Wednesday, 13 July 2022 08:55

Fonterra taps into booming health, wellbeing markets

Written by  Staff Reporters
Fonterra's director active living, Komal Mistry-Mehta, says the way people manage their health and wellness is being revolutionised. Fonterra's director active living, Komal Mistry-Mehta, says the way people manage their health and wellness is being revolutionised.

Fonterra is tapping into the global health and wellbeing market to boost returns for farmer shareholders.

The co-op is supplying specialised ingredients, like bioative whey and its patented probiotic strains, to leading companies in key markets - China, US and South Korea.

The global health and wellness market is valued at US$66b, growing at 6.1% per year and medical nutrition is valued at US$50b globally and growing at 5% per year.

Fonterra's director active living, Komal Mistry-Mehta, says the way people manage their health and wellness is being revolutionised, the trend growing more prominently due to Covid-19.

She says consumers are rethinking what it means to age well, are being proactive with their health and taking a holistic perspective on their wellbeing.

This has given rise to a range of consumer solutions targeting specific health and wellness needs, which Fonterra is well placed to take advantage of, she adds.

Last year when the co-operative released its long-term strategy, it set an aspiration to grow operating profit by 40-50% from FY21 base by 2030. This will be done by focusing on our New Zealand milk, sustainability, nutrition and innovation credentials.

Mistry-Mehta says one of the ways Fonterra will create more value is to shift more of the Ingredients portfolio towards higher-value ingredients and solutions through its Active Living business.

She explains that this business addresses three dimensions of wellbeing (physical, mental, inner) and the health needs of a medical patient right through to those taking a proactive approach to their health and wellbeing.

"Fonterra is already well positioned to take a slice of these markets.

"We have expertise in protein to help people maintain muscle mass for better quality of life, dairy lipids that improve people's mood and probiotics to support immunity and digestion.

"To date, we're able to claim our products have health benefits relating to muscle health and sarcopenia (age related loss of muscle mass), mobility, malnutrition, and digestive health.

"In addition to this we're beginning to see benefits emerging in the areas or oncology care, perioperative care, mental wellbeing and beauty from within. We're also seeing complementary benefits of immunity, metabolic health, and weight management coming through."

The US remains a key market due to its interest in health and wellness and its wealth of innovative companies at the forefront of this trend.

The co-op is also focusing on Japan, China and South Korea with the team scoping Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam for future potential.

"We already have a number of partnerships underway with customers who value our expertise," she says.

Four key partnerships are:

  • An R&D partnership focusing on mental wellbeing with US based personalised nutrition company Sun Genomics.
  • The fastest growing probiotic brand in China, Wonderlab, who is focused on providing nutrition solutions to younger generations.
  • Korean brand Daesang a customer that values our specialist ingredients and our sustainability credentials. They've recently launched a new product using Fonterra's bioactive whey - which has lactoferin content 11 times higher than standard whey protein, to support immunity and provide protein benefits.
  • Leading health solutions company, Life Extension, who offer a range of vitamins, nutritional supplement and blood-testing services. They launched a new probiotic supplement in the US market in 2021, using Fonterra BifidoB HN019 probiotic strain.

Mistry-Mehta says its Active Living business has grown steadily over the last few years.

"This growth has been driven by innovation, increase in market share and share of wallet, portfolio expansion and geographic expansion.

"Going forward we will continue to invest in R&D, customer experience and our service model, as well as look for opportunities to enhance our capability and strategy through partnerships."

More like this

Cynical politics

OPINION: There is zero chance that someone who joined Fonterra as a lobbyist, then served as a general manager of Fonterra's nutrient management programme, and sat on the board of Export NZ, a division of lobbyist group Business New Zealand, doesn't understand that local butter (and milk and cheese) prices are set by the international commodity price.

Why is butter so expensive in New Zealand? Fonterra explains

Kiwis love their butter, and that's great because New Zealand produces some of the best butter in the world. But when the price of butter goes up, it's tough for some, particularly when many other grocery staples have also gone up and the heat goes on co-operative Fonterra, the country's main butter maker. Here the co-op explains why butter prices are so high right now.

Featured

T&G Global returns to profitability

Fresh produce grower and exporter T&G Global has overturned last year’s dismal performance by reporting a half year net profit of $1.7 million.

Rural backlash over plan to cut police staffing

Federated Farmers North Canterbury president Bex Green says two public meetings held this week should have made it loud and clear that rural families and businesses are concerned about proposed staffing changes at NZ Police.

DairyNZ thanks farm staff

August 6 marks Farm Worker Appreciation Day, a moment to recognise the dedication and hard mahi of dairy farm workers across Aotearoa - and DairyNZ is taking the opportunity to celebrate the skilled teams working on its two research farms.

Editorial: Getting RMA settings right

OPINION: The Government has been seeking industry feedback on its proposed amendments to a range of Resource Management Act (RMA) national direction instruments.

National

Machinery & Products

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Fatberg

OPINION: Sydney has a $12 million milk disposal problem.

Synlait snag

OPINION: Canterbury milk processor Synlait's recovery seems to have hit another snag.

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter