier kid-specific products
is increasing both among parents and in industry.
The American market for kids’ food and drink, for
example, is set to soar in value by more than 50%
over the next few years, from $16.4 billion (€11.6
billion) in 2007 to $26.8 billion (€18.9 billion) in
2011, according to a new report by TSG Partners.
And the largest individual segment of that
market is beverages, says the report. Some 134
kids’ beverages were launched in the US in 2006,
with drinks holding a 29% share of the children’s
food and beverage sales in that year.
The statistics are contained in TSG’s Future
Dog On It! is helping fill the gap for healthy food for kids from
Directions in Children’s Food and Beverage report. The a source parents trust.

www.new-nutrition.com
3
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

to enable them to find a profitable niche in this


emerging market? Based on our analysis of the
kids’ nutritional beverage market since 2004 (which
has involved interviews with executives at over 300
companies in the kids’ nutrition market) there are
six key issues that consistently emerge. These are
set out below.

2.1 Free-from what’s “bad” is


crucial
When even Coca-Cola runs an advertising
campaign to tell you that its famous drink has “no
The Crayons brand aims to capture pre-teens’ desire for added preservatives or artificial flavors”, then you
beverages that are as hip as energy drinks. Marketed with can be certain that the trend for products to be
a strong “all natural” message, Crayons drinks strongly
“all-natural” and “free-from” has truly crossed over
communicate that they are “allergen and gluten-free” and
“have no high fructose corn syrup”. from being a trend that you can choose to follow
– or not – into a category standard, a basic message
focuses are weight, hyperactivity, brain function, that any food and beverage is expected to be able
digestion and immunity. “Due to increasing obesity to communicate to even the least health-motivated
rates and other health problems among children, consumers. Had anyone suggested a few years ago
parents will want to confer healthy habits on their that Coca-Cola would one day feel it necessary
kids,” says Sharma. to maintain consumers’ trust by reassuring them
But public pressures from regulators and that its fizzy brown drink is free from “artificial”
campaigners are also shaping the market, with ingredients people perceive as undesirable, they
companies re-evaluating their approach to would not have been believed.
marketing, exemplified by responsible advertising In 2008 TV and print advertising debuted in
initiatives such as that established in 2006 by the Austria, Switzerland, the UK and the US which
US Better Business Bureau. Schools, too, are having affirms that Coca-Cola never has had, and never
an impact with bans on the sale of high-sugar will have, added preservatives or artificial flavours.
products. Coca-Cola will also print the line “no added
Food and beverage suppliers are “infusing health preservatives or artificial flavors” on cans and
into their portfolios by altering existing products bottles of Coke.
and exploring new options in functional and other Coke – and every other beverage company
areas of innovation,” says Sharma. – is responding to a global trend which has moved
New companies are also emerging to fill the gap to the level of a basic business requirement. It
in the market for “healthy and trustworthy products illustrates that of all the ways that marketers can
for kids from reliable sources”. Examples include talk to consumers about health benefits, by far
drinks companies WaddaJuice, White Hat Brands the most-compelling message is that a food is “all
(owner of Dog On It!), Clear Beverage Corporation natural” or “free from” some ingredient that the
(supplier of Kid Fuel) and Froose Brands. consumer perceives as undesirable.
Nonetheless, appealing to kids’ tastes is In the kids market, as in the adult market, this
challenging, with a recent survey showing children “natural” and “free-from” message has become
prefer traditional snacks: crisps (48%), chocolate/ a standard message that all products need to
sweets (39%), biscuits/cakes (32%) and fizzy drinks communicate – whether they are brands aimed at
(27%). This, says the TSG report, underlines “the the mass-market or at the most health-motivated
need to fuse health with children’s firmly established niches.
favourite tastes”. Parents everywhere are becoming much more
What, then, are the elements that beverage aware of what products should or shouldn’t contain
companies can incorporate into their strategies and it’s therefore essential to avoid any ingredients

www.new-nutrition.com
4
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

seen as “bad” additives.


As with most aspects of health, it’s a global trend. CHART 1: TOP 5 PARENTAL HEALTH CONCERNS,
CHINA.
Chinese parents are (perhaps unsurprisingly) more
highly concerned with preservatives and additives
in new products than parents in the UK and US, Resistance to disease (colds,
according to data from consumer researchers Health coughs), 48%
Focus International. This finding was in 2006 (see
Chart 1), even before the recent melamine-in-milk Growth and physical
scandal. development (height, bones,
As a result, all of the following types of brand muscles), 41%
communications have established themselves – and
at least some of these messages are used by major
brands – as meaning “healthy” to one or another A balanced diet, 40%
group of parents:
• no added sugar
• no added sweeteners
Lack of appetite, 37%
• no added preservatives
• no artificial additives, colours, flavours
• dairy-free
• wheat-free Sleep problems, 35%
• gluten-free
• no trans-fats
Source: Health Focus International
• no hydrogenated oils
• no high-fructose corn syrup
stage. “Whether their kids are under two, or two
Hitting at least a handful of these buttons has to five years old, or six-plus,” said Victoria Nuevo-
become a necessity for any brand that wants to pass Celeste, Juicy Juice Marketing Manager at Nestlé
the scrutiny of the health-conscious parent. It has USA, “if we asked [parents] what benefits most
become a basic part of the strategy even of mass- interested them in foods or beverages, low sugar
market brands. and extra calcium were the things they were most
“No artificial colours or flavours…covers what interested in across the board. So we decided to
mum wants and what she wants to give her child,” make the products lower in sugar. It’s harder to
comments Noel Clarke, senior brand manager for differentiate by adding calcium.”
Fruit Shoot, a very successful mass-market fruit- As a result Juicy Juice’s over-arching brand
flavoured water brand in the UK with $179 million message is:
(€125 million) in annual sales (see Case Study 3). Naturally Lower in Sugar: With filtered water to lower
“As a minimum you have to deliver that.” the natural sugar content, and enhanced with nutrients.
As Case Study 1 illustrates, even a mainstream As always, no added sugars, artificial flavours or
brand such as Nestlé now puts “no added” centre- preservatives.

SOME RULES FOR SUCCESS IN NATURAL AND “FREE-FROM”

1. There are many possible approaches that you can take to make a “free-from” message. It does not
need to be as rigid as “gluten-free” or “dairy-free” – nor do you need to try to cover every possible free-
from option. Use a “free-from” benefit that is a logical fit to your product.

2. As far as cost and efficacy permits, choose ingredients that are “as natural as possible” and ingredients
that the consumer can understand.

3. If your ingredient does not score highly in consumers’ perceptions as “natural” – even though
technically it may be – you need to invest in consumer education to enable the consumer to accept
your ingredient.

www.new-nutrition.com
5
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

2.2 Immunity a key concern CHART 2: PARENTAL CONCERNS WHEN


SHOPPING FOR YOUR KIDS, US
Immunity is mothers’ number one health concern,
worldwide (see Charts 1 and 2) – and a concern • A balanced diet (83%)
Nestlé USA has tapped into with its Juicy Juice • Mental development (81%)
beverages. Consumer research, in every country in • Resistance to disease (colds) (80%)
the world, be it in Asia, North America, or Europe, • Growth and physical development (height,
reveals surprising commonality in the key health bones, muscles) (78%)
concerns of mothers. The list below is a summary • Dental cavities (76%)
• Protection against diseases later in life
of key health benefits which mothers say they
• Healthy appearance (skin, teeth, hair)
are motivated by. We’ve synthesized the list from
• Gastrointestinal problems
research conducted by different leading suppliers • Environmental allergies
of infant formula – who got almost exactly the • Food allergies
same results in their consumer research. Note that • Sleep problems
immunity is consistently named as mothers’ top • Obesity
health concern:
• Immunity The result was double-digit sales increases in
• Intestinal function 2007 – even in markets such as Europe, where the
• Dental health formula market is flat – leading Numico’s CEO to
• “Normal development” comment that this confirmed that the repositioning
• School performance was “the right choice”. Numico’s formula sales
• Various allergen or “free from” concerns growth was a further 7.6% in 2008.
Numico’s parent company is Paris-headquartered
Numico, Europe’s biggest infant formula Danone, which has also made a success of
company and one of the biggest in the world (it immunity.
is No.1 in most Asian countries, ahead of Nestlé), Danone Actimel (branded DanActive in the
decided to act on this ranking and back in 2006 it US) is the world’s biggest immunity brand. First
re-positioned its entire infant formula range on an launched in Europe in 1994, it is marketed in 23
immunity benefit. European countries as well as in Argentina, Mexico

Danone Actimel, the world’s biggest immunity brand, has more recently increased its direct appeal to kids with initiatives such as a
kid-oriented website (www.actikid.fr) with games and information.

www.new-nutrition.com
6
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

and the Middle East. It has estimated annual retail


sales in excess of €2 billion ($2.5 billion) and still
growing.
The immunity concept is communicated in
consumer language using Actimel’s core messages,
which are:
Helps maintain your body’s natural defences
Helps protect your body from the inside

Senior Danone executives have been quoted in


the trade press as attributing between 30% and
50% of the sales of Actimel (depending on the
country) to mothers buying it for their children.
Actimel advertising has always featured children
prominently and makes the brand’s relevance to
children clear, but there was until recently no overt
positioning of the product as kid-specific; instead
Actimel used a broader message about “family
health”. More recently the positioning has become
more overt.
In trying to find new health directions for its another since they were perceived by consumers
Juicy Juice brand (see Case Study 1) Nestlé found as meeting the same need. So Nestlé decided to
that immunity was identified by mothers as the focus the positioning of the resulting product on
most important benefit for their two- to five-year- immunity rather than digestive health since, the
olds. company said, “For the parent, if it’s choosing
Interestingly, these mothers were also very between the need for having a healthy child who
concerned about digestion (see section 2.6 for a doesn’t get sick often, the benefits are tremendous
discussion of the as-yet untapped digestive health versus having a kid that’s constipated. If the child
opportunity), and as part of its development of is sick, you can’t take him to school or go to work
new extensions for Juicy Juice Nestlé formulated yourself, and you may not be getting paid and you
two separate products, one for immunity, one for need babysitting. So we wanted to lead with the
digestive health, and test-marketed them. immunity benefit because it was compelling to
But, Nestlé said, they in fact cannibalised one moms.”

Valio Dairy, in Finland, launched its Gefilus Kidius range in


2004. Kidius includes spoonable yoghurts, yoghurt drinks and
a snack cheese, called Magic Cheese. Three slices – or 30g
– of Magic Cheese, a lactose-free, low-fat Edam-style cheese,
contains enough LGG to boost kids’ natural defences, accord-
Actimel: the world’s biggest immunity brand ing to Valio.

www.new-nutrition.com
7
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

ZESPRI: MAKING IMMUNITY FUN


Zespri, the world’s largest kiwifruit
company, has moved its marketing
message beyond generalised wellness
benefits to the specific benefit
of “natural protection”, meaning
“immunity”, but in consumer
language.

These illustrations are stills from a


TV ad which the company used in
Taiwan, the first market where it tested
the “natural protection” message.

They bring to life in a vivid and


amusing way the benefit that eating
kiwifruit can help boost children’s
natural immunity against germs and
sicknesses.

The natural protection message is


being rolled out across Asia as a new
health benefit for kiwifruit.

www.new-nutrition.com
8
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

However, you don’t have to be a multinational It was therefore a logical step to extend Gefilus
to tap into the immunity opportunity. In Finland, to a kid-specific variant, called Gefilus Kidius, in
a country of 5 million people, Valio Dairy, the 2004. Kidius includes spoonable yoghurts, yoghurt
country’s biggest dairy group, has made a success of drinks and a snack cheese, called Magic Cheese.
immunity with its Gefilus Kidius probiotic range. Three slices – or 30g – of Magic Cheese, a lactose-
Valio introduced the Gefilus adult-oriented free, low-fat Edam-style cheese, contain enough
brand back in 1990. Its active ingredient is LGG LGG to boost kids’ natural defences, according to
(Lactobacillus Goldin & Gorbach), the world’s most- Valio. The range is also marketed with the tagline
researched probiotic bacteria. Valio holds the “as natural as it gets” .
global licensing rights to LGG, which can be found In yoghurt, Kidius sales volumes grew an
in dairy products in 27 countries, and has invested impressive 45% over the years 2004-2007 to 2.7
in clinical studies which have scientifically validated million kilogrammes. That’s a healthy figure in a
LGG’s benefits in relation to immunity. LGG is country with a population of just 5 million people.
particularly effective in supporting the health of It’s also a rate of growth far ahead of the low single-
infants and children, including reducing the risk of digit growth that characterises the adult yoghurt
allergies. market in Finland.

Immunity is a cross-cultural issue. Below is the image of the Actimel French family – and the American
family. The messages are the same because the consumer need is the same. Actimel (which is marketed
as DanActive in the US) rocketed to over $75 million in retail sales in its first three years on the market.
y y g
nsumer need is the same. Actimel (which is marketed as DanActive in th
rocketed to over $75 million in retail sales in its first three years on the

Source: www.actimel.com

www.new-nutrition.com
9
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

In 2008 Unilever attempted to bring together the


trends: Milk Time is a snack ice-cream, targeted at THE TECHNICAL CHALLENGE
the after-school snacking occasion. It aims to help
Aside from the challenge that you can’t “feel the
parents feel good about offering a snack that their benefit” of omega-3, the ingredient has three
children will eat and which is also healthy. distinct problems:
Milk Time is made with the probiotic bacteria Dosage: only a handful of countries have an
Bifidobacterium lactis BB12, which is described in RDI for omega-3 DHA/EPA but most have
a guideline for a healthy daily intake that’s
product literature as helping “support the body’s somewhere around 400mg-500mg a day. The
natural immunity”. The product is also prominently difficulty is that most omega-3 products deliver
flagged: “without artificial colours and flavours” . only around 100mg per serve. More than that
While immunity is the main area of focus, and many products start to have an “off-taste”
from the oil. No product can give you a quick fix
immunity and gut health are linked. The link of an effective daily dose.
between the health of a person’s gut and other Taste: the bigger the dose of omega-3 oil you
aspects of their health is only just starting to add to a product the worse it tastes and the
be understood by science. What is beginning more technically difficult it is to add the omega-
3 and keep it stable in the product. In fact,
to be revealed is that the gut influences our
most omega-3 products, and particularly dairy
health, wellbeing and resistance to disease to an and juice products, have an unappealing oily
extraordinary extent. taste even at low dosages.
So powerful is the emerging evidence that it Shelf-life: Omega-3 oil breaks down quickly,
resulting in bad tastes and smells, and as a
prompted Dr. Michael Gershon, a professor of
result it is usually only used in products with a
anatomy and cell biology at Columbia Presbyterian short shelf-life.
Medical Center in New York, to choose the title
The Second Brain: A Groundbreaking New Understanding Juicy Juice brand that carries the claim: “DHA – A
of Nervous Disorders of the Stomach and Intestine for his building block for brain development” (see Case
latest book, in which he sets out the role that “the Study 1).
brain in the gut” plays in human happiness and As yet, though, sales of omega-3 products have
misery. The term “The Second Brain” today has not fulfilled the expectations that have been held
respectability enough to be in widespread usage in up for them in recent years. There may have been
the scientific community. a wealth of new product launches in recent years,
The large intestine plays a central role in but few have made much progress in any category
maintaining the body’s defences against harmful or in any country.
bacteria and viruses and in the control of energy That said, two types of omega-3 product are
intake and the metabolism of fat and glucose. making headway. The first is omega-3 brands
In the years to come we are likely to see an
increasing focus on children’s immune and digestive
health (see section 2.6) from an increasing number
of brands.

2.3 Consumers want omega-3


“naturally” or from an “expert
brand”
Omega-3 and its benefits for child health has been
a significant focus for childrens’ food and beverage
development.
Nestlé found that mothers are now used to
the idea of feeding their infants formula that is
fortified with DHA and concluded that the idea
of providing the same benefit to their toddlers
would be appealing, leading to an extension of its

www.new-nutrition.com
10
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

UNILEVER’S AMAZE BRAINFOOD: THE OMEGA-3 EXPERT BRAND

In Asia, awareness of omega-3 is higher than in the West and parents’ desire to invest in their children’s
mental development – and thus their school performance – is also higher than in the West. As a result,
the inclusion of omega-3 has become a category standard for infant formula and milks for young
children. Beyond these products omega-3 hasn’t made much headway in the market – and indeed the
benefits of omega-3 are regarded as “old news” in many parts of Asia.

Given the receptiveness of Asian markets to omega-3, it isn’t surprising that Unilever chose India and
Turkey – not Europe or the US – for the launch of its children’s Amaze Brainfood range.

In 2008 Unilever launched Amaze in India, following what was reportedly a successful first year of
sales in Turkey. Intended for children aged six to 12, the range includes Brainy Bars, Brainy Bites (an
“any time snack”) and Smart Mix, a powder to be added to milk. The Turkish market also has an RTD
flavoured milk variant of Amaze.

Unilever’s approach makes omega-3’s benefits for children’s learning and development the key benefit
of the Amaze brand. Its ambition is clearly to set up Amaze as the “expert brand” – the one that
parents associate most closely with the benefits of omega-3 and trust most to deliver the benefit.

Amaze promises that it gives children “33% of their daily required dosage of brain nutrients for mental
development”, including protein, vitamins A and C and omega-3 and omega-6. Levels of sugars,
sodium and saturated and trans-fat have been kept to a minimum following WHO dietary guidelines. A
large part of the Indian population is vegetarian and Amaze is a 100% vegetarian product. In contrast to
the Turkish products, they do not contain DHA from fish oil.

Amaze has been supported in India with a massive marketing campaign, which includes TV
commercials, sampling and PR, primarily targeting mothers. Experience in Turkey, says Unilever, is
that mothers need education on the nutritional needs of kids and the importance of nutrients for brain
development before they can judge how Amaze can assist them in getting a daily dose of these into
their children.

Unilever’s strategy of creating a focused “expert brand” is one that has already proven successful in
other categories (think of Yakult and digestive health or Red Bull and energy drinks). As the world faces
a recession, the brands that succeed will be those that hold similar strong positions in the minds of
consumers.

For many omega-3 foods and beverages, one challenge will be that they do not offer any health benefits
that consumers can quickly see or feel (unlike products for digestive health and energy drinks). In a
recession such products are at a disadvantage and many such brands could suffer.

Every pack carries the “Amaze promise”: We are parents too, and we realize that brain development is essential for our children
to have a bright future. As scientists we know that special brain nutrients can help in a child’s mental development. That’s why we
specifically designed Amaze Brainfood. Each serving contains the right type of brain nutrients, in the right combination, giving children
33% of their daily required dosage of brain nutrients for mental development, as depicted in the nutritional information table.

www.new-nutrition.com
11
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

SOME RULES FOR SUCCESS IN OMEGA-3

1. Use technology that gives an “effective dose” of omega-3.

2. Be an expert brand – make the kid-specific benefits of omega-3 the total focus of your brand
proposition.

3. Support your brand and help your consumer develop their knowledge with a significant investment in
education and marketing.

4. Focus on single-serve, ultra-convenient products.

that define themselves clearly as “expert brands” Yakult-like product that delivers all of your daily
supporting children’s healthy brain development. needs of omega-3 in one convenient, single-serve
The second is products that offer the benefits in an product then that will be something at last tailored
“all-natural” way (such as fish). to the needs of consumers.
Advances in technology that allow higher “doses” It’s just this approach which is being taken by the
of omega-3 may create new opportunities. There fledgling Smartfish brand (Case Study 2), marketed
are some exceptions: in Canada Danone’s Danino in Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Norway.
omega-3 yoghurt range has made a good impact Smartfish offers the benefits of an effective dose of
in the kids’ sector. Canada is one of the strictest marine omega-3s – 470mg per 200ml serve of its
countries in the world in terms of health claims juice drink – which is aimed at the niche of health-
but it allows products fortified with DHA to make knowledgeable consumers who are motivated by
a health claim. the benefits of omega-3 for their children.
What omega-3 needs if it is to be as successful as The company says its patented encapsulation
probiotics is the development of a technology that process prevents fish oil from oxidizing, enabling
overcomes the taste and shelf-life problems to allow it to make a virtue of taste, freshness and high
a dosage of 400mg to be delivered in a single-serve dosage.
product. If a branded foods company can create a

SUPAJUS OMEGA-3 JUICE DRINK

After it launched Supajus, the UK’s first-ever juice drink fortified with marine
omega-3s, the company behind the brand patiently spent 18 months
learning how to market a novel omega-3 product. One key lesson was that
the most enthusiastic consumers were health-conscious mothers keen to
get omega-3 in a good-tasting way into kids who wouldn’t eat fish or swallow
supplements.

Many companies are learning the hard way that growing sales of new
products fortified with marine omega-3 is not the cake-walk that is usually
portrayed by some industry analysts. “These things take a lot longer than
anyone realizes,” explained Gerry Dunn, managing director of the Natural
Fruit & Beverage Company, a privately-held company based in central
Scotland, which – in partnership with Scottish company NP Biotech Ltd
– created Supajus, a marine omega-3 fortified orange juice which was the
first product of its kind on the UK market.

Dunn said frankly in 2006 that sales of Supajus were modest by the
standards of big companies. But his company was focusing on learning
how to manage an omega-3 fortified brand and on refining the product and
the marketing messages, based on market feedback, initially selling only
through independent channels – notably a national listing with Holland &
Barrett, the UK’s biggest health food store chain – before moving on to a
listing with one of the big grocery multiples and a mass-market debut.

www.new-nutrition.com
12
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

For one thing, increasing media and industry interest in omega-3 was helping to fill Supajus’s sails, said
Dunn: “The more products there are the more that builds awareness and helps the whole category”.

“We’ve made the mention of omega-3 more prominent on the packaging every time we re-printed it,”
he added. “Brands like Muller Vitality with omega-3 [a 100ml daily-dose omega-3 dairy drink] – we
take our hats off to them. They’re not putting in as much DHA as we are proportionately but it tastes
great and their advertising of omega-3 helps raise people’s awareness and when they taste the product
and it’s great that takes away the ‘fishy’ objections some people have. That helps us. The launch of St.
Ivel omega-3 milk has also got a lot of attention.”

Marketed with the tagline of “The Think Drink”, Supajus is a 50% orange juice drink packed in a
250ml foil pouch, with a re-sealable cap, and intended primarily for kids. Each pack delivers 100mg of
DHA and 50mg of EPA, giving totally 150mg of omega-3s, which are supplied by Numega Ingredients,
a Brisbane, Australia headquartered company that is a leading supplier of marine DHA.

The product was developed jointly over a two-year period with NP Biotech, a Scottish-based
biotechnology company which specialises in DHA fortification. Dunn emphasized that a significant part
of the product development effort went into getting a good-tasting product that compared with regular
orange juice drinks.

Supajus promotions have focused on DHA, rather than the broader term omega-3, when describing
the product, and communication leaflets talk about its vital role in the health of our “Brains, Eyes,
Concentration, Circulation”.

Supajus garnered some good PR following its launch – among other things, coming joint-first in a
survey of beverages conducted by a leading nutritionist and published in British daily newspaper the
Daily Mirror.

Dunn noted in 2006 that although his brand was aiming to move into the mainstream, the first
consumers to adopt Supajus had been “people that already understand the benefit of omega-3. We
have a small dedicated band of customers – people who have a problem with hyperactivity or autism in
their family or people who are strongly aware of omega-3’s benefits but their kids won’t eat fish or take
capsules.

“A lot of our customers are parents with children who don’t like taking capsules,” he added, and
agrees that for these customers, Supajus is as much a dietary supplement as a drink.

A number of changes have been made to Supajus and an additional flavour, apple and blackcurrant,
has been added.

“And we altered the formulation of the orange juice product since we started,” said Dunn. “We started
using sugar as an ingredient, for technical reasons, but we got negative feedback and replaced it with
fructose – chemically it’s not different but perceptually it’s different. We got a good response to the
change”.

There have also been changes to the packaging: “The 250ml pouch package we use has been good
for us. Currently we have a 250ml single-serve but we’re next going to do a multi-pack of three 200ml
stand-up pouches – lunchbox packs. But most juice is sold in 1-litre cartons and the feedback we had
from Tesco [the largest UK grocery chain] was that they wanted a 1-litre pack so we will need to do that
next to get into the mainstream”.

“The key thing,” concluded Dunn, “is that people are buying Supajus, paying 79p ($1.38/€1.15) a
pack and they are coming back and buying it again and again. We just need to get into a multiple now
and the volume will grow”.

www.new-nutrition.com
13
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

2.4 Fruit and water cutting already fine profit margins even finer. Fruit’s
intrinsically healthy halo is enough on its own to
As already stated, the message that a food or food appeal to consumers.
component is naturally and intrinsically healthy Convenience: Fruit drinks are perceived by
is one of the most persuasive in food marketing. consumers as providing all the benefits and taste
Moreover, to a small but significant band of of fruit with none of the mess and inconvenience
consumers in most countries, the word “natural” of peeling. And, of course, the fruit comes in a
automatically means “healthy”. convenient portable form.
More than any other food type, fruit has a halo This combination of extreme convenience and
of natural health. It’s seen by health-conscious health is a persuasive selling message for fruit
consumers as one of very few things they can indulge drinks, many of which are increasingly positioned
in without guilt. Fruit’s health halo is constantly as delivering the benefit of one or more of your
being polished by a steady stream of news about recommended five servings a day of fruit and
fruit’s benefits, such as fibre and antioxidants, and vegetables (see the examples of Knorr Vie on page
by public health campaigns such as “5-a-day” that 15, and also Fruit Shoot juice in Case Study 3).
remind us in the supermarket and in the media that As Elizabeth Pivonka, president of the US
we need to consume fruit to maintain health. Fruit Produce for Better Health Foundation which runs
scientists and celebrity nutritionists alike support the 5-a-day consumer education campaign, put
fruit’s “all natural” health benefits. it: “One of the main reasons consumers don’t eat
There’s no denying that fruit is a credible carrier more fruit is that they say they’re not convenient.”
of health messages, and juice makers have been To this, adds fruit marketing guru Professor David
particularly successful in combining convenience, Hughes, Emeritus Professor of Food Marketing at
health, and taste in consumers’ minds. The Imperial College London and director of KG
marketing power of fruit’s “naturally healthy” Fruits, Europe’s largest berry fruit company: “Fresh
image is good news for the juice industry, since profit products are not in the formats that meet people’s
margins are often too thin to allow the addition of lifestyle needs. As a result the value that the fresh
expensive ingredients without either raising the fruit industry should be capturing is being stolen by
selling price to very high levels – as Nestlé has consumer goods companies. In what form do you
had to do for its Juicy Juice Brain Development think people under 35 will eat fruit and vegetables?
and Immunity products (see Case Study 1) which More than half – maybe much more – will be in
retail at a 50% premium to its regular juices – or processed formats.”

www.new-nutrition.com
14
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

UNILEVER PUTS KID ANGLE ON DAILY DOSE FRUIT DRINK

Unilever’s Knorr Vie daily dose drink, which promises to give you 50% of your daily requirement of fruits
and vegetables in a single 100ml bottle, was last year extended to include a kid-specific product. Called
Knorr Vie Kidz, it was launched in the Netherlands and Belgium with further European launches to
follow.

Unilever says that Knorr Vie Kidz has been formulated specifically to meet the taste preferences of
children and it is intended as a healthy snack which also helps parents get into their children their daily
requirement of 200g of vegetables and fruit.

Communications emphasise that Kidz is not intended to replace fruits and vegetables, but should be
used as a supplement on top of the normal consumption of vegetables and fruit or to help parents on
those days when a child doesn’t get enough to eat. Unilever is also clearly targeting “picky eaters” – a
distinct group identified in many companies’ consumer research – who refuse to eat vegetables or fruit.

The product is described as containing 100% natural ingredients with no added sugars and
preservatives and naturally rich in vitamin C (each 100ml bottle provides 50% of the recommended
daily value). The packages carry the “I choose wisely” logo (in Dutch: Ik kies bewust), which is carried
by brands in the Netherlands that meet independently-established healthy eating criteria.

Knorr Vie Kidz is available in two flavours: banana-peach-pumpkin and banana-carrot-passionfruit. It


retails in a pack of three 100ml bottles at a price of €1.99 ($2.94) per pack, compared to €1.89 ($2.79)
for regular Knorr Vie.

Launched in 2005, the Knorr Vie brand can be found in ten European countries. In some it has been
successful, such as Belgium, which has a
population of just 10 million and where in its first
year the brand earned €5.5 million ($8.1 million)
in retail sales. Ik ben gek op pompoen
In the larger market of the Netherlands the
... nu ie naar perzik smaakt.
Daarom zijn kinderen zo gek op Knorr Vie Kidz. Elk flesje
is een extra portie groenten en fruit.
Gemaakt van 50% van de groenten en fruit die
iedereen - volgens aanbevelingen van internationale
deskundigen - elke dag nodig heeft. Zonder kunstmatige voedings-
ingrediënten, zonder toegevoegde suikers en
brand appears to have reached over €10 million En zo lekker dat zelfs het meest kieskeurige
kind er gek op is.
... zonder stukjes.

($14.8 million) in retail sales – at best – in 2006.


But in 2007 sales declined.

As Knorr Vie is a super-premium product, priced


at €6.30 ($9.30) per litre – compared to around
€2.70 ($3.90) a litre for Tropicana juice – the
volume sold is very small, perhaps less than 2
million litres a year (compared to a total Dutch
juice market of over 400 million litres), making
Knorr Vie a true niche brand.

The kids market is a core target for Unilever


which uses a consumer segmentation model
called the Unilever Vitality Life Goals Model as
the basis for all its strategy, product development Knorr Vie Kidz.
rs.
door moede
Goedgekeurd
and consumer targeting. The model includes
Geliefd bij
a segment called Give Children a Good Start,
which recognizes parents’ increasing desire to,
“give their children a good start so that they will
be healthy, happy and successful in later life.” Advertising for Knorr Vie Kidz in the Netherlands carries the
tagline: Approved by mothers. Liked by kids.

www.new-nutrition.com
15
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Water: We bracket together fruit with water not manufacturers must use packaging to project
only because water is a significant component of themselves into the market.
most fruit drinks but because plain bottled water These simple rules mean that no matter how
has little hope of making significant inroads in much science your functional or healthy juice
the kids market. It is hard to achieve any point drink has behind it, no matter how much you have
of difference with a plain water – and in many spent on R&D or on advertising, your product’s
countries tap water now also has the advantage of packaging must also perform as an equally potent
a better environmental image. part of the product mix.
Children – just like adults – like flavour and get There’s no finer example of this innovation
bored with drinking plain water. They like sweetness strategy in action than Case Study 4, Y Water,
and they like fruit flavours, and hence even waters which illustrates how a start-up brand has made
must offer some of these advantages of fruit if they differentiation through packaging innovation a
are to have any hope of capturing market share. key part of its strategy. It remains to be seen how
It’s therefore no accident that in every single one successful the Y Water brand will be – or whether it
of our case studies the beverage is either a fruit can succeed – but it has certainly thus far established
drink or one that uses fruit flavours. The successful excellent distribution for itself as a result of its point
“spring water” in Case Study 3 – Fruit Shoot – is of difference at a time when many other start-ups
actually a fruit-flavoured water. A large part of its that have failed to use packaging differentiation
success is because it gives the target market of struggle to survive.
eight-year-olds “a taste delivery that appeals to their Packaging innovations and strongly differentiated
palate”, in the words of the company behind the packaging design helps brands achieve better
brand. The embryonic Y Water brand (see Case market positioning and thus achieve premium
Study 4) is also a flavoured water brand. prices. Putting your new product in a standard 1-
The presence of fruit flavours enables beverage litre gable-top carton makes your product look like
formulators to mask the tastes of added ingredients every other brand on the shelf, making it harder for
– such as vitamins and minerals – and they are it to stand out and making it much more difficult
especially valuable in making palatable drinks with – if not impossible – to achieve a price premium,
difficult-tasting ingredients such as marine omega- since “standard packaging” enables consumers to
3s (see Case Study 2: Smartfish). easily compare prices between your product and
In short, fruit drinks and fruit flavours have all the regular products.
advantages in terms of image, flavour, consumer Some of the most successful brands of the
appeal and making the beverage formulator’s life adult functional foods market have been the most
an easier one. innovative in terms of their packaging while being
relatively low in innovation in terms of their
2.5 Packaging innovation science. Red Bull, Yakult, Danone Actimel – all of
these brands have given birth to new categories on
It’s one of the most important laws of food the strength of strikingly innovative packaging. It
marketing that you use packaging design to capture was innovative packaging which, in all these cases,
the consumer’s attention. After all, the average announced to consumers that these companies were
supermarket stocks some 20,000 items and a shopper creating a new category (respectively, energy drinks
can pass by 300 items per minute. For the few items and probiotic dairy drinks) quite unlike anything
they actually pick up and look at they will devote on else on the shelf. And while Yakult and Actimel are
average five seconds deciding to buy or not. In this both brands with scientific credentials, essentially
intensely competitive environment the package is what they offer – the health benefits of probiotics
the brand owner’s last chance to influence buyers. It – was not so very innovative, since probiotic
becomes a “five second commercial”, as marketing products have been around in one form or another
guru Philip Kotler puts it. for a long time (in Europe and Asia at least). What
Research shows that a sizeable percentage of was innovative was the highly convenient daily-dose
buyers can be deflected at the last minute from format (65ml or 100ml bottles) in which these two
buying their usual brand if their eye is caught brands delivered the benefit.
by a well-designed competing brand. Hence Yet if you measure the time spent within

www.new-nutrition.com
16
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

companies, or at industry conferences, in discussion the market is now 20 years old, it’s products for
about the two subjects of, on the one hand, the digestive health that still dominate, accounting for
science of functional ingredients and, on the other, 64% of all sales of functional foods. In Europe it’s
packaging, you would almost certainly find that the a similar story, with probiotic dairy products for
discussion weighted overwhelmingly in favour of digestive health dominating. In the US, too, thanks
science. That isn’t surprising, but the balance needs to the rapid success of Danone’s Activia brand,
to be corrected, for what use is a heavy investment digestive health is on track to rival energy as the
in science if the package it is delivered in arouses biggest segment of the market.
only a yawn from consumers? Children have as much need for good digestive
So one of the most vital questions to ask – ranking health as adults. As Paula Krebs, a spokesperson
equally with “What can I claim for this ingredient?” for Nestlé USA, says in Case Study 1: “Regularity
and “How much scientific evidence is there for its is a big issue with kids. Enterologists actually have
benefits?” – is “How does our packaging help the said that chronic constipation is one of the largest
consumer use our product when and where they childhood maladies that parents face. So a digestion
need it?” benefit would address a key issue for parents.”
The evolution of the type of packaging formats As an ingredient, fruit – and fibre from fruit, such
in which you offer your product can also have the as pectin – has a lot of advantages in relation to
effect of helping the market to evolve. A wider digestive health. Fruit juice appeals to all types of
range of packaging options makes consumption consumers, has little or no negatives associated with
easier for different groups of people – each of it and has the advantage that in the consumer’s mind
which will have different consumption needs. It fruit is already associated in a natural and credible
widens the appeal, increases consumer familiarity way with the fibre/digestive-health message: fruits
with your brand and its benefits and so results in such as fig, pear, prune, plum, kiwi, rhubarb – and
increased consumption. many others – have a traditional association with
In the words of the song (as sung in the 1980s digestive health in many countries.
by all-girl group Bananarama): “It ain’t what you Fruit-based digestive health drinks for children
do it’s the way that you do it … that’s what gets might be a niche, but there are many opportunities
results.” in terms of ingredient choice and for the brand that
can create and dominate it, that niche could be a
2.6 Digestive health for kids – the very profitable one.
Probiotic fruit drinks for digestive health:
untapped opportunity for fibre and Today, the dairy sector effectively owns the digestive-
probiotics? health message (via probiotic yoghurts and dairy
drinks), but there’s no reason why such a monopoly
Like all good ideas, the notion of juice drinks for should persist indefinitely. For the segment of
digestive health is a very simple one and has in fact consumers who want digestive health benefits but
been around for a long time – since at least 1994 want them in a non-dairy form, there are in most
in Europe and since 1988 in Japan. It was digestive countries almost no alternatives – and certainly
health that actually started the market trends none that could be said to be convenient.
that we have today. In the mid-1980s a Japanese Dairy products have in many ways captured the
government report called for more fibre in the high ground of health, but there are significant
Japanese diet. This in turn led to the launch of the groups of consumers, particularly in Asia and
first functional food, Calpis’ Fibe-Mini brand – a Africa, who perceive dairy products as having
fruit juice with added fibre – in 1988. disadvantages in terms of their content of fat or
Looking at supermarket sales figures it’s clear lactose or who just want to have a plant-based diet
that digestive health is one of consumers’ main or who simply aren’t used to the taste of dairy.
concerns worldwide. Products with digestive health In Sweden and Japan fruit drinks for digestive
benefits massively outsell those for heart health health – the ProViva brand in Sweden and the
and it’s worth bearing in mind that in the home Kagome Labre brand in Japan – have proven
of functional foods, Japan, where the whole successful. These brands are targeted at adults, but
“functional food” concept was created and where there is clearly a gap in the market to bring the

www.new-nutrition.com
17
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

same benefit in beverages targeted at kids. – and its confusing similarity to probiotic – in
Fibre for kids: As well as an untapped connection with its Juicy Juice brand: “They know
opportunity for probiotic juices there is scope for that the two have similar functions, but do consumers
doing more with fibre, which is increasingly used as fully understand what they are?” In Europe
a selling point in other categories with a health halo. several brands have already tried unsuccessfully
The digestive health message is, for example, being to target the adult market with products marketed
used increasingly by breakfast cereals. Kellogg is as “prebiotic”; most have failed to make much
enhancing the fibre content of all of its cereals to headway. Some companies have abandoned their
the point that 80% of its cereals will be “at least prebiotic marketing efforts.
good to excellent sources of fibre” by the end of It makes more sense in terms of ease of consumer
2009. Kids, through their parents, are an important communication to use the more familiar and easily-
part of Kellogg’s fibre initiative. In fact its most understood term “fibre”. Fibre is something every
popular children’s cereals – such as Froot Loops mother knows that both they and their child
and Apple Jacks – are the first to get a high-fibre need more of, and there’s widespread awareness
makeover. that modern diets are deficient in fibre. Boosting
While it may be tempting to talk about “prebiotic the fibre content of beverages so they deliver an
fibre” as the active ingredient in a kids’ beverage “effective dose” while still tasting good is a technical
the term “prebiotic” is probably too new for most challenge but one that some companies are working
markets. As Case Study 1 shows, Nestlé USA on (see Case Study 7).
recognizes the problem with the term prebiotic

www.new-nutrition.com
18
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

A check-list for kids’ beverage success

While it’s a necessary first step, identifying the simply put a product on the shelf and expect
health concerns that you intend to target is only it to sell are over. Brands that don’t work
a very small part of creating success in the kids’ hard to communicate, particularly in the still-
nutritional marketplace. embryonic and intensely competitive kids’
Your success in creating a kids’ beverage brand market, die. One of the most-powerful and
will depend on your competence in executing a cost-effective tools is sampling, especially in
successful product; a successful package design; a places where kids will be with their parents (so
health benefit that is relevant to, and understood that they can tell their parents straight away
by, mothers; and an ingredient which mothers will how much they like the taste of your product).
accept. All of these factors, of course, will need to Sampling is by far the most-effective marketing
be heralded by a successful marketing strategy. technique. As a senior Danone executive put it:
An analysis of the companies’ brands profiled “Advertising creates awareness, but sampling
in this report makes it possible to create a check- creates purchase.”
list which could help create the perfect children’s
nutritional product. 7. Marketed with a budget big enough to
have an impact. Half-measures get half-results
Such a product would ideally be: (or worse).

1. Fruit based or able to talk about its fruit 8. Targeted at mothers, rather than children.
content or flavours. Mothers are the gatekeepers of their children’s
health. For kids, marketing is in the great-
2. As natural as possible, with no artificial tasting product and the eye-catching packaging.
preservatives, colours or sweeteners. Messages about your product’s health benefits,
naturalness and convenience should be targeted
3. Free from added sugar. Apple or pear juice at mothers.
concentrate would appear as a sweetener, or
perhaps fructose. 9. Tested to breaking point by at least 100 children
in the target age-group. Only when 80% of
4. One which has clear health benefits that can them say they want the product and love its
be easily understood by mothers and is relevant taste should you go ahead. Developed after
to their children. While it’s recommended that extensive qualitative, in-depth research
your product be as natural as possible, if you of your target market and their mothers.
want to deliver a health benefit from an added Become an expert in what they believe, when,
ingredient, the ingredient should be one that where and how they use your product – or why
mothers accept and understand. they don’t.

5. Packaged with an eye-catching design that If you can accomplish many or most of these you
communicates your brand is healthy, fun, might well build a successful kids’ healthy beverage.
natural. If you are not doing most of the things on the list
above, then you should be asking yourself why, since
6. Supported by an integrated marketing these seem, again and again, to be the questions
effort. The days when companies could successful kids’ brand owners ask themselves.

www.new-nutrition.com
19
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

CHART 3: HOW DOES YOUR KIDS’ PRODUCT MEASURE UP AGAINST THE CHECKLIST?

1. Fruit content/ fruit flavour

2. As “Natural” as possible

3. Free from added sugar

4. Clear health benefit that mothers understand

5. Eye-catching packaging

6. Marketed with sufficient budget

7. Targeted at mothers, not just children

8. Taste-tested on kids

If you score less than 7 you may need to


rethink your product development plan
Final score out of 8

www.new-nutrition.com
20
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Case Studies

www.new-nutrition.com
21
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Immunity and omega-3


case studies

www.new-nutrition.com
22
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Case Study 1: Nestlé Juicy Juice

Nestlé USA has introduced two kids’ juices targeting are interested in an allergy-relief – or, hopefully,
specific health benefits – brain development and allergy-prevention – type of product.”
immunity – under its Juicy Juice brand. Commanding In the meantime, Nestlé means to glean some
a 50% premium over regular varieties, the juices are profits, or at least recover its additional costs, from
to be followed by other single-function varieties. the first two entries in the Juicy Juice diversification
Juicy Juice, Nestlé’s US children’s juice brand, effort, Brain Development and Immunity. The
has become the first major player in the segment brand is charging a stiff price premium of around
to target specialized nutritional functionalities, with 50% for them compared with its multi-serve bottles
the pricey new products in a distinctive new multi- of regular Juicy Juice varieties.
serve Tetra Pak size and shape. Both Juicy Juice Brain Development, which
And while Nestlé has deliberately stopped short features DHA omega-3s, and Immunity, which touts
of creating a sub-brand to cover the new products prebiotic fibre and essential nutrients, are retailing
– Juicy Juice Brain Development and Juicy Juice for a suggested price of $2.99 (€2.19) for a 33-ounce
Immunity – a senior brand executive said that a bottle, or about nine cents an ounce, while regular
string of other varieties focused on single functions varieties retail for around $3.60 (€2.64) for a 64-
is in the works, beginning with a third product to be ounce bottle, less than six cents an ounce.
introduced next year. That premium is all the more remarkable because,
“This is a line built to be about benefits for kids unlike regular Juicy Juice varieties, the two new
especially under six years of age,” said Victoria products are diluted, containing only 70% juice
Nuevo-Celeste, Juicy Juice marketing manager for and 30% water, because Nestlé wanted to lower the
Glendale, California-based Nestlé USA. While she sugar content and calories of the new drinks.
declined to identify which specific nutritional need “It costs more for the ingredients,” noted
the brand would target next, she did cite some Pamela Krebs, a Nestlé USA spokeswoman. One
that Nestlé is studying. The company also plans to example: the brain-development product includes
introduce single-serve versions next year. microencapsulated fish-oil omega-3s provided by
“Bones and teeth are areas of importance for Ocean Nutrition.
moms,” Nuevo-Celeste said. “Recharging and Nestlé bought Juicy Juice 12 years ago and has
energy-related products as well. Allergies also are grown the brand rather conventionally since then,
coming to the top, and more and more moms retailing it in both multi-serve bottles and single-

Nestlé Juicy Juice aims to be the “expert brand” for parents of children aged 1-6

www.new-nutrition.com
23
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

serve juice boxes. Like other juice brands, Juicy nutrients. As always, no added sugars, artificial flavors
Juice has battled parents’ increasing concerns about or preservatives.
sugar content and calories.
Managers decided to attack the sugar and calories Brain development key for toddlers
issues as well as add specific functionalities that
would differentiate the brand. Deciding to dilute Then Juicy Juice managers had to decide what
the new products was the easy part. benefits to feature. They quickly determined that
“Whether their kids are under two, or two to five they would aim different benefits at mothers of
years old, or six-plus,” Nuevo-Celeste said, “if we kids aged two and under, and at mothers of kids
asked them what benefits most interested in them two to five.
in foods or beverages, low sugar and extra calcium For the toddlers, brain development quickly
were the things they were most interested in across emerged as an obvious choice. “It is a well-
the board. So we decided to make the products differentiated benefit,” Nuevo-Celeste explained,
lower in sugar. It’s harder to differentiate by adding “and moms have a great focus on that. From toys to
calcium because other products in the marketplace videos to food, it’s such a crucial point in a child’s
are doing that.” life to make sure that the brain develops correctly.
Juice Juice products’s over-arching brand message That was the benefit [moms] were most interested
is: in.”
Naturally Lower in Sugar: With filtered water to Moreover, most moms are used to the idea of
lower the natural sugar content, and enhanced with feeding their infants formula that is enhanced with

JUICY JUICE IMMUNITY INGREDIENTS & NUTRITION FACTS

JUICE JUICE BRAIN DEVELOPMENT INGREDIENTS & NUTRITION FACTS

www.new-nutrition.com
24
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

DHA, so the notion of carrying over that benefit moms identified for their two- to five-year-olds.
to toddlers would be appealing, the company But they also were concerned about digestion.
concluded. “Regularity is a big issue with kids,” Krebs said.
“Though eventually DHA gets produced by our “Enterologists actually have said that chronic
own bodies,” Nuevo-Celeste explained, “at the constipation is one of the largest childhood maladies
point where Mom weans her baby off of infant that parents face. So a digestion benefit would
formula, there’s a bit of a [DHA] deficiency. And address a key issue for parents.”
it’s such an important element of the human brain Juicy Juice formulated two separate products, one
that we thought it would be perfect, in the first juice for each benefit, and test-marketed them. “But they
for a child under two, to add DHA.” cannibalized each other because they almost met
Juicy Juice Brain Development is available in the same need,” Nuevo-Celeste explained. “And
Apple and Grape flavours and contains 16mg of since they almost met the same need, we decided to
DHA per serving and the front of the pack states put them together.”
prominently: They decided to lead the positioning of the
DHA – A building block for brain development resulting product with immunity rather than
digestive health for a couple of reasons. “It came
“We’re not trying to be the sole source of DHA up as a more interesting and appealing benefit” to
that a child needs,” Krebs explained. For one thing, the moms who were surveyed, Nuevo-Celeste said.
some children under two years old might still be “For the parent, if it’s choosing between the need
breast feeding, and some may be eating cereal. for having a healthy child who doesn’t get sick often,
“But we’re the first in our segment to figure out [the benefits] are tremendous versus having a kid
how to [get DHA into the product] and still have a who isn’t constipated. If the child is sick, you can’t
great taste,” Nuevo-Celeste said. take him to school or go to work yourself, and you
may not be getting paid and you need babysitting.
Rolling digestive and immunity So we wanted to lead with the immunity benefit
because it was more compelling to moms.”
benefits together Second, the company learned, from the test
market, more about the challenges of marketing
Things got pricklier as executives specified what
digestive benefits to Americans. “It’s not as
benefits Juicy Juice would deliver to older kids.
appetizing as immunity,” Krebs said.
They settled on digestive health and buttressing the
What’s more, Juicy Juice faced the challenge of
child’s immune system.
having to explain what prebiotic fibre is all about
Immunity was the most important benefit that

Latest 52 Weeks Ending Mar 22, 2009 Dollar Sales Sales % change % market share of
compared to previous segment
year
NESTLE JUICY JUICE ASEPTIC JUICES $87,294,220 7.34 38.48
NESTLE JUICY JUICE CANNED FRUIT JUICE $5,823,589 (6.27) 2.85
NESTLE JUICY JUICE SS BOTTLED APPLE JUICE $43,014,680 16.60 7.78
NESTLE JUICY JUICE SS BOTTLED FRUIT JUICE BLEND $55,993,420 8.86 13.35
NESTLE JUICY JUICE SS BOTTLED GRAPE JUICE $20,619,130 7.74 8.03
Total $212,745,039
Calendar Year 2004
JUICY JUICE J MAX ASEPTIC JUICES $2,552,562 (58.28) 1.38
NESTLE JUICY JUICE CANNED FRUIT JUICE $9,722,995 (15.58) 4.41
NESTLE JUICY JUICE SS BOTTLED APPLE JUICE $30,565,680 14.77 5.66
NESTLE JUICY JUICE SS BOTTLED FRUIT JUICE BLEND $53,886,610 18.78 22.38
NESTLE JUICY JUICE SS BOTTLED GRAPE JUICE $18,720,720 6.85 7.48
JUICY JUICE J MAX SS BOTTLED OTHER FRUIT JUICE $1,363,872 (37.71) 5.71
Total $114,259,877

www.new-nutrition.com
25
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

to a public that has little understanding of the and must be replenished.


general concept – much less the difference between While Nestlé refrained from creating a sub-brand
prebiotics and the probiotics that they hear more for the new products, it has introduced unique
about. packaging. One reason, Nuevo-Celeste said, is that
“They know the two have similar functions, but they had to use packaging that would protect the
do [consumers] fully understand what they are?” DHA in Brain Development from light.
Nuevo-Celeste said. “We’re not sure. One of our So Tetra came up with a large, 33.8-ounce (1-
goals is to make sure that across our touch points, litre) “juice box” without a straw. As contrasted with
we are able to communicate what prebiotic is.” most multi-serve juice products, this package is tall
Juicy Juice Immunity, which communicates on and skinny with a Prisma, not rectangular, shape.
the front of the pack that it Helps Support Immunity, Nestlé’s distribution of the new products is
is available in Apple and Berry flavours. It features national, and marketing includes all traditional
gum acacia as the prebiotic fibre. Nestlé said that media outlets as well as sampling and an online
children three to five years old consume only 11.4g presence which includes a Juicy Juice “channel” on
of fibre a day on average, while the recommended YouTube.com.
amount is 25g. With 3g of fibre per serving, the new Advertising will be product-specific but under
Juicy Juice contains an amount about equivalent to the Juicy Juice tagline of “The very best juice for
that found in a medium-sized apple. the very best kids”. Ads for Immunity, for example,
The drink also includes extra zinc and vitamin C, feature “kids sharing things, in playful ways – and
which the company said were essential nutrients for the many chances that they have to get bacteria in
kids because neither can be produced by the body their bodies,” Nuevo-Celeste said.

CHART 4: US SALES GROWTH OF JUICY JUICE

Nestlé has grown the Juicy Juice brand steadily in recent years and it is arguably the biggest kid-specific
juice brand in the US, competing with brands such as Capri Sun and Sunny Delight. The charts below
show sales for the variants of Juicy Juice.
TOTAL U.S. - F/D/Mx (Supermarkets, Drugstores, and Mass Merchandise Outlets (excluding Wal-Mart))

$87.29
90 90 (€64.39)

80 80

70 70
$53.88 $55.99
60 60
Sales (€39.75) Sales (€41.30)
US $ 50 US $ 50 $43.01
(million) (million) (€31.73)
40 $30.56 40
(€22.54)
30 30 $20.61
$18.72 (€15.20)
20 (€13.81) 20
$9.72
$2.55 (€7.17) $5.82
10 $1.36 10 (€4.29)
(€1.88) (€1.00)
0 0
s ic

ce

e
e
s

ce
ce

ott nd uit

ott nd uit
uic

uic
c
ce
ce pt

jui ed
jui

jui

jui
jui

jui
* b e ble d fr
jui ase

* b ble fr
it ttl
ej

ej
it

it

le
ple

SS ice tled
ce
fru * bo
ap

ap
tic
fru

ru
e

p
ax

ap
jui bott
ap

df
gr

gr
ep

ju ot
Jm

ed

As

*b
oth x S

e
led

led
ed
led
nn

nn
*
c

ttl
a
SS

SS
ott
Ca

Ca
Jm
er

bo
*b

*
SS

SS
SS

Calendar Year 2004 Latest 52 weeks March 22 2009

Source: Infoscan Reviews, Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) *SS = shelf stable

www.new-nutrition.com
26
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Case Study 2: Smartfish

Making a focus of the benefits of the high dose of Henrik Mathisen, who had identified omega 3 as
omega-3s used in its fruit juice brand, and finding a nutrient offering a good commercial opportunity.
a way to keep the omega 3 fresh, have been key to So sure were they that it was a good bet, in fact, that
the success of Pharmalogica in its initial markets they didn’t even bother carrying out any consumer
of Singapore, Hong Kong and China. Now the research.
drinks are enjoying increasing distribution in their “We just went with a gut feeling,” says Janne
homeland of Norway, just 18 months after their Sande Mathisen. “We were very interested in health
launch in January 2008. ourselves and we had read about omega 3. We felt
Norway’s Pharmalogica is not the first food it had a strong scientific base.”
manufacturer to add omega 3 to a fruit juice – and As parents to young children, the couple decided
it certainly won’t be the last. But the company to develop a range of good-tasting omega 3
is finding success by marking itself out from the supplements for kids, marketed on the basis that
competition with a focus on the freshness of the the fish oil they contained would remain fresh until
omega 3 ingredient it uses in its drinks range, and the point of consumption, thereby enhancing its
the high doses it includes. benefits.
Pharmalogica buys in salmon oil from fellow Mathisen was no stranger to the food industry,
Norwegian company Marine Harvest Ingredients having worked for Norwegian dairy co-operative
and encapsulates it in an emulsion in the juice. Tine before starting Pharmalogica. She was
There’s nothing unusual in that, perhaps. But the employed by Tine in a commercial role, but
process by which it does this, says the company, is worked closely with the company’s new product
unique and patent-protected and prevents fish oil development department. This gave her a taste of
– which is notoriously unstable – from oxidising. the importance of the technical aspects of creating
Pharmalogica says this is important because food and nutrition innovations.
studies have suggested that oxidised omega 3 is less With this in mind, the Mathisens established a
effective at providing health benefits than omega 3 scientific advisory board and set about developing
that is fresh. the technology to keep the omega 3 fresh –
Whether or not this is the case – and the
company is funding a major new trial in a bid to
prove it – Pharmalogica is enjoying brisk business
in its home market.
Since launching its range of Smartfish juices
– both adults’ and kids’ products – distribution
has increased dramatically, from 200 stores then
to 1,100 now, a number which includes the whole
Norwegian Co-op network and outlets owned by
supermarket operator Norges Gruppen.
Pharmalogica has also added a lightly carbonated
beverage to the range – Smartfish MyOmega – and
is planning new products with ingredients other
than omega 3. In addition, talks were at advanced
stages with potential distributors in the US and
Germany.
Despite being based in Oslo, Pharmalogica came
late to Norway’s grocery market, and its story
begins in Asia. The company was founded six years
ago by Janne Sande Mathisen and her husband

www.new-nutrition.com
27
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

something they achieved via the aforementioned With things ticking over nicely in Asia (although
patented process. Mathisen declines to reveal sales figures),
The first product they developed was a sachet Pharmalogica set about developing an omega 3
supplement – but it was not launched on its home concept for Western markets.
market. “The Norwegian market for supplements is The result was a range of Smartfish drinks for
crowded,” explains Mathisen. adults called Smartweek, and Smartfish drinks for
Instead, it was introduced in Singapore. As it children carrying Disney licenses Winnie the Pooh
turned out, the brother of one of the members and High School Musical. The drinks mix exotic
of Pharmalogica’s scientific advisory board had fruit flavours such as jackfruit, aronia, lychee and
a contact in the country who was keen on the pomegranate with tastes more familiar to northern
Smartfish concept. European consumers such as apple, pear and
It was as simple as that, and Mathisen admits mandarin.
that, at the time, she and her associates were “The drinks represented something very new so
playing things somewhat by ear. “We didn’t always we were prepared to launch them in Norway,” says
have a clear idea of where we would be in three Mathisen. “There is nothing else like this on the
years’ time,” she confesses. market here.”
But in spite of the apparent lack of strategic
planning, it soon became evident that the care High Omega 3 dose unique
put into developing the Smartfish brand and
the technical quality of the product were paying One of the things that makes Smartfish drinks stand
dividends. After a successful launch in Singapore out, Pharmalogica believes, is the high dosages
in 2003, the supplements were rolled out to Hong of omega 3 in the drinks. The adult product
Kong and, just recently, China. They are also being Smartweek, and the new MyOmega, contain
sold in South Africa. 940mg – about double the generally accepted

Smartfish does not try to hide the fact it contains fish oil – a turn-off for some consumers – as this advert for MyOmega shows.

www.new-nutrition.com
28
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

recommended intake for an adult (although there


are no official recommended doses), of which
300mg is EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), 200mg
DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and 100mg DPA
(docosapentaenoic acid). The kids’ drinks offer
470mg of omega 3 (150mg EPA, 100mg DHA
and 50mg DPA), which the company says gives the
generally recommended daily intake in a 200ml
serve.
Mathisen says Pharmalogica went for high doses
because consumers in Norway care about the levels
of omega 3 in a product. “If it’s too little, they don’t
bother,” she says.

Keeping it fresh
But perhaps the most interesting selling point
Pharmalogica promotes is the claim its omega 3
stays fresh because of the way it is processed. That
gives the drinks, which are packed in 200ml aseptic
Tetra Pak cartons, a shelf life of three months for
Smartweek and the kids’ SmartFish products and
six months for the carbonated product MyOmega.
MyOmega’s pack promotes freshness with the message: “The
Mathisen says this is achieved by combining the marine oil in Smartfish MyOmega is super fresh and kept fresh
marine oil with antioxidants in the form of rosemary with natural antioxidants – trust your taste buds”.
extract and tocopherols. “There are of course also
other steps in the process which are essential to keep consumers find the addition of marine-derived
the freshness,” she adds, “but I don’t wish to reveal omega 3 to some functional foods unappetising.
more than this.” Also on MyOmega, for example, the carton
Pharmalogica is to fund its own trial to reads: “Smartfish MyOmega is made of lots of
establish whether fresh omega 3 is better for fruits rich in antioxidants – and a dash of natural oil
health, as Mathisen explains. “We are planning a from Norwegian salmon.” The source of the omega
comprehensive clinical trial in which the main issue 3 – and its freshness – is also discussed openly on
is whether the health benefits of marine omega 3 the Smartweek and kids’ products.
supplements to humans are limited by oxidation. “Sometimes you have to tell people what it is,”
Few human trials have addressed this issue, the says Mathisen. “If you try to hide that it’s omega 3
sample sizes have been small, and most have been from fish then you’re not standing up for what’s in
in subjects with medical conditions.” there. We want to make it so clear that this is really
The study, which began in January 2009 and the relevant dosage, that it is a very healthy recipe
concludes in December 2011, will compare with no sugar or preservatives, and that it’s fish
Smartfish with both fish oil supplements and fish – but it’s natural and really good for you.
itself. The trial will be conduced by Norway’s “I think we scare off a lot of people, but our
NIFES (the National Institute of Nutrition and products also have an edge to them which some
Seafood Research) and the University of Oslo. people like.”
Health claims are kept to a minimum thanks to
Norway’s strict rules in this area. MyOmega reads: Cool appeal
“MyOmega contains a high dosage of Omega 3.
Enjoy the well-documented health effects. Think It does seem that the range is considered by consumers
n drink.” to have a certain “edge”. Part of Smartfish’s
Pharmalogica is very open that its drinks contain success is that it has built up a cult following
fish oil, even though evidence is mounting that some among Norway’s snowboarding community. This

www.new-nutrition.com
29
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

NUTRITION FACTS PANEL FOR SMARTFISH

3-!24&)3(/-%'!&25)4$2).+n4)''%2
Fruit juice with marine oil in water emulsion, providing children with the daily
&RUITJUICEWITHMARINOILINWATEREMULSION PROVIDINGCHILDRENWITHTHEDAILY
recommended dosage of Omega 3 (EPA, DHA and DPA) in one 200ml Tetra brick.
RECOMMENDEDDOSAGEOF/MEGA%0! $(!AND$0! INONEML4ETRABRICK

#ONTENTPERML
3-!24&)3(EMULSION  G
8ALARSALMONOIL  G
/MEGA  MGOFWHICH
$(! MG
%0! MG
$0! MG

.UTRITIONALINFORMATIONPERGR
4OTALFAT  GOFWHICH
0OLY UNSATURATED  G
-ONO UNSATURATED  G
3ATURATED   G
%NERGY  KCAL
#ARBOHYDRATES  G
0ROTEIN   G
)NGREDIENTS
&RUITJUICEFROMCONCENTRATEOFAPPLE PEAR POMMEGRANAT
Fruit juice (from concentrate of apple, pear, pomegranate and aronia), fish oil,
emulsifier, natural raspberry and orange flavouring, rosemary extract, natural
ANDARONIA lSHOIL EMULSIlER NATURALRASPBERRYANDORANGE
tocopherols.
mAVOURING ROSEMARYEXTRACT NATURALTOCOPHEROLS

group, says Mathisen, are particularly interested about €1.60 ($2.18). MyOmega is more expensive
in wellbeing because of the physical nature of – around €2.20 ($3.00).
their hobby, and they like Smartfish as a healthier “Smartfish is not a cheap product,” says Mathisen.
alternative to mass-market beverages such as Coke. “But then again it is not that expensive and it’s in
Smartfish drinks are endorsed by Terje Hakonsen, line with upmarket juice drinks.”
Norway’s most famous snowboarder who, Pharmalogica has plans to add to its product
incidentally, also holds a stake in Pharmalogica. range, with a version of MyOmega containing
Hakonsen’s endorsement is central to an advertising lycopene in development. But Mathisen says omega
strategy focused around cinemas, the internet and 3 will remain central to the company’s offerings.
press. Pharmalogica also attends snowboarding Growth will come not just from NPD, however,
events to keep its profile high in this community. and expansion into the US, other parts of Europe
New MyOmega should help enhance Smartfish’s and also Asia is on the cards.
status further. Its carton design is more modern With momentum building following a successful
than Smartweek. “I guess it has a bit of a cooler launch on home ground, Pharmalogica will be
look,” says Mathisen. hoping consumers further afield will also buy
Smartfish drinks are far from cheap, even in into its central messages about high dosages and
a country noted for high prices such as Norway. freshness of omega 3, to take this emerging business
Smartweek retails at around €1.80-1.90 ($2.45- on to the next level.
2.59) for 200ml, while the kids’ drinks sell for

www.new-nutrition.com
30
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Water and fruit juice


case studies

www.new-nutrition.com
31
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Case Study 3: Fruit Shoot

Within the space of eight years the Fruit Shoot brand at this time, Robinsons, which is the UK’s
brand has redefined the UK’s kids juice market, number one kids dilutable brand by some distance.
taking a 25% share. Not only that, it has been For Britvic, it was a logical step to move this into a
successfully extended into flavoured water and new arena.
redefined that market too – even at a premium “The heritage of the Robinsons brand meant
price. it had a more trustworthy reputation with mums
On its website, UK-based beverages supplier [than carbonates],” says Clarke. “It was loved, but
Britvic boasts that the launch of Robinsons Fruit nonetheless it was a product limited to in-home,
Shoot eight years ago “revolutionised the kids’ juice near-tap consumption. So there was an opportunity
drinks market”. in the market to take Robinsons out of home.”
Such bold claims about brands often have to be Trading off the back of Robinsons’ “trustworthy
taken with a pinch of salt. But, in this instance, reputation” with parents is undoubtedly a very
Britvic, a company better known as the Pepsi bottler important string to Fruit Shoot’s bow.
for the UK, has a pretty strong case to argue. When Fruit Shoot was launched in 2000, we
Kids’ juice drinks existed in the UK before 2000, were yet to see the revolt against junk food that
of course. But it wasn’t until that year, and the we are seeing now. But in launching a fruit drink
launch of the first Robinsons Fruit Shoot variety, that was free of artificial colours and flavours, and
that the category began a journey which would wearing this claim proudly on-pack, Britvic was
see it become a high sector that is currently worth well positioned to take advantage of this emerging,
£427 million ($794 million/€536 million) a year, and soon-to-be vital, trend.
according to Nielsen data. Robinsons Fruit Shoot was well ahead of many
The Fruit Shoot brand holds 27% of this market, of its longer-established rivals in the ready-to-drink
having seen its value nudge through the £100
million ($179 million/€125 million) barrier in the
year to 17 June 2008.
This represented an impressive 38% increase
over 2006, when the brand was worth £73 million
($131 million/€92 million).
Helping to drive value upwards has been a
shrewd approach to stretching the brand. Since the
launch of the first Fruit Shoot variant, a ready-to-
drink juice and water blend product, Britvic has
added carefully-positioned new varieties in the form
of a sugar-free flavoured water in 2006, called Fruit
Shoot H20, and a pure juice in 2007, called Fruit
Shoot 100% Juice.
Nielsen data shows that, in the year to 9 August
2008, the Robinsons Fruit Shoot brand was
purchased by 50% of all households with at least
one child aged five to nine years, which is the key
target age group for the brand.
The roots of this stellar performer can be
traced back to the beginning of this decade when
Britvic identified a hole in the on-the-go kids’
drinks market. “There wasn’t a strong brand out
there at the time,” says Noel Clarke, senior brand
manager for Fruit Shoot. “It tended to be fairly
low-awareness brands or carbonates.”
Britvic already had a strong kids-related drinks

www.new-nutrition.com
32
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

category, rivals who would eventually reformulate


their products in the face of parents turning their
back on additives of all kinds.
This is important because although Fruit Shoot
is a kids’ product, it remains firmly a “gatekeeper
purchase” – 90% of the time the brand is purchased
by a mum or dad.
“It’s got no artificial colours or flavours so it
covers what mum wants and what she wants to give
her child,” says Clarke. “As a minimum you have to
deliver that.”
As you would expect from a major player in the
industry, Fruit Shoot is backed by a good-sized
marketing budget (although the company won’t say
how much it’s spending). The brand is supported
by sampling activities as well as TV, cinema and
radio advertising, focused on attracting mum
through messages about the nutritional quality of
the products.
Life would be straightforward if appealing to
parents was the whole story; but of course it’s not.
“You have to give mum what she expects, but after
that you’ve really got to tap into what kids want,” Clarke doesn’t name names. But a glimpse at
says Clarke. “Kids spend a lot of time being told the market provides an illustration of his point.
what to do: go to school, do your homework, go to Smoothie giant Innocent – originally an adult
bed. They like to have freedom and things designed brand – launched Innocent Kids Smoothies.
for them.” Tropicana, the PepsiCo fruit juice brand, now
And that’s where the Fruit Shoot range “comes comes as Tropicana Go!, a direct rival to Fruit
into its own”, says Clarke, because it is “engineered Shoots original. In water, major brands such as
for kids”. Highland Spring and Nestlé Water UK’s Buxton
“It’s very much designed with an eight year old in have developed kids’ versions of their standard
mind. It gives them a taste delivery that appeals to products. Clarke believes the fact Fruit Shoot is a
their palate. The bottle also fits well into their hand, kids’ brand, full stop, is vital to its appeal.
and the sports closure is something that allows them Innovation has also been at the heart of the
to use the drink when they want to use it – when continued growth of Fruit Shoot since its launch,
they’re playing, or at school or just when they’re says Clarke. “As time has gone by, and it’s become
out and about. market leader, more and more own label brands
“Back in 2000 it was the only pack of this kind and competitors have tried to replicate it, and it’s
for children and indeed Britvic set the standard for incumbent on us to keep innovating to stay one step
safety in the design of sport closures for kids at the ahead,” he says.
time. It was a real point of difference.” Underpinning the extension of Fruit Shoot has
This kind of cap is now, of course, ubiquitous, been identification of different usage patterns. “We
having been copied by many others. Indeed, the realised there were different on-the-go drinking
success of Fruit Shoot generally has prompted occasions in a kid’s life,” says Clarke. The original
many companies to come into this market with Fruit Shoot, he says, tends to be consumed after
kids-specific propositions, both in the form of the school or at the weekend. Fruit Shoot 100% Juice
inevitable supermarket own label offering and new is considered a good option for school, where
products from major branded players. hydration and energy are key need states. H20,
But Fruit Shoot’s deliberate and specific kids the second biggest seller of the three behind the
appeal is crucial to the brand’s ability to maintain original launch, does well at school, too, but also
its lead over its rivals, says Clarke. “If you look at during sports and other organised play.
other brands in the category, they tend to be very The growth of the kids’ water category is one of
worthy, parent-oriented adult brands that have the most interesting features of the UK’s grocery
moved into kids. Or they are kid-oriented brands market. There are several brands on the market,
that don’t get parents’ endorsement.” but the performance of Fruit Shoot H20 has been

www.new-nutrition.com
33
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

nothing less than staggering.


Launched in 2006, by mid-2007 the brand had
jumped to over £16.5 million ($30 million/€21
million) in retail sales, giving it a 53% share of the
kids’ water category – and effectively giving new
life to a category that had been going nowhere.
This growth was achieved despite a price position
that put Fruit Shoot H20 at a 65% premium over
private label kids’ waters and a 50% premium over
its biggest branded rival, Danone’s Volvic Splash.
Danone’s kids’ water efforts appear to have buckled
before the Fruit Shoot assault and Volvic Splash
was withdrawn.

ROBINSONS, Fruit Shoot H2O Still Spring Water Drink, RAISE THEM ON ROBINSONS and the Robinsons arch device are trademarks of Robinsons Soft Drinks Ltd, Chelmsford CM1 1TU
A 2008 ranking in UK trade magazine The Grocer,
based on Nielsen figures, shows H20 was the UK’s
sixth best selling bottled water brand – and the only
standalone kids’ brand in the top ten sellers in the
category – having registered growth of 120% in
2007. In the kids’ water category, meanwhile, H20
dominates with 66% of sales.
What’s more, rivals such as Danone have been
unable to compete.
Clarke says the emergence of water as a kids’
drink is a result of children becoming more aware
of health and well being. “They are a lot more
educated than we were, in terms of what we should A well-funded marketing campaign paid off for Fruit Shoot.
and shouldn’t consume,” he says.
Growth in sales of 100% Juice and H20 has been continually,” says Clarke.
“altruistic”, says Clarke, in that it has not come at “Our target is five to nine year olds, but that’s
the expense of sales of the original Fruit Shoot. only four years, and in four years’ time it will be a
There are no immediate plans for further new totally different set of five- to nine-year-olds, with
variants but Britvic will keep an eye on the brand slightly different tastes and expectations. So beyond
to make sure it stays looking fresh and up-to- new products, we need to continually refresh the
date. “The window to our target market changes brand.”

www.new-nutrition.com
34
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Case Study 4: Y Water

Put natural, low calorie water in a colourful “Y” wanted to do something better. And it was always
shaped bottle, market it to kids and then let them my dream to do something on my own.”
use the empty containers in lego-like fashion to Thus began his three-year odyssey to develop Y
build a toy. Why not? Water, a certified organic, vitamin-infused water
There was no master plan in place when Thomas for kids. Once they drink it, kids can then link the
Arndt, founder of Y Water, set out to develop a uniquely shaped empties together with “Y knot”
healthy children’s beverage. He just saw a niche connectors to create their own imaginative toys.
and a need. Now the innovative Y Water product Arndt initially worked with Dr. Olga Padilla-Zakor,
could potentially redefine the kids’ beverage market of the Cornell Institute of Food Science, who helped
and create a new paradigm for product design and him develop the beverage with no preservatives,
packaging. artificial colouring or artificial sweeteners. A top
Though it seems remarkably simple, the product product innovation centre, Cornell provided Arndt
development process decidedly wasn’t. Arndt, with insights not just for the product, but helped
former brand manager for Carpe Diem, a wellness develop processes to keep the vitamins and minerals
drink company owned by energy-drink maker Red active for as long as possible.
Bull, admits he didn’t start out with a mission to From the Cornell’s recommendations, it was
develop a groundbreaking kids’ beverage and a clear to Arndt that the beverage had to have proven
reusable container, he was just a father looking for benefits. “We realized that lots of kids don’t get
something healthy for his two young sons to drink. the full amount of vitamins and minerals in their
He saw a clearly underserved niche and thought he normal diet,” he said. “We wanted Y Water to
could do better. add to what they are getting in their diet with a
“I investigated further and learned there was balanced mix in the beverage.”
really nothing I would call healthy out there From there, Arndt began what he calls “friends
for kids,” said the German-born entrepreneur. “I and family research” to fine tune the particular

Y Water takes its name from the unique shape of its reusable bottles.

www.new-nutrition.com
35
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

aspects of each Y Water variety. They created “We wanted to create a new paradigm for
four flavours, Muscle Water, Bone Water, Immune children’s products that encourages unique new
Water and Brain Water. The names are designed behaviours and a productive afterlife for the
to communicate to kids that the ingredients in each product,” added Béhar.
are “the building blocks of healthier bodies”. The Y-shaped bottle also became the inspiration
This idea is reinforced by the containers that for the product’s name. Once they got the package
are “building blocks for creative play”. The there was an epiphany, said Arndt. “A friend of
brilliantly simple strategy works, but the concept mine said, ‘it looks like a Y—why don’t you call it
was developed through an evolutionary process, Y’.” The idea immediately made sense to Arndt. “Y
Arndt said. “I realized that I was on my own with is relevant for kids because they are always asking
this. And I don’t have deep pockets, like the big ‘why’. It was a perfect fit.”
companies,” he said. “It was clear that I needed The “Y/why” concept was also relevant for
the packaging to be different and important. Other the product’s marketing and to incorporate in
than that I had no clear idea what to do. I needed Y Water’s company philosophy. Arndt said they
an expert and a vision.” challenge themselves and the industry by asking
What he needed was a gimmick, and Yves the question “why” for everything that they do. For
Béhar, founder of the San Francisco design studio example, Arndt felt strongly that Y Water should be
fuseproject, was just the man to give it to him. certified organic, if it was to be a superior product.
Focusing on humanistic design, Béhar is known That meant using all certified organic ingredients
for creating projects in-tune with the needs of a and having the organic certification process to
sustainable future. “Yves is an amazing guy,” said provide an independent audit. “It was not easy to
Arndt. “He thinks in concepts. He’s not just creating get organic certification,” Arndt said. “We worked
something that looks nice. We needed a story and with QAI for the certification, but it took us about
a concept, and this is what he came up with—it is a year to find organic suppliers with the right
more than a drink, it is a toy.” The reusable bottle vitamins and minerals.”
resonated with Arndt, who says reusability is a very The team carried the concept into marketing
important concept in his home country. To be clear, strategy as well. Arndt, with Los Angeles-based
he added, “We don’t want to compete with toys. Kastner and Partners, who also created the brand
But this concept does teach children that packaging strategy for Red Bull, designed the communication
has a value—you don’t have to throw it away.” mix for Y Water. On the animated website, each

Y Water containers become building blocks for creative play. The bottles are 100% recyclable, made from a tough plastic used in
the medical industry and certified safe for food by the US FDA. The bottles are environmentally safe and do not leach chemicals,
and customers can receive a free mailer from Y Water to recycle the bottles by logging onto www.ywater.us.

www.new-nutrition.com
36
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

of the four waters features a kid-oriented cartoon interest and having an impact in stores. For that
answering “Why drink Y Water?” For example, reason, Arndt has no plans as yet to advertise. “We
click on immune water and a cartoon kid pops are relying on word of mouth and recommendations
up and says “because missing school is only fun from one mother to another and kid to kid. That is
if you’re not really sick”. A second click explains how we are growing the business.” In addition, the
how Y Immune Water boosts the immune system company is doing sampling programs in Whole
with antioxidants and vitamins A, C, E and B6 and Foods and educating mothers and kids at regional
provides supporting research. kids’ events. The company also plans to further
Kastner created the tag lines for each bottle, develop the website with more interactive features
which work together to present the nutrition for children.
information and to inspire elementary school kids Overall, Arndt is pleased with the success of
both mentally and physically. The Y Brain Water the product so far. “Often these concept products
contains a special blend of zinc, molybdenum and are either a huge success or a big failure,” he
vitamins B6, B12 and C. Zinc and molybdenum are said. Arndt is pleased that Y Water has exceeded
known to improve concentration and receptiveness expectations in Whole Foods. “We are their clear
and the B and C vitamins are important for brain market leader in enhanced waters for kids. To be
development and function. Why drink it? “Because the number one selling product in Whole Foods,
it improves your memory and doesn’t taste like in such a short period of time, shows we are a real
actual brains”, according to the pack. Y Muscle player in this arena.”
Water contains magnesium, potassium, selenium
and vitamin C, and kids will drink it “because
you never know who’s going to challenge you to a
wrestling match”. Y Bone Water is enriched with
calcium, fluoride and vitamins A, C and D. Kids
drink it “because you don’t want your skeleton
walking out on you.”
Launched in April 2008, Y Water was initially
available at Southern California Whole Foods
Markets, but roll outs were planned for Whole
Foods in New York and Florida, as well as other
natural channel stores and Target, according to
Arndt. The suggested retail price is $1.69 (€1.32)
for a 9 ounce bottle or by the case online for $39.50
(€30.93), slightly higher than direct competitor Bot
Water, which retails at $1.39 (€1.09) for a 12 ounce
serving. Certain Toys R Us outlets also feature Y
Water. Toy R Us approached the company because
of its initiative to offer more organic product to
their customers. “Y Water is a credible story and
good fit for them,” Arndt said.
And so far, the unusual packaging is creating

www.new-nutrition.com
37
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Case Study 5: First Juice

In the world of junior juice, First Juice has line for toddlers that improves nutritionally on the
differentiated itself in two ways. It offers greatly- 100-percent juice products that have become so
reduced sugar content – less than half the popular with American parents over the last several
sugar found in many 100% juice brands – and years. And, probably more important, it introduces
clever packaging that addresses real-life parental a packaging innovation – a disposable “sippy cup”
frustrations, offering leak-free bottles and smaller – that separates First Juice from everything else in
pack sizes for younger children. The company the juice aisle, so far.
has also injected excitement into the brand with a “The idea of the high sugar content, and of
flavour innovation – juice from purple carrots. the blowback against juice, was really appealing
By now, the story has become so familiar that it is because I thought we could do better,” said Glasser,
almost trite: Parents with some business or medical a successful serial entrepreneur who is based in
background, or both, are frustrated by the paucity Randolph, N.J. “So we saw two huge opportunities:
of healthy snack choices for their kids, so they start improving a product related to its sugar content,
a company to produce what the market is lacking. and improving packaging for the segment.
Where these common stories diverge is whether “I founded the company thinking that if we
they succeed or fail in the marketplace – the ultimate could improve the product and the packaging, that
judgment of an entrepreneur’s products and would be enough.”
business acumen. And David Glasser is determined First Juice has only been available for 18 months, at
that he and his startup, First Juice, are going to be first in some specialty chains and now in mainstream
one of those stories with a happy ending. supermarkets, especially in the Northeast. It is 40%
to 49% juice and contains about 50% less sugar
Two simple improvements than many 100% juice brands. It contains Vitamins
A, C and D, plus calcium.
The basic proposition of Glasser’s First Juice is this: Each of the brand’s four organic flavours –
It is an organic, low-sugar, fruit-and-vegetable juice apple and carrot, banana and carrot, peach and

www.new-nutrition.com
38
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

purple carrot, and blueberry and purple carrot – is family a few years ago, he noticed big holes in the
available both in an eight-fluid ounce, single-serve kids’ healthy-beverage segment, both in terms of
“sippy” bottle that retails for around $1.99 to $2.78 content and packaging.
(€1.58 - €2.21) apiece, and a 32-ounce multi-serve, “Children develop much of their taste preferences
conventional bottle that is retail-priced at about – and stay with them for their lives – by two years
$3.49 to $4.49 (€2.77 - €3.57). old, so that’s a really bad time to get them hooked
Sales surged into the millions of dollars during on sugar” in juices, he said. “So we saw a chance
First Juice’s initial year but haven’t reached $10 for a healthy formula that is focused on long-term
million annually, Glasser said. As the economic health.”
downturn socked American consumers, he Like many parents, the Glassers preferred to
conceded, sales of First Juice took a hit along with cut the juice they gave their daughters with water
just about everything else – down about 15% in the – sometimes, awkwardly, trying to introduce water
fourth quarter of 2008 compared with the third to a juice box. “Eventually you give up because
quarter – “but those numbers are already coming you’re a parent and you’re time-stressed, and you
back in the first of this year [2009],” Glasser said. give them 100% juice and stop fighting with them,”
One reason First Juice may have more staying he said.
power than other startups is that Glasser is no Glasser also noticed a lack of single-serve cold
newcomer to entrepreneurship or even to the juice drinks, of any sort, for kids. “You see stores
beverage industry. In the Nineties, he was part dedicate somewhere between 72 and 250 linear
of management at Pete’s Wicked Ale, a startup feet of shelf space to single-serve cold drinks,”
specialty brewer. And later, he co-founded Infinite he explained. “And if you were standing in front
Spirits, the producers of the five-star Shakers of one of those displays with your child of seven
Original American Vodka. [years old] or below, you couldn’t find one bottle of
Along the way, Glasser also was part of the anything to give them to drink. You can’t give a six-
internet startup LinkExchange, which later was year-old a 16-ounce bottle of apple juice.”
purchased by Microsoft. Glasser spent several years Plus, Glasser said, “I got tired of my kids
developing sales at MSN.com. squirting me with juice boxes, usually in the back
Glasser also is married and has two young of the car.”
daughters, and in his shopping forays with his

FIRST JUICE’S PRODUCT FACT SHEET FOR PURPLE CARROT FLAVOURS

Purple carrots are making a splash into First Juice®. Blueberry + Purple Carrot
Yes, there are purple carrots! Carrots were originally red,
white, yellow and PURPLE! Purple carrots are just as
healthy and tasty as orange carrots. The red-purple
pigments in purple carrots are the same powerful
antioxidants found in red grapes and blueberries. Help
steer children towards less sugar and more health with
colorful fruits and veggies. It’s simple. Yummy. And smart.

x Blueberry + Purple Carrot (45% Juice)


x Peach + Purple Carrot (44% Juice)

x First Juice® contains 12 grams of sugar per 8 oz serving,


50 percent less sugar than the leading 100% apple juice.
x First Juice® provides 60% of the daily value (DV) for
vitamin C, 25% DV for vitamin A and 10% DV for calcium
and vitamin D in an 8 oz serving.
x First Juice® has no added sugar, no artificial sweeteners,
no preservatives and no high fructose corn syrup.
x First Juice® is USDA Certified Organic.

www.new-nutrition.com
39
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Packaging and flavour innovations challenged First Juice’s insistence that the purple
carrots be organic. “But we wouldn’t budge on
win attention that,” he said.
Purple carrots also bear a bit of a taste issue
The eight-ounce bottles of First Juice are squeezable
compared with the orange carrots Americans are
and reusable and topped with a reclosable sippy top,
used to. “Side by side, they don’t taste the same,”
not the straws that accompany juice boxes. And it’s
Glasser said, explaining that purple carrots have
not just any sippy top. It has a sloped spout designed
an additional flavour note, “which reminded me
to prevent chewing and clamping tendencies that
a bit of a cranberry-like flavour, and I found that
cause dental and orthodontic issues with kids. It
really exciting,” he said. “And I liked the idea that
has a safety seal beneath the outer cap that lifts and
it actually tasted a bit different; otherwise, it’s like
peels. A durable, bi-injected crosscut silicone valve
you’re doing a gimmick, with just the colour being
governs the flow of liquid – just like those found in
purple versus orange.”
regular sippy cups. And an outer cap with a built-in
First Juice also had to sell the purple-carrot
stopper snaps on for added leak protection.
concept to moms. Americans typically don’t know
The single-serve bottles aren’t perfect. A product
that the first raised carrots were white and yellow
trial revealed that the outer cap alone doesn’t
and purple as well as orange.
provide a completely tight seal, which allows for
“We had eight moms in our focus group, and
the possibility of leaks if parents don’t know that.
right away zero for eight said they would be
The bottle also seems to require a more vigorous
interested in buying something made out of purple
squeeze than toddlers might be able to muster. But
carrots,” Glasser said. But once it was explained
in any event, the package’s uniqueness wins First
to the moms what purple carrots are, he recalled,
Juice a look from a lot of parents.
“They turned around quickly, and they said they
So does its low-sugar formula, the fact that the
definitely would want to give it to their kids.” In
products are all organic, and, especially, First Juice’s
fact, the purple-carrot-based flavours are the line’s
flavour lineup. Clearly the most exciting flavours,
most popular with adults.
to parents and kids alike, are the ones that include
Babies R Us and Whole Foods Markets were
purple carrots.
the first chains to retail First Juice, and their stores
“We started out with two juices that we wanted
nationwide now carry the brand. A couple of
to use: banana and apple,” Glasser said. “We also
Ahold-owned chains in the Northeastern U.S. also
were going to use carrot juice, which of course
carry First Juice, which is merchandised in the
is orange also from orange carrots. But we were
company’s “family-friendly cooler” section, Glasser
thinking about what we could do staying true to
said. Convenience stores are a possible outlet for
our values – but in a different colour. Then we saw
First Juice as well.
a purple carrot, and it was intriguing. We did our
In the meantime, like every other company,
market research and made a decision.”
First Juice is having to figure out how to sell into
The result was the two purple-carrot-based
a distressed marketplace – where, especially, many
flavours. “We saw the opportunity and figured it
organic products are taking a hit in sales.
would be cool to make juices for kids in different
But Glasser is confident that parents will reduce
colours,” Glasser said. “When dietitians teach you
purchases of expensive better-for-you products for
about feeding your children when they’re young, it’s
themselves rather than cut out First Juice for their
all about having foods of different colours.”
kids, once they’ve discovered it.
There were challenges to dredging up heritage
“Nothing is absolutely insulated from the
purple carrots from America’s agricultural past
downturn,” Glasser said. “But we’re the last item
and expecting to make them the basis of a popular
that’s going to get cut.”
new juice line. Glasser said that some suppliers

www.new-nutrition.com
40
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Case Study 6: Magic Fruit

A dislike of artificial sweeteners compelled packaged in Tetra Wedge cartons, and free from
mother Catherine Walker to create a range of all artificial additives. It sounds like a simple
drinks sweetened with sugar. Magic Fruit Potions’ combination – and one that would be available
whimsical image and kid – and parent – appeal widely, you would think. But according to the
have won the product national listings in the UK. company’s founder, mother Catherine Walker, this
But how will it hold up against the sweetener-free, is not so, and that is what drove her to launch Magic
juice-and-water offerings that have appeared on the Fruit Potions.
market in recent times? “I was shocked to see how limited the choice was
It’s common these days to find that start-up for safe nutritious foods and drinks for children,” she
businesses in the kids’ food and drink sector spotted says, “particularly with regard to children’s juices,
their opportunity not after years of experience where the use of potentially-damaging additives is
in the food industry but, instead, after years of common practice. So I decided to create my own
experience of parenthood. range.”
Their inspiration has typically come as a result That was in 2006, and it’s proved a winning
of dissatisfaction with the products already on idea. In October last year Magic Fruit Potions
offer and a feeling that the desired product did not began a national listing in Morrisons, the UK’s
exist. Plum Baby, Ella’s Kitchen and Babylicious fourth largest grocery retail chain – and one of
are examples of three relatively new baby and kids’ the market’s strongest performers in recent times.
foods brands which began life that way. So it is of The range is now also sold in Sainsbury’s, the UK’s
little surprise, then, that this was also the case with third largest chain, in stores in Scotland, with talks
Magic Fruit Potions, a new range of children’s underway about a national listing. In addition, the
beverages launched by Scotland-based Little Bird brand has found favour with independent chains
Brands. and in foodservice outlets in locations such as ‘soft
The drinks, currently available in four varieties, play’ centres.
are ambient blends of fruit juice, water and sugar,

www.new-nutrition.com
41
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Contains sugar – and proud of it proclaims to be ‘sugar free’, especially when it is


a product aimed at children, as in soft drinks and
One of the most striking aspects of Magic Fruit sweets, as the very nature of these products is
Potions is that they quite unashamedly contain that they are sweet-tasting. If they do not contain
sugar. It may be considered by many as a ‘bad’ sugar or fructose then they almost certainly contain
ingredient, responsible in part for children’s well- sweeteners.”
documented expanding waistlines. But Walker looks Walker hates sweeteners. She labels the drinks
at it another way. “I realise we’re bucking the trend that contain them as “carcinogenic”, citing research
with Magic Fruit Potions, but research shows that suggesting one, aspartame, can cause tumours to
the safety of sweeteners is questionable,” she says. grow faster in lab animals. She is unmoved by the
“Sugar is naturally occurring in most foods and, fact that the European Food Safety Authority has
so long as it is used in moderation, is harmless. I repeatedly assessed the evidence and declared it
would be very suspect of any food or drink that safe for humans.

TOUGH TIMES SPARK MAGIC IDEA

Catherine Walker’s passionate dislike of sweeteners, and other artificial additives, was formed after a
harrowing experience, which also marked the start of the journey that led her to found Little Bird Brands.
Pregnant with her first child in 2001, she became unwell and her son Ryan was born by emergency
caesarean at 25 weeks. Ryan survived but was gravely ill and spent months in hospital.

Walker herself was still sick, but doctors were unable to diagnose anything specific. Desperate, she
visited a naturopath (naturopathy is a form of alternative medicine which emphasises the body’s intrinsic
abilities to heal and maintain itself) who advised her to consume only water and unprocessed foods.
Within months she felt better. “And then I thought that if that could work for me, then maybe it could
help Ryan too,” says Walker.

Walker began researching nutrition and began applying what she had learned to Ryan’s diet, feeding
him only fresh, natural and unprocessed foods. She also took up a job as a part-time nutritionist advising
people with food allergies and intolerances.

All was well until Ryan attended a friends’ party at the age of five and consumed, says Walker, drinks
containing artificial sweeteners and the preservative sodium benzoate. “Ryan hadn’t had anything
artificial or processed,” she says. “But one day he was at a party and had these drinks. He had a
complete personality change. He went mad and ended up lying on the floor squealing. When I managed
to get him up he bit me on the arm.”

Walker’s experiences convinced her that the blame for the health problems faced by many children
today – such as obesity, allergies
and hyperactivity – could be laid
at the door of artificial additives.

But, she says, she faced a


problem. “In terms of drinks
there wasn’t anything apart from
just fruit juice or water that didn’t
contain sweeteners or sodium
benzoate. Fruit juice and water
are fantastic, but just like anyone,
kids like something different now
and again. So I thought: why isn’t
there anything?”

It was then, in 2006, that Walker


decided to develop her own
product. The Magic Fruit Potions website offers lots of fun for kids

www.new-nutrition.com
42
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

“There may be no proof that it will make – although this benefit is not referenced on pack.
tumours grow faster in humans, but if it has that There is, however, a health claim for rosehip on the
effect on animals then I just would not want to box for the Pink Potions. It says: “Long before you
take a chance,” she says. “Would you give it to your were born, babies and small children were given
children?” rosehip syrup to help them stay healthy and ward
Using savings and a government loan Walker set off colds, as it is a very good source of vitamin C.”
the company up and began the process of creating The product contains 0.06% rosehip extract.
the drinks, the packaging and the brand identity, The recipes were tested out on Ryan’s school
mentored every step of the way by the late Freddie friends. “We just kept trying them until the children
Williams, owner of water brand Caledonia Clear. preferred them to the leading brands,” says Walker.
The result was a range of four Magic Fruit “We did the same for the packaging. It’s a really
Potions: Crimson (cherry); Orange (orange and good pack for children because it’s narrow rather
peach); Purple (blackcurrant and apple); and Pink than big and round and they can hold it very
(strawberry and rosehip). Each contains mostly easily.”
water, between 15% and 18% fruit juice from Walker rejected the idea of using sports caps,
concentrate (depending on the variety), sugar, which have proved successful for many suppliers of
natural flavouring, vitamin C and Echinacea extract. kids’ beverages. “I don’t like them because they’re
The sugar content of Magic Fruit Potions – ranging hard and they’re put right onto the teeth,” says
from 21g to 23g a pack – is said by Walker to be on Walker. “Fruit juice softens dental enamel, so if you
a par with fresh fruit juice. have a hard sports cap pressing on the teeth what
Echinacea, says Walker, has been included do you think it’s going to do?”
because it’s “proven to ward off colds and flu” On pack, Magic Fruit Potions uses the chatty,

On the side of the pack, text reads: “As mums working in the area of good nutrition, we have a real desire to give our children
something that not only tastes great, but is refreshing and good for them too! We found it difficult to find drinks for our children
which did not contain additives they might possibly react to. So we made our own! The children told us exactly what they wanted
– something that was exciting and fun, tastes great and a change from just juice or water. This is the inspiration behind Magic Fruit
Potions. In our research we have found that kids love these drinks – and we know that you will too!”

www.new-nutrition.com
43
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

informal style made popular by Innocent smoothies, Fruit Shoot, the top-selling kids’ soft beverage on the
declaring the product contains “No Nasties!” It also market, which is equivalent to £0.18 ($0.26/€0.19)
states clearly the drink is free from artificial colours, per 100ml.
sweeteners and preservatives. This premium is not doing Magic Fruit Potions
The pack also invites parents to submit their any harm, though, if Walker is to be believed.
own ideas for kids’ products, suggesting: “Perhaps Although she declines to reveal actual sales figures,
together we may see your idea come to life as the she says the brand is doing “fantastically well”
inspiration behind our next product!” For kids, and is on target to meet projections. Future plans
meanwhile, the pack carries instructions for a game include expanding the Magic Fruit Potions range
called Jugarimo, which involves casting different and developing a range of confectionery containing
spells. all-natural ingredients.
It is early days, but the signs are that this is a
Strong investment in marketing company with the right ingredients for success
in the kids’ market: a strong, simple marketing
Unlike many small start-ups, Little Bird Brands message; a focus on pleasing both parents and
is investing a significant sum in marketing, most their children; the ability to invest in substantial
notably £500,000 in TV advertising across both marketing; and decent retail distribution.
terrestrial and satellite channels. The campaign, If there is one caveat, it has to be that the market
which is planned for the second quarter of this year, has moved on since 2006, when Walker had her
has been made possible by a cash injection from eureka moment. Back then, perhaps there were
a new private investor, who is from outside of the indeed very few juice/water drinks free of artificial
food industry. additives. Now, however, it is slightly easier to buy
A website – www.magicfruitpotions.com – is also such products. Examples currently on the market
an important part of the marketing mix, offering include Ribena, Tropicana Go! (70% juice and 30%
fun and games for kids and nutritional information water) and even own label products (Sainsbury’s, for
for parents. Walker says she hopes the site will example, has a product called Kids Juicy Water,
develop into a hub for parents concerned about containing 75% juice and 25% water).
what their children eat and drink. In terms of brand identity, though, Walker has
In terms of price, Magic Fruit Potions, which created something which is unique on the market
are primarily targeted at kids aged four to 11, right now in the ambient juice drinks category.
are retailing for £1.85 ($2.71/€1.99) for a pack And, it has to be said, the kids’ drinks sector
of four 180ml cartons in Sainsbury’s – or £0.26 remains dominated by products containing artificial
($0.38/€0.28) per 100ml. sweeteners and other additives. Magic Fruit Potions
That compares with £1.46 ($2.14/€1.57) for a shows promise and will be one to watch.
pack of four 200ml bottles of Britvic’s Robinson’s

www.new-nutrition.com
44
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Case Study 7: Froose

A long gestation is no bad thing if it enables you to Cheerful Cherry – in 125ml juice boxes. Retailing
get a product right, as the story of Froose beverage’s for $2.79 to $2.99 (€2.00-€2.14) for a four-pack,
path to market in the US shows. With its science- Froose is sold by a Super Valu chain and by Whole
based whole grain formulation, Froose has hit the Foods Markets in the mid-Atlantic US, in Florida’s
market at a time when consumers are more aware Winn-Dixie supermarket chain, and by a growing
than they ever were of the health benefits of whole variety of conventional and natural-foods outlets
grains. around the country.
More than a decade ago, Denise Devine had a Devine declared she was “surprised” by inquiries
great idea for a new product: a juice-based beverage at this early point about the possibility of distributing
cleverly infused with nutritious whole grains – Froose also in other countries, where she might
something that would give her young son and other take on distribution partners. And she already
toddlers a healthful boost. is considering a brand extension for Froose, into
In fact, through her science-based startup another kids’ category that could use her whole-
company, the food-company executive proved so grains technology.
effective at developing and marketing the unique “The market wasn’t ready for [Froose] a decade
ingredient required for such a drink that she never ago,” said Devine, CEO of her Media, Pa.-based
got around to creating the beverage itself. And now, company. “The concept of drinking whole grains
Devine’s son is 21 years old. just wouldn’t fly. No one was really understanding
But deciding that it’s never too late for true the benefits of whole grains, and [appreciating]
innovation to shake up the marketplace, a couple of fibre was still an on-again, off-again thing.
years ago Devine finally launched another company, “But in the interim, one thing that happened
called Froose, to make and market a whole-grain- is that large cereal companies really educated
infused juice line based on her science. consumers about the benefits of whole grains.
Froose contains whole brown rice and comes in That’s what started consumers noticing.”
three flavours – Playful Peach, Perfect Pear, and

The three Froose flavours are Playful Peach, Perfect Pear and Cheerful Cherry.

www.new-nutrition.com
45
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Focus on the science


Also in the meantime, Devine perfected the science
that ended up serving as the basis for Froose. She
was a financial executive for Campbell Soup when,
as a mother, Devine got frustrated about the lack
of a nutritionally fortified juice that she could feed
to her young son. That was still before nutritionists
had formed a consensus of concern around the
“empty calories” in juice because of sugar and
calorie content.
To create the technological platform for the
beverage she had in mind, she worked with Cornell
University food chemists on a way to suspend
whole grains and whole vegetables in a number of
non-solid formats. “It’s not just fibre, but the whole
food,” Devine explained. “In order to get insoluble
fibre into anything that’s not solid – to get the whole Milton the Froose Moose mascot.
food – you have to have these insoluble pieces.
That’s what our patents are around.” impact on lifelong health”.
Specifically, Devine said, the technique combines Also, Devine noticed that “the market was finally
whole food “in a certain form” with a natural ready, and big companies still weren’t addressing the
suspension agent “so that you can create a very problem,” she concluded. “They were still dancing
smooth and palatable mouthfeel with no particulates, around the edges.” For example, many juice makers
no grit, no settling out. And you can do that in are trying to take the edge off nutritionists’ criticism
beverages, frozen confections, sauces, puddings, as simply by diluting their products with water. “That’s
a mouthfeel fat replacer in baked goods – a number fine for hydration purposes,” Devine said, “but it’s
of things.” not really delivering nutrition.”
Actually, Devine briefly fielded a forerunner of
Froose – called Fruice – eight years ago, placing Honing the product
it in a few Philadelphia-area supermarkets. “It did
well in test, and people who got it really got it,” With her product formulation and positioning in
she said. “But it was too early for most consumers her hip pocket, and her capital position improved in
to understand the concept.” And then a business part because of Nutripharm’s success, Devine still
change at her distributor threw the product’s had some things to tackle before she was ready to
growing momentum off-stride, so Devine shelved it go to market again.
for the time being. First, she settled on whole brown rice for Froose
Instead, following the path of least entrepreneurial instead of the combination of oats and barley that
resistance, Devine veered toward applying her she had used in Fruice. The main reason is that it
patented technology for outsiders, establishing allowed her to make the beverage gluten-free. “It’s
a startup called Nutripharm. It has harnessed not a big part of our positioning,” she said, “but it’s
the technology in a number of pharmaceutical nice to be able to say, ‘Oh, by the way, it works [for
products for other companies. And Devine also has the gluten-free criterion] too.’”
applied it to a non-dairy frozen confection that she Second, Devine perfected the texture of the
has test-marketed. drink. Because Froose contains solid food particles,
But several years ago, with a young daughter in of course, it requires a certain minimum level of
the house, Devine decided to return to her initial viscosity, and it isn’t a clear beverage. “It’s slightly
passion and get her own juice-based nutritional thicker than a clear juice but not as thick as a
beverage to market. She renewed her commitment smoothie,” she described it. “We tried to make it
in part “because taste preferences and eating habits as delicious and smooth as possible. We wanted to
are developed early in life, and they can have a big keep it on the thinner side, but we couldn’t make it

www.new-nutrition.com
46
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

like clear juice. But it didn’t come out thick by any on the shelf at, given the cost of ingredients – and
means. Kids just go, ‘Yummy’.” it’s more than for sugar water – and tacking on
Third, she changed the name of the product margins,” she said. “But it’s priced comparably to
to Froose. “We found that ‘Fruice’ had confused organic juice in that size.”
consumers that maybe it was ‘just juice’, and we
wanted them to understand that it wasn’t just fruit A work in progress
juice,” Devine said.
So she changed the spelling of her product and Enjoying the second incarnation of her beverage,
came up with a moose-character mascot. “He Devine insisted that the timing is right now. Far more
generates a lot of fun and he will be the Froose moms, and more retailer purchasing executives,
Moose forever,” Devine said. “get it” now compared with several years ago. But
Fourth, Devine selected flavours for Froose based Froose’s trajectory has only begun.
on those she thought would best carry over from Here’s what Devine is still working on:
babies’ standards. “Kids coming off baby food are Refining nutritional positioning: Devine
used to peach and pear, and kids tend to like cherry believes that, as American consumers develop a
too,” she said. greater awareness of Froose and understand its
Fifth, she deliberated about the package size. essential benefits, she can build on the nutritional
One of the problems with kids’ nutrition, she story. One possibility is to promote a glycemic
said, is that they tend to drink too much juice in a profile that is much better than for regular juice.
serving. “The smaller, 125ml boxes are just the right “Because of the fibre and the other whole-food
size for those kids,” Devine said. And she chose ingredients that we use, [Froose] has complex
shelf-stable boxes over PET or glass for safety and carbohydrates, which is something that you don’t
environmental friendliness. find in juice,” she explained. “That gives it a much
“I’m a working parent and I know how hard it is better glycemic profile. I have had a call from the
to find truly healthy products that are shelf-stable mother of a brittle diabetic who told me that Froose
and convenient for on-the-go,” Devine said. is the only juice-type beverage that her daughter
Sixth, she honed Froose’s price point. The four- can drink when her blood sugar isn’t low.
packs range up to $3 (€2.15), a suggested retail “That’s thrilling to me. Froose accomplishes
price that “is pretty much the price that it lands exactly what we thought it would. We assumed its

www.new-nutrition.com
47
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

glycemic index was much better than typical juices decided to launch Froose by making it available via
with their simple sugars, but we haven’t done a purchase online.
clinical study on that.” “I launched online first because I know that
So far, Froose also has stayed away from one type sometimes it takes a while to get retail distribution
of positioning that other juice marketers have used: because of buying cycles and so on,” she said. “And
touting their products as equivalent to a serving, if we were fortunate enough to get some PR for
or part of a serving, of fruit as defined by the US the product, I wanted people anywhere to be able
government. to buy it.”
“We probably could do that because of our What’s more, Devine has come to value the
nutrition profile,” Devine said. “But I have problems instant feedback that online relationships provide
with that. Eating fruit versus juice isn’t the same at and the buzz that can build behind her product.
all nutritionally, because you’ve got none of the Future products. For now, Froose will be a
fibre or other insolubles. solo product. But Devine said she is hoping to get
“It all comes back to whole foods. As soon as a second Froose product out this year, essentially
you start stripping out elements from a whole-foods based on her whole-grains technology.
source, it’s not the same thing. Scientists don’t even She doesn’t believe the brand is restricted to
understand how phytonutrients all work together. juice-based beverages. “Our focus is going to
“It’s possible we could make claims about being be on products that are right-sized, conveniently
a half-serving of fruit, but I haven’t focused on packaged and shelf-stable that allow parents to get
that.” much healthier alternatives to existing formats, so
Marketing and distribution. Having been they can pack them in lunch boxes for kids or throw
burned with Fruice by the business problems of a them in the car when they go on vacation.”
distributor that were unrelated to her brand, Devine

www.new-nutrition.com
48
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Tea case study

www.new-nutrition.com
49
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Case Study 8: Republic of Tea

The unlikely triumvirate of a Nepalese village Republic of Tea is no stranger to values-based


library, a Danielle Steele novel and a burned-out products and marketing. Founded in 1992, the
Microsoft executive provided the genesis for a non- company sparked the specialty tea revolution,
profit organization and the first-ever line of natural, emphasizing a “Sip by Sip Rather Than Gulp By
caffeine-free, organic Rooibos tea for children. Gulp” lifestyle. “We see tea as a very deep and
Republic of Teas’ newly launched tea line for layered subject,” said Marideth Post, the company’s
kids has lofty goals. The Little Citizens Herb Teas “Minister of Enlightenment”. “Tea is everything
are designed to provide a natural, caffeine-free, that other beverages aren’t. It’s slow, so it’s about
organic beverage that kids will like, create future slowing down your life to let the water boil, smell
American tea drinkers, and at the same time the tea and enjoy.”
provide funding and resources to help educate The company’s founding tenets include enriching
children in developing countries. peoples’ lives through education about tea culture,
For every tin of Little Citizens tea sold, The with innovative tea products and by being mindful
Republic of Tea will donate $1 to Room to Read, of its impact and responsibility to the community at
the non-profit organization founded by former large. Republic of Tea’s Minister of Tea (read CEO)
Microsoft marketing director John Wood, working Ron Rubin believes that his key staff members,
to eradicate poverty in the developing world by called Ministers, should have a deep understanding
funding educational projects such as schools and of their products from “soil to cup”, Post said.
libraries. The partnership with Republic of Tea will Annually Rubin sends his team to one of the source
specifically provide funding for bilingual libraries countries to harvest tea side-by-side with workers
for underprivileged children in South Africa, the in the field. The Ministers, in turn, take this
country of origin for the Rooibos-based tea line. perspective to help educate other staff members

www.new-nutrition.com
50
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

(ambassadors), retailers (embassies) and customers Apple Cherry. The Rooibos is paired with high
(citizens). quality herbs and all natural ingredients. The teas
Given this philosophy, it was no surprise that are sold in the Republic of Tea’s signature tea tin,
Rubin began to think about a partnership when he which contains 36 unbleached, round tea bags and
heard John Wood’s story about the dire need for has a suggested retail price of $10.50 (€8.25). The
books he found when visiting the rural Nepalese teas are available nationally at select natural and
village of Bahundanda, where the local school specialty food stores such as Whole Foods Markets,
library only contained a Danielle Steele novel and Wegmans and Cost Plus World Markets.
a Lonely Planet guide.
That was really the origin of the Little Citizens’ Bamboo the Panda: marketing
line, Post said. Already searching for ways to give
back to its source countries, the company found
magic?
natural connections with Room to Read. “Republic
The label concept on the tins is geared to elementary
of Tea wanted to be a good global citizen,” said
school children and meant to engage them not
Sonia Torres, senior public relations associate for the
only in learning about tea but also the Room to
San Francisco-based non-profit. “We have a shared
Read mission. The Little Citizen’s mascot, Bamboo
purpose. We both work to empower communities
the Panda, is shown on the tin in tea-growing
and charities with the gift of education.”
countries: India; Vietnam; and South Africa. “The
story on the tin tells how Bamboo brings tea and
Creating ‘little sippers” books to his friends around the world,” Post said.
Complementing the line is a kid-sized Little Citizens
Common mission in mind, Republic worked to
mug with artwork featuring Bamboo for $12.00
develop a product that would provide value for
(€9.42). A Bamboo plush toy will also be available
customers and help create little sippers. While tea
retailing at $10.00 (€7.86).
is the most consumed beverage on the planet, other
Building on these items will help make the
than water, it is not necessarily as big in the US.
product more relevant for kids, according to Tonkin,
“But we saw a real need for a kids’ tea beverage
who said kids don’t typically look for their products
after we spoke to moms who had gotten down to
in the tea department. “Republic of Tea will have
water as the only healthy beverage they could offer
to evoke a change in their in-store presence and
their kids,” Post said.
have the tea placed somewhere that kids are excited
From there it was a natural step to create a
to shop. That’s where they will create marketing
kids’ line with the naturally caffeine free, organic
magic,” he said.
Rooibos, or red tea, made from the South African
red tea bush. Rooibos was an obvious choice ROOIBOS AND SUPERFRUIT
because it was already the basis for Republic’s
wellness line (see box). It is also touted for its high Rooibos tea from South Africa is already the
antioxidant properties and immune support. basis for a line of nine adult wellness teas from
While the tea is a strong sell with parents, getting Republic of Tea. BE WELL RED TEAS blend the
kids to opt in may be easier said than done. Tea Rooibos with an array of beneficial herbs to create
a customized selection of healthful, yet flavourful
is traditionally an adult beverage, and that is one teas. Each tea is a unique blend tailored to
reason it has never been marketed to kids, said specific health needs.
beverage development expert James S. Tonkin,
of Tonkin Consulting/Building Healthy Brands. The company also offers Superfruit Teas, made
While he applauds the choice of Rooibos, he from a base of the finest China green tea
suggests the line may have some hurdles. “Rooibos “blended with Superfruits recognized for their
is an acquired taste, and tea is not kid friendly, so superior antioxidant qualities, reported health
benefits and vibrant flavours”. Republic of Tea
adults have to get involved in the preparation.”
says that “deeply pigmented Superfruits like
In market testing, Post noted that kids who tried pomegranates, black raspberries and açaí berries,
the product had sophisticated palates and liked not only have centuries of traditional use, but the
its bold, direct flavour. The line currently offers support of modern science in their antioxidant
three varieties: Strawberry Vanilla, Tangerine and qualities”.

www.new-nutrition.com
51
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

The line is being supported by a promotional about the long-term prospects for the line. Republic
plan that is consistent with other Republic of Tea of Tea will establish two libraries in South Africa at
launches – a handful of trade shows, some minimal a cost of roughly $15,000 (€11,785) each, Post said.
trade ads, and otherwise relying on direct sales on “But our goal for ourselves is 100 libraries. How we
the Web, word-of-mouth and editorial. Introduced develop the line to meet those goals is, as yet, hard
in January 2009 at the Fancy Foods show in San to say.”
Francisco, the Little Citizens line has so far been “We see this as a long-term partnership,” said
well received, Post reported. Room to Read’s Torres. “We feel it will be a natural
As of late February, the Republic of Tea’s website partnership. It is a unique line for them, and, for us,
reported that they had donated $6,079 (€4,777) to anything that will support education and empower
Room to Read. Both organizations are bullish kids is the tie that binds.”

www.new-nutrition.com
52
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Teens and Tweens


case studies

www.new-nutrition.com
53
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Case Study 9: Crayons

Having spent several years securing its brand name Raspberry Razzical, the “Free Radical Grabber”
for use in food and beverages, and tying down formulated with “the 3 essential antioxidants to
major investment, US startup Crayons has quickly support a berry, berry long life”.
created a successful business in juice drinks and But even more essential, Seay said, is the coup
sports drinks with strong marketing messages based that he pulled off in legally corralling the name
“Crayons” and a font and other graphics that are
on its products’ “all-natural” and “allergen and glu-
strongly associated with Crayola and other brands
ten-free” status. Now, says the company, it is ready
of the popular kids’ writing instruments around the
to grow to the next level. world.
Given the proliferation of brands and products “Crayons are very well known internationally,
in the better-for-kids marketplace over the last few including in Latin America, and there is a heavy
years, it’s difficult for a startup to find what looks to level of awareness in other countries, in Europe
be a clear shot at dominating and even defining a in particular,” Seay said. “Our goal is to build a
new segment. beverage company, but we own this mark for a
But that’s exactly what Duncan Seay believes variety of food products as well as beverages.”
he’s taking with Crayons, the company he launched It’s hard to argue with Crayons’ success so far.
to capture pre-teenagers’ desire for beverages that In just two years on the market, sales already are
are as hip as energy drinks – and their need for approaching an annualized rate of $10 million
products that are a lot more nutritious. (€7.36 million) for 2009, Seay said. While he wants
Marketed with a very strong “all natural” to continue to build the beverage business, the
message, Crayons drinks not only have a range of Crayons co-founder also hopes to get support from
functional benefits, but strongly communicate that big existing players to expand the brand into other
they are “allergen and gluten-free” and have “no categories, such as yogurt.
high-fructose corn syrup”. Each “FUNctional” flavour of Crayons is made
Crayons All-Natural Beverage Co, headquartered with 30% fruit juices, sweetened only with organic
in Washington in the north-west of America, cane juice, and contains 30% less sugar and carbs
is counting heavily on the appeal of its lineup than “most other juice drinks,” the company said.
of juice drinks with funky names and highly Each eight-ounce can yields only nine calories.
specific functional associations, such as Blueberry-

www.new-nutrition.com
54
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Retailing for suggested prices of around $1 was a trailblazer in dehydrated vegetarian soup
(€0.74) for each single-serve can, Crayons now cups. Later he established a concern that beat
are available in about 5,000 US stores in natural Campbell’s to the medical-meals market with shelf-
and specialty chains, mass merchandisers such as stable entrees.
Meijer, traditional supermarkets, and 7-11 stores Crayons is financed with eight figures in venture
nationwide. and institutional capital. Its board is peppered with
former executives of Nestlé, Triarc, Coca-Cola and
Serious investment other big food and beverage brands.
Seay said that the company conducted “30-
In fielding the Crayons brand and lineup, Seay plus rounds of research among 15,000 moms and
brings the kind of entrepreneurial credentials and kids” for guidance in putting together the Crayons
track record that remain unusual among better- products and brand.
for-kids startups. The former investment banker Now, on the strength of all that, he is attempting
started one company in the early Nineties that to establish a grip on a segment that he said Crayons

THE CRAYONS RANGE

Here’s the lineup of Crayons products, and their touted functional benefits, in addition to Blueberry-
Raspberry Razzical:
Fruit Punch 3PM is “the Afternoon Pick-Me-Up,” a “mid-afternoon snack boost” with B vitamins for
energy, and fibre equaling that in two cups of grapes.
Tickled Pink Lemonade Thirst-C is called “the Quencherator” by Crayons, which promotes it as “a
contemporized version of the classic for instant refreshment” plus 100% of the daily requirement of
Vitamin C.
Watermelon & Wild Berries Buff Bonz is called “the Calcium Booster”, providing three calcium-boosting
vitamins plus calcium to support sound muscle and bone development.
Kiwi-Strawberry Super-V is labeled “the Multi-V Marvel”, a multi-vitamin beverage.
Outrageous Orange Mango D-Fense is called “the Immunity Guard”, offering vitamins, zinc, “as much fiber
as an orange and other bug-fighting nutrients”.

CRAYONS FRUIT JUICE DRINK INGREDIENTS & NUTRITION FACTS

www.new-nutrition.com
55
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

created. Seay cited data claiming that tweens – kids Crayons name on a beverage product until they’re
ages 7 to 13 years old, by his definition – control seven years old. Until then, they don’t get it.”
$220 billion (€162 billion) a year in household So Seay paid an inventor – whom he declined
spending in the United States alone. But he says to identify – a seven-figure fee for the brand
they don’t really have a nutritional drink brand to positioning that this man had created and owned
call their own. around crayons. What this inventor discovered in
“Arguably, we’re the only brand out there today the mid-Eighties is that there was a huge association
that speaks to this tween audience,” he said. “There among kids worldwide with a few basic visual cues
are lots of companies offering juices for young kids, concerning crayon brands: logos with bold names,
but no one owns the tween consumer. That allows in sans serif fonts, against some sort of black oval.
us to have a premium-priced brand where tweens Even the word “crayons” resonated as much with
have influence.” them as specific brand names.
At the same time, Seay said, “We have a dual- And yet none of the major brands in the crayon
consumer messaging strategy, and the other half of business – most interestingly, Binney & Smith of
it is driven around appeasing Mom.” the Crayola brand, and RoseArt – had bothered to
Other brands that covet tween consumers aren’t legally protect the word “crayons”, or the typical
capable of scoring big with them, Seay contended. elements of trade dress that they all happened to
Juice brands owned by big beverage companies share, including the use of the black oval.
that are aimed at young kids, such as Nestlé’s Juicy Through his deal with the inventor, Seay said,
Juice franchise, can’t extend successfully to older Crayons now owns the brand name and the trade-
children, he said. dress elements in 27 countries around the world
Still other brands, such as Kraft’s Capri Sun, for broad categories of foods and beverages. Now,
he said, are too associated with pouch packaging he believes that his company can continue to build
systems to make a credible leap to beverages aimed a strong beverage business on the Crayons brand.
at tweens, who begin to covet energy drinks that are Seay projected a 300% sales increase this year.
packaged in cans and distributed in convenience Another key element in the Crayons proposition
stores as well as supermarkets. is packaging in a slim, cylindrical can that is topped
At the same time, Seay explained, parents off by a pull-tab. Of course, it fits geometrically
comprise a strong wall of resistance between their with the basic shape of actual crayons. But more
pre-teenagers and nutrient-poor energy drinks. One important, Seay said, “This can is so reminiscent
of the few other brands that effectively exploits this psychologically of allowing young kids that soda or
space, Seay said, is Bug Juice Brands, a Michigan- energy drink, so it allows that audience to aspire to
based company that has managed to build a multi- be older. Even the sensory experience of opening
million-dollar business in convenience stores alone. the can does that. It’s different than a Tetra box or
pouch. The kids become the driver of purchases.”
Licensing a recognised brand Strong messaging on the brand’s packaging is
another plus both with tweens and their parents,
Because Crayons’ success or failure ultimately will he said. “There’s nutrition messaging which is
hinge on creating a brand that can occupy the appealing to the mom gatekeeper,” Seay explained.
tweens segment and keep the giants at bay, Seay “But there are very fun names that allow us to speak
spent the first few years after his company’s 2004 in a way that attracts the kid audience.”
founding establishing the brand name and image. Now, Seay said, Crayons is ready for its first
“At first I didn’t want to go into the beverage major marketing push. So, for the back-to-school
space,” he said. “There are 2,000 new products a season beginning in summer 2009, the company
year there, and only five percent are successful. It is “putting together specific programs in key
takes $150 million to build up a brand name. So geographic markets and supporting them as a big
I had to go in under a very powerful brand name.” brand would,” he said. That will include radio,
And perhaps surprisingly, Crayons is that brand. TV and print advertising as well as “guerrilla
As a generic product, Seay said, crayons create street-marketing teams” in a few local markets that
a magical association with pre-teenagers. Kids comprise a small percentage of the total US market.
begin using the self-disposing writing instruments How Crayons performs in those few saturated
as toddlers, of course, “but what we found – which markets “would tell us a nationally replicable story,”
was counterintuitive – is that as a brand, Crayons he said.
actually has its most prolific home among tweens. For the short term, he said, despite Crayons’
That’s because they can’t even recognize the trademark ownership in so many countries, the

www.new-nutrition.com
56
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

CRAYONS SPORTS DRINK AIMED AT HYDRATING ACTIVE KIDS

In August 2008, Crayons announced its unique


line of all-natural and high fructose corn syrup-
free sports drinks created specifically to address
the nutrition and hydration needs of youth athletes
– and to fill a “void in the fast-growing functional
beverage market for kids”.
Ron Lloyd, CEO of Crayons, said he was
confident its All Natural Sports Drinks would soon
replace other sports drinks, juice boxes, and bottled
waters. Crayons provide optimal levels of vitamins,
electrolytes and minerals, with low amounts of
organic evaporated cane juice and a moderate
amount of low-sodium sea salt, to specifically
address the hydration and nutritional needs of kids.
They also contain added vitamin C and calcium to
“help growing kids stay strong”.
Natural Sports Drinks have just 50 calories and come in three flavours: Playoff Punch, Leaping
Lemon-Lime and Breakaway Berry. Each flavour is free from high-fructose corn syrup, dyes, artificial
sweeteners and preservatives, and has 50% less sodium than the leading sport drink.
According to Brooke de Lench, founder of MomsTeam.com, a leading web site focused on youth
sports, health and safety, and who recommends Crayons All Natural Sports Drinks because they
meet kids’ hydration needs more than either water or adult-formulated sports drinks: “Studies show
that sports drinks are better than water at re-hydrating kids because sports drinks contain essential
electrolytes and because kids are more likely to drink the required liquids if there is a moderate
amount of sodium and some fruit flavour included,” said de Lench. “Other sports drinks are not
designed for kids’ needs and have too much sodium and other undesirable ingredients for kids.”
De Lench says youth dehydration is a serious issue, with two out of three children dehydrated
before sports practice even starts. Crayons, Inc. has teamed up with de Lench to create a
downloadable “Healthy Hydration Guide for Parents”.
This is available at: http://www.drinkcrayons.com/downloads/CrayonsEBrochure-lores.pdf.

CRAYONS SPORTS DRINK INGREDIENTS & NUTRITION FACTS

www.new-nutrition.com
57
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

company plans to stick mainly with expanding in categories to large, established companies.
the US market. “There are companies like Nestlé and Unilever
that are in every category known to humankind
Beyond beverages and every country in the world,” Seay said, “where
mom the gatekeeper is going up and down the
But Crayons won’t be standing pat only with aisle. We want her running into our brand in fruit
beverages for very long, Seay noted. “We’ll be rollups, drinkable yogurts and so on, in a way that
looking to partner with other people in other our brand – standing for high quality – becomes a
categories,” he said, in which Crayons would brand of trust. That’s the long-term play.”
retain ownership of the brand and license product

www.new-nutrition.com
58
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Case Study 10: The Switch

It had a rocky start and nearly went bankrupt, insisted that this opportunity clearly extends to
but now The Switch is starting over as a brand, teenagers, who are “critically important” to The
boosting the flavours of its 100% juice sodas, and Switch because more than half its business at this
broadening its appeal beyond its original health- point is through school-foodservice plans.
food channel to mainstream consumers, mainly “You’d be shocked by some of the e-mails we
teenagers. As well as targeting them at school, the get from teenagers who say absolutely yes” – that
company, under a new CEO, is strengthening its they’re looking for a product like The Switch.
online presence – teens who see The Switch ads on “They’ll say, ‘I’ve been looking for a product like
Facebook can order the juice from Amazon. this.’” She reads one recent e-mail received from a
After a false start that saw the Darien, Conn.- teen customer: “’It’s an ideal drink. Something with
based startup brush with bankruptcy a few years a kick. It’s juicy. And it’s actually good for you’.”
ago, the purveyor of carbonated juices in bottles Mottolese had been tracking Switch from afar
and cans tripled sales last year and is looking to when she was with Snapple and wondered why
triple them again in 2009 to reach an annualized the brand – with such a solid proposition – had
rate of about $13 million (€9.8 million) by the end trouble gaining traction. It turns out that original
of the year. management misspent its resources in attempting
The Switch Beverage Co. finally is rolling out to build the business, beginning with too little
its products to mainstream retailers nationally emphasis on teenagers and young adults and the
in addition to a strong marketing push in school outlets where they would buy a beverage such as
districts. The Switch.
And under its new CEO, beverage-industry
veteran Maura Mottolese, The Switch finally
appears poised to make a serious run at the other
major players that have emerged in this segment
over the last few years: Izze, a former startup that
now is owned by PepsiCo; Fizz Ed, by the juice
brand Apple & Eve; and Fruit 66, marketed by the
independent, 4U2U Brands LLC.
“The brand was originally conceived of as a
healthy soda, which it still is – but it was primarily
trying to attract consumers who shop in the health-
food channel,” explained Mottolese, who earned
her beverage-industry stripes as an executive of
Cadbury-Schweppes and Labatt, the Canadian
brewer, and who then was part of the brand-
turnaround team at Snapple.
“But it still is a great opportunity for us because the
product has the nutritional credentials that shoppers
are looking for,” she said. “And as the landscape
has evolved, there is a much bigger opportunity.
The brand is a healthy alternative to soda for
mainstream consumers – and today’s mainstream
consumer is much more health-concerned than the
mainstream consumer of several years ago. So the
opportunity is much larger.”
And, anticipating the next question, Mottolese

www.new-nutrition.com
59
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

At the same time, other pioneers in the


carbonated-juice category were not sitting still,
of course, neither in the retail channel nor in
the school-foodservice market. By 2006, as an
independent, Izze had built its cans and bottles up
to a $12 million (€9 million) brand in the grocery,
mass and drug outlets measured by Information
Resources Inc., Chicago. Izzy sales measured by
IRI topped $14 million (€10.6 million) in 2007, and
Fizz Ed came on the scene in the meantime.
And last year, IRI-measured sales by Izze topped
$18 million (€13.6 million), while Fizz Ed was still
struggling to reach $1 million, at least in retail
channels. Last year, in outlets tracked by IRI, The
Switch didn’t even register $1 million in sales.
Neither was The Switch doing much business in New Switch management has introduced bolder flavours,
schools, which even early company management including Black Cherry and Watermelon Strawberry, to satisfy
teen taste buds.
had identified as an important target market. Now,
The Switch is available in schools – but has only
been so within the last year or so. in seven flavours: Orange Tangerine, Watermelon
In 2006, as the board of the startup was trying Strawberry, Grape, Fruit Punch, Black Cherry,
to fend off bankruptcy, they invited Mottolese Kiwi Berry and Very Berry. The last flavour has a
to take over as CEO. She accepted, she said raspberry profile, comes only in bottles (while the
recently, and then began addressing the crucial other flavours are available in bottles and cans), and
question that faced the brand: “What’s the best is only available at natural-foods stores.
way to communicate the essence of the brand to “One key with the flavours has been going with
consumers?” as Mottolese put it. “And what is the mainstream flavours such as Black Cherry and
best route to market to create awareness and trial Orange Tangerine and Watermelon Strawberry,”
and demand?” Mottolese said. “Also teenagers want bold flavours
The answers centered around teenagers and that really characterize what they think they’re
schools, at least initially. getting. So our black cherry now has delicious
black-cherry taste versus something watered down
Bolder flavours boost appeal? or that tastes more like apple juice than black
cherry.”
As a product per se, The Switch had a lot going for In a recent blind taste testing in Southern
it. As Mottolese likes to note, The Switch’s flavour California, Mottolese said, The Switch prevailed
profile and ingredients are important points of over its competitors by a three-to-one ratio.
differentiation versus its competitors. But prevailing in school settings hasn’t been as
It is 100% juice, whereas Izze is only 70% juice. easy for The Switch as winning taste tests. Price
The Switch boasts 100% of the Recommended competition typically is taken out of the equation
Daily Allowance of Vitamin C, while Izze offers by school-foodservice administrators for products
only 5% of the RDA for Vitamin C. as similar as The Switch and its rivals. Typically,
Bolder tastes go with the higher juice content, in a school setting, a can of The Switch – as its
Mottolese said. One of the problems that original competitors – will sell for about 85 cents (€0.64), in
company management created, she said, was that an a la carte line or a vending machine.
they allowed The Switch to drift from the early So, much of the battle comes down to taste. And
promise of satisfying taste. in at least one big sampling of the tastes of high-
“Because we’re 100% juice, we have the school consumers, The Switch hasn’t prevailed.
opportunity to create some wonderfully delicious “We actually brought it in for a while, but the
products,” Mottolese said. The Switch now comes kids seem to have liked Izze better,” said Becky
Domokos-Bays, director of food and beverage

www.new-nutrition.com
60
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

services for Alexandria City Schools, in Alexandria, set of policies that schools follow from state to state
Va. She said that when given the opportunity to or county to county. You have to do your homework
purchase The Switch or Izze, the thousands of and know what the nutritional requirements are and
teenagers represented by the buying cooperative of what the hot buttons are in terms of regulations and
which her district is a part “didn’t go for The Switch the concerns of foodservice directors.” Mottolese
as well. And that speaks volumes to me”. Izze also herself, she said, can be talking by phone to dozens
boasts its own differentiator in that its cans are slim, of school officials each week during peak marketing
like energy-drink containers. periods like summer.
For The Switch, however, such obstacles are now
Negotiating the complex world of only part of the cost of doing business. The school
market has become “critically important for us,”
school policy Mottolese said. “It’s a great way of giving a product
to a target market in a venue where they can decide
The Switch management under Mottolese also
if they like it. It’s a phenomenal trial vehicle.”
has had to learn a lot, and very quickly, about the
Naturally, Mottolese is counting on increasing
sometimes-labyrinthine rules that govern food and
consumption of The Switch by school-goers to
beverage purchases by US school districts. A huge
translate into stronger retail demand. “The next
better-for-you push has been ongoing for a few years
opportunity for us,” she said, “is rolling out strong
now, both from the top down and at the grassroots,
retail distribution to meet rising demand.” The
but that doesn’t mean it’s all easy to navigate.
Switch is distributing its products into several
“Some nutrition standards at state and local levels
mainstream supermarket chains in the U.S.
make it difficult for these beverages to be sold, even
Northeast, she said.
though they’re juices,” said Erik Peterson, director
of public awareness for the School Nutrition
Association. “All of these companies now have a Meeting consumers’ needs online
letter from the U.S. Agriculture Department that
exempts them from the provision that requires The Switch is also available on Amazon.com. “That
minimum nutritional values, because they’re just is a huge deal for us,” Mottolese said. “Amazon last
juice and water. year was one of the few large companies that had
“But some states, including Florida,” Peterson double-digit sales growth, and grocery has been a
explained, “have said even with the exemption big push for them. They have phenomenal service
letter they won’t sell carbonated-juice products. and a huge array of products, and our target market
Does state law stand its ground on this issue or does – think about it. These folks live online. For them,
federal law override it? It’s still a gray area right the immediate gratification of The Switch arriving
now, and the companies are fighting it.” within a day or two is tremendous.”
Mottolese admitted that “the greatest challenge in As far as marketing is concerned, The Switch
marketing to schools is that there is no one consistent is heavily oriented toward the online milieu at

NUTRITION FACTS PANEL FOR THE SWITCH

The
Nutritional Information For Switch 8.3oz Carbonated 100% Juice
Per 8.3 oz
Serving % Juice Protein Carbs Calories Sugar Sodium Vit A Vit C Fiber Iron
(g) (g) (%DV) (g) (mg) (%DV) (%DV) (%DV) (%DV) (%DV)

Orange Tangerine 100% 0 36 12% 140 34 15 1% 20% 100% 0% 0%

Black Cherry 100% 0 35 12% 130 33 15 1% 0% 100% 0% 0%


Watermelon
Strawberry 100% 0 36 12% 140 35 15 1% 0% 100% 0% 0%

Grape 100% 0 33 11% 125 32 15 1% 0% 100% 0% 0%


Fruit Punch 100% 0 35 12% 140 34 15 1% 0% 100% 0% 0%
Kiwi Berry 100% 0 34 11% 135 33 15 1% 0% 100% 0% 0%

www.new-nutrition.com
61
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

the moment. Facebook.com is one prominent site Richmond, Va., said: “This is actually the Cyrillic
where The Switch is launching advertising that is alphabet. ‘EHT’ upside down means ‘buy’ in
meant to drive its young consumer base to retailers Russian. It’s all part of a subliminal plan to sell
– especially, Amazon.com. Switch to the Russians.”
The Switch also has been sponsoring an online Owned by Luther King Capital Management in
contest inviting readers to contribute their own Fort Worth, Texas, a public and private equity firm,
ideas why the “The”, in its moniker, is upside- The Switch may be a brand that, as Mottolese put
down, and giving away iPhones as prizes. it, “is in the right place at the right time”.
The winning entry sent by a Switch fan in

The school market is ‘critically important’ for The Switch, as this page from The Switch website illustrates.

www.new-nutrition.com
62
PUBL I C AT I O N S Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

Our case studies and reports give you unique insights into the vital
and changing food, beverage and nutrition market.
REPORTS in annual sales. It explores juices with added ingredients and it points out that
the areas of beauty, energy and weight management all have the potential for
profitable growth.
Organic and all-natural kids’ snacks and baby foods
Seven key case studies NEW!
The Food & Health Marketing Handbook
Health-conscious parents seem committed to continuing to buy healthy food for In a competitive world how do you take your technology to market so that it’s your
their children despite the recession, even as they economise in other areas. This product that wins at the point of purchase? This handbook tells you how to get the
42-page report looks in detail at these different approaches. Using seven detailed best out of the science and the health benefits of your ingredients or products.
case studies we analyse the performance and strategies of leading organic and
“all-natural” kids’ snacks and babyfood brands in the US and UK.
Price per unit SOLE USE ONLY (Multiple user price on request)
Failures in Functional Foods & Beverages:
And what they reveal about success NEW!
€200/$295/£190/ A$345/ NZ$395/ ¥23,000/ C$295
The functional foods market is a complex one. Success with a new product or
ingredient is rare. This unique 98-page report examines failures by functional CASE STUDIES
brands and ingredients. It sets out the lessons that can be applied by anyone
trying to develop an effective strategy for a brand or trying to commercialise
Anlene: What makes the world’s biggest bone-health brand so
nutrition science and offers concise strategies for reducing the risk of failure.
successful?
Positioned as “Expert in Bone Nutrition”, Fonterra’s Anlene dairy brand dominates
Energy shots: birth of a new premium-priced, high-growth category
the high-calcium milk segment in Asia and is the biggest bone health brand in
Strategies, trends and case studies from the US and UK NEW! the world. Anlene has achieved that position as the result of both innovation in
Such is the value to consumers of the proposition of a daily dose of energy with
science and innovations in marketing, marketing communications, packaging
no added sugar that in the US alone this new category has soared to over $350
and products. It’s a case study that provides a model of best practice for anyone
million in retail sales in less than two years - despite recession and despite sell-
looking to communicate clinically-proven benefits.
ing at a massive 400% price premium over “mainstream” energy drinks such as
Red Bull! Danone Actimel: Innovation Builds a Probiotic Mega-Brand
Danone’s Actimel probiotic drinking yoghurt is the world’s biggest immunity
10 Key Trends in Food, Nutrition & Health 2009 brand and one of the world’s biggest and most successful probiotic brands. In
Our annual review, 10 Key Trends in Food, Nutrition & Health, is one of the most this report Actimel’s marketing communications, pricing, packaging, labeling,
sought-after publications in the food industry. The report identifies the 10 mega- merchandising, advertising and consumer insights are analysed and explained
trends that will have the most impact on the food and beverage industries over in detail and illustrated with colour photographs, charts and images from
the year ahead. It points companies towards some clear and practical strategies advertisements to provide valuable lessons from which all food and beverage
for their functional food and beverage developments, production and marketing. businesses can learn.

Trends & Strategies in Weight Management: Innocent Drinks: What makes Europe’s fastest-growing
Ten Key Case Studies smoothie brand so successful?
Our concise analysis shows which brand strategies are most effective and why, For any company, large or small, looking to create a successful health proposition
which ingredient strategies are most effective and why and sets out the key market the story of the meteoric rise of smoothie makers Innocent Drinks shows what can
and consumer trends. Our analysis is illustrated with ten detailed case studies be achieved in a tough, highly competitive category. Innocent’s strategies are not
which cover satiety and fat burning and look at how to use weight management elusive, nor unachievable – they are instead steps that any company can easily
to revive old brands or create new ones. take to propel its brands to new levels.

Superfruit: strategy for superfruit success Gainomax: How to create an expert brand in sports nutrition
Superfruits are the product of a strategy, not something you find growing on a tree. Gainomax has shown how a brand can successfully broaden the market for
Superfruits are revolutionising the way consumers relate to fruit and fruit-based a sports recovery drink, reaching beyond serious “elite” athletes to draw in
products and they’re growing their market fast – from 40%-100% every year. And occasional gym goers and other mainstream consumers while maintaining its
yet just a handful of fruits have crossed over from commodity status to superfruit loyal following among the elite athletes.
stardom. This guide provides a checklist for superfruit success.
Cranberries: How Ocean Spray made them the world’s most successful
Probiotics: Successful Strategies from the Global Marketplace superfruit
This report is written for anyone trying to develop an effective strategy in the Cranberries’ rise to success as “the original superfruit” is well-known. Less
challenging and fast-changing area of probiotics. It sets out the seven steps to well-understood is that cranberry sales actually declined for several years. That
creating a successful probiotic brand and describes probiotic strategy both in dairy decline was turned around by a focus on innovative new product development
and emerging new segments such as fruit juice and solid foods. and effective brand communications. This 35 page case study shows how
Ocean Spray - and other companies in the cranberry field - have already moved
Functional and Health-Enhancing Juices: 7 Key Trends cranberry far beyond simple cranberry cocktail.
Using 15 detailed case studies this report analyses the functional and health-
enhancing juice business. It explains that digestive health, behind superfruits,
is the single most-promising trend for the juice industry – and demonstrates Price per unit SOLE USE ONLY (Multi user price on request)
how two companies have quietly built digestive brands worth over $50 million €110/$150/£80/A$180/NZ$200/¥12,000/C$160

For more New Nutrition Business case63 studies visit www.new-nutrition.com


www.new-nutrition.com
75% of the readers of New Nutrition Business have the Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

job title CEO/President/Vice-President/Director


Since 1995 New Nutrition Business has proven itself to be the most reliable,
practical & useful source of analysis & insight into the global nutrition business. NEW NUTRITIO
N
Today over 1,000 companies in 42 countries around the world use
BUSINESS
VOLUME 12 NUMBER 6
www.new–nutrition.com
APRIL 2007

Yakult starts its


ISSN 1464-3308

New Nutrition Business as a practical tool to help them do business.


European fight-back
Yakult Honsha, the world’s

Using a wealth of strategy, branding, regulatory and technology case studies based
biggest marketer the assault of Danone Actimel,
of digestive health products, Yakult even
is bringing one managed to maintain market is LGG (Lactobacillus Goldin
of the most successful of leadership in the it licenses & Gorbach), which
its home-market from Valio Dairy of Finland.
brands to Europe in a bid Netherlands until 2005.
to boost flagging Now, even though it LGG
has lost ground to Danone, is the world’s most-resear
sales. Yakult still holds a ched probiotic and
can be found in around 30

on our own primary research, New Nutrition Business will help you: Launched in the Netherland 34% market share – far dairy brands
s in February, higher than in either
Germany (7%) or the UK worldwide.
and likely to be launched (13%).
later in the year in Unfortunat
Germany too, Bifiene is ely, Vifit was Campina’s
a milk drink with last
attempt at doing anything
the active ingredient Bifidobacteri innovative for
um breve some time and the company
Yakult, delivering a dose of – which has a
at least one billion reputation for conservatis
bacteria per 100ml package. m and a remarkable
self-confidence – stood back

• understand innovation in the nutrition business Although plastic bottles


the standard container for
products in Europe, Bifiene
100ml Tetra Pak, as it is
have become
daily-dose dairy
is packaged in a
while the daily-dose sector
It wasn’t until 2005 – almost
first launching Vifit – that
and did nothing
romped ahead.
ten years after
Campina extended
in Japan, where the the brand into a 100g daily
product has been marketed dose. Campina’s

• learn “best practice” for successfully commercialising nutrition science


– albeit under a failure to see the clear signs
different brand name – since of how the
1978. The packs market was evolving have
are sold in threes and retail left Vifit as a minor
at Albert Heijn, probiotics player in its home
the Netherlands’ biggest market.
supermarket chain, The Netherland
at €2.99 ($3.99) per 3-pack. s is also home to one of
Europe’s most innovative
The Netherlands is an important daily dose products

• identify international new product developments that you can apply in your own business in the history of functional
– it was where the whole
market had its naissance
country
foods in Europe
European daily-dose
in 1994 when Yakult
Much of Danone Actimel’s
Europe relates to its very
“challenges” as a marketing
success in
effective use of
tactic (see
– ActiFruit from Hero, one
biggest juice companies.
a real point of difference
by providing digestive health
in
of Europe’s
ActiFruit established
a crowded market
launched its flagship 65ml November 2005 NNB). These benefits from
daily-dose product, challenge the fruit – each 100ml bottle
customer to take Actimel

• monitor key developments in global markets


called simply Yakult. every day for 2 has a 3.3g dose
weeks and to claim their of fruit fibre (pectin) – and
The Dutch daily dose dairy-drink money back if they this is clearly
market don’t feel any difference. communicated on the label:
has grown strongly in recent On average, the “fibre from fruit”.
years and in number of money-back Thus for the many people
2006 was worth, at retail requests is in single – particularly
prices, around €110 women – who want digestive
million ($147 million) – a figures while the challenge health benefits
staggering 800% concept tends to in a convenient format but

• keep up with regulations worldwide growth over 2001 – mostly


extremely aggressive and
of Danone Actimel, which
market in 2000.
driven by the
effective marketing
entered the Dutch
boost sales by millions.
The only Dutch dairy company
in the sector was Campina,
biggest Dutch dairy groups
competing
one of the two
intake of dairy products,
perfect alternative.
want to limit their
ActiFruit provides a

Athough privately-held Swiss-based


and one of the has Hero
world’s biggest dairy companies. declined to comment on its brand’s
Despite being first-to-mar Campina was performanc

• keep pace with market data.


ket in Europe, the also e, industry sources tell NNB
Netherlands is the only country spurred by the introductio
where Yakult n of Yakult in sales of Actifruit, which
has had any enduring success. 1994 to launch its own probiotic was launched in
Weathering daily dose November 2006, have been
product, called Vifit. Vifi going well.
t’s active ingredient

Minute Continued on page 5

Maid lifts its Biggest fish in


The rise and rise
nutritional omega-3:
Robert Orr of Açaí in the US
portfolio
A subscription entitles you to: Page 3
THE JOURNAL
F O R H E A LT H Y
Page 15-16
E AT I N G , F U N C
TIONAL FOODS
Page 25
& NUTRACEUT
IC ALS

• receive New Nutrition Business journal in hard copy each month


• conduct searches of our database at www.new-nutrition.com
• download the journal from the New Nutrition Business website (www.new-nutrition.com) the day it’s published
• receive a weekly e-mail news update and have unlimited access to our online news and commentary page.

To get your exclusive password for the New Nutrition Business website just e-mail: info@new-nutrition.com

In the fast As food, beverage and foodservice


companies take up the challenge
kids R
NUTRITION
E P O RT
www.kidsnutritionreport.com

evolving kids’ of children’s nutrition, KNR Unilever unveils first


MARCH / APRIL 2007
VOLUME 3 NUMBER 5
ISSN 1744-5450

delivers to you every two months: kids’ brainfood rang


e
nutrition • analysis & insight of their strategies
By Paul Vincent

Unilever has debuted Amaze,

brainfood for kids” in Turkey.


kids aged 5 to 12, the Amaze
of lunchbox snacks and
which have been developed
a brand it
describes as the “first specifically
designed
Aimed at school
range is made up
flavoured milk drinks
by the nutrition
very positive,” Geert van
Director of Nutrition for
Poppel, Ph.D. and
Unilever’s new
Vitality platforms, told Kids
“In less than four weeks,
more than €3 million worth
Nutrition Report.
the brand attained
and mental development of news coverage
programme Unilever

marketplace
in the Turkish media,” van
established in 2000. They Poppel says. “The
represent, the sales channels are proactively
company says, the culmination asking to list the

& tactics
of extensive products which is a good
research by the company early sign.”
into kids’ nutritional
needs.
Amazing Mums; not
But what makes Amaze confusing
amazing? them
• The brand is the first of
its kind. The
products are specifically The marketing campaign
developed to for Amaze, is fully
support children’s mental integrated to cover press
development advertorials, in-
needs. It does not involve

• explanations of trends and the fortification store sampling, TV advertising


and direct

it pays to stay
of existing kids’ products communication with medical
with functional professionals and
ingredients and to our knowledge a website.
there is
no similar product to be ensure the bioavailability “The brand is fundamenta
found anywhere in of nutrients is lly targeting
Europe or the US. increased, an issue which mothers and TV is the main
is increasing in communication
• Amaze is truly science-base medium,” explains van Poppel.

market developments
d: Unilever importance for all companies
says that it conducted a review with ambitions “There are also, however,
of over in the nutrition industry. advertorials,
200 scientific studies on Amaze has also been formulated a website and TV infomercials
nutrition and to help
mental development in kids to be as mothers understand the
before creating low as possible in ingredients essentials in kids’
Amaze. As a result of this known to be nutrition and how the Amaze
research Amaze harmful when consumed in excess formula would
products have been designed (trans and help them in giving their
to deliver 33% saturated fats, sugar and children a better
sodium)

informed
of all the key micronutrie and therefore start. The product launch
nts that science conforms to the WHO’s has generated a
indicates kids need daily dietary guidelines. great deal of interest among
for optimum Amaze lunchbox nibbles mothers on the

• profiles of key & emerging mental development – such and milk drinks Internet.”
as iron, iodine have been on sale nationwide
and B-vitamins – as well in Turkey since The communications for
as important February, through all the Amaze “are
macronutrients such as protein grocery channels designed to reflect the great
and omega-3 Unilever has access to in the country. science behind the
DHA. They product and the specifically
are priced at €0.38 ($0.51) designed, unique
• Unilever emphasises that and €0.49 ($0.65) formula,” says Poppel, and
it has gone respectively. what he describes

companies & individuals


to great lengths to formulate “The initial consumer response as a “rational voice” is used
Amaze to in TV ads to help
has been mothers understand that
their kids’ nutritional

Yoplait adds Martek Continued on page 3


’s NutriPals wants to make
Omega-3 to Jacky makes
friends with US moms
its kids’ omega-3
yoghurt more palatable

• new product launch data Pages 4-5


for Nordic kids

Kids Nutrition Report is the first


Pages 7-9
Page 6

and only publication worldwide • brand and product profiles


to focus on the highly active • analysis of newly-published research into children’s nutrition
area of children’s nutrition and
and health
child-oriented food products,
strategies, policies and politics. • analysis of marketing & retailing developments
Every two months we bring
fresh and exclusive news, Edited by Julian Mellentin, co-author of the best-selling book
trends and analysis of what is The Functional Foods Revolution, and one of the world’s top five experts
rapidly becoming a key issue on the global nutrition business, Kids Nutrition Report brings to its
for the food industry. readers analysis that will help them make better business decisions.

To order visit: www.kidsnutritionreport.com or email: info@new-nutrition.com


www.new-nutrition.com
64
Purchase online at www.new-nutrition.com
NEW NUTRITION ORDER FORM or fax this form to UK +44(0)20 7900 1937
BUSINESS Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages
or Email miranda.mills@new-nutrition.com • prices shown for sole use only, licenses available
CONTACT DETAILS Please Write Clearly

Name: Position:

Dept: Company:

Address: Country:

Phone:

Email: Fax:

POWERPOINT PDF POWERPOINT PRICE PER REPORT IN PDF OR PPT – €200 / $295 / £190 / A$345 / NZ$395 / ¥23,000 / C$295
ONLY ONLY & PDF COMBINED PACKAGE FORMAT OF PDF & PPT – €320 / $472 / £305 / A$552 / NZ$632 / ¥36,000 / C$472
Organic and all-natural kids’ snacks and baby foods: Seven key case studies
Energy shots: birth of a new premium-priced, high-growth category
Failures in Functional Foods and Beverages And What they Reveal About Success
10 Key Trends in Food, Nutrition & Health 2009
bined
5 Key Trends in Kids’ Nutrition 2009 Purchase com
e
Trends & Strategies in Weight Management: Ten Key Case Studies format packag
and rece iv e a
Successful Superfruit Strategy T
20% DISCOUN
Probiotics: Successful Strategies from the Global Marketplace
Functional & Health-Enhancing Juices: 7 Key Trends
The Food & Health Marketing Handbook

POWERPOINT PDF POWERPOINT PRICE PER REPORT IN PDF OR PPT – €110 / $150 / £80 / A$180 / NZ$200 / ¥12,000 / C$160
ONLY ONLY & PDF COMBINED PACKAGE FORMAT OF PDF & PPT – €165 / $225 / £120 / A$270 / NZ$300 / ¥19,000/ C$240
Gainomax: How to create an expert brand in sports nutrition
bined
Cranberries: How Ocean Spray made them the world’s most successful superfruit Purchase com
format pa ck age
Anlene: What makes the world’s biggest bone-health brand so successful? an d re ce iv e a
T
Danone Actimel: Innovation builds a probiotic mega-brand 20% DISCOUN
Innocent Drinks – What makes Europe’s fastest-growing smoothie brand so successful?

Please circle the


relevant currency £ $ € A$ NZ$ ¥ C$ TOTAL (UK purchases pls+VAT)

PAYMENT DETAILS
Please invoice my company – Please supply a purchase order. THE INVOICE IS PAYABLE IN 10 DAYS.
Please send a pro forma invoice so that I can arrange for pre-payment, I understand that once the payment is received you will complete my order.
I will send payment directly to your bank – NatWest, Law Courts, Temple Bar, 217 The Strand, London WC2R 1AL
Account No: 16663357 Sort Code: 60-80-08 Swift Code: NWBKGB2L IBAN: GB62NWBK60800816663357
I enclose a cheque payable to The Centre For Food & Health Studies Ltd
PLEASE NOTE:
Cardholder’s Name
• THAT CREDIT CARDS WILL BE
Please DEBITED BY WORLDPAY OR PAYPAL,
debit my OUR FOREIGN CURRENCY PAYMENT
Cardholder’s Signature AGENTS.
• ORDERS WILL BE SENT ONCE FULL
Card number PAYMENT IS RECEIVED
Last 3 digits on signature strip Expiry date Valid from • ALL ORDERS PRE-PAID WILL BE
SENT A FULL-PAID INVOICE

Fax back to: UK +44(0)20 7900 1937 Email to: info@new-nutrition.com


The Centre For Food & Health Studies Ltd, Subscriptions Dept, Crown House, 72 Hammersmith Road, London W14 8TH, UK.
www.new-nutrition.com
65
www.new-nutrition.com
Marketing Kids’ Healthy Beverages

SUBSCRIBE
BILLING ADDRESS Please Write Clearly

Name: Position:

Dept: Company:

Address:

Country:

Email: Phone:

Important please supply an email that can accept at least 5mb Fax:

Delivery Address If different from Billing Address

Publication name Format Price per unit SOLE USE ONLY* Currency Amount
New Nutrition Business - 1 year subscription Print €795 /$1050/ £675/ A$1330/ NZ$1550/¥90,000 /C$1150

New Nutrition Business - 2 year subscription Print €1350 /$1790/ £1140/ A$2250/ NZ$2550/ ¥150,000 /C$1950

Kids Nutrition Report - 1 year subscription Print €795/$1050/ £675/ A$1330/ NZ$1550/¥90,000 /C$1150

Kids Nutrition Report - 2 year subscription Print €1350/$1790/ £1140/ A$2250/ NZ$2550/ ¥150,000 /C$1950

* Group subscriptions and company-wide internet licenses are available on request. Please email: info@new-nutrition.com.
Note: Customers subscribing to one of the above publications are entitled to receive a 20% discount when they subscribe to the other.
Agents! Recommend to your customers that they subscribe or renew soon to take advantage of this year’s prices!

PAYMENT DETAILS

Please invoice my company – Please supply a purchase order. THE INVOICE IS PAYABLE IN 10 DAYS.
Please send a pro forma invoice so that I can arrange for pre-payment, I understand that once the payment is received you will complete my order.
I will send payment directly to your bank – NatWest, Law Courts, Temple Bar, 217 The Strand, London WC2R 1AL
Account No: 16663357 Sort Code: 60-80-08 Swift Code: NWBKGB2L IBAN: GB62NWBK60800816663357
I enclose a cheque payable to The Centre For Food & Health Studies Ltd
PLEASE NOTE:
Cardholder’s Name
• THAT CREDIT CARDS WILL BE
Please DEBITED BY WORLDPAY OR PAYPAL,
debit my OUR FOREIGN CURRENCY PAYMENT
Cardholder’s Signature AGENTS.
• ALL ORDERS PRE-PAID WILL BE
Card number SENT A FULL-PAID INVOICE
Last 3 digits on signature strip Expiry date Valid from

Fax back to: UK +44(0)20 7900 1937 Email to: info@new-nutrition.com.


The Centre For Food & Health Studies Ltd, Subscriptions Dept, Crown House, 72 Hammersmith Road, London W14 8TH, UK.

www.new-nutrition.com
66
www.new-nutrition.com

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi