7 Outstanding Companies in Functional & Health-Enhancing Foods

The seven featured in this report were chosen because they met these three criteria:

• strategies in nutrition and health are the most advanced and the most successful
• strategies that best illustrate the future direction of functional foods
• companies from whom the most can be learnt about how to be successful in the business of food and health

The selection includes some large companies with diverse portfolios (Danone, Unilever, PepsiCo) as well as very focused companies (Yakult and Pom Wonderful) and an entrepreneurial startup (Innocent). Common to all these companies, despite their very different starting points, is a demonstration of how to be successful in food and health.

The seven companies are:

1. Danone (global)
2. Unilever (global)
3. PepsiCo (global)
4. Emmi (Switzerland)
5. Yakult Honsha (global)
6. Pom Wonderful (US)
7. Innocent Drinks (Europe)

Anyone aiming to develop a strategy in nutrition and health, whether it involves developing new brands or reinventing old brands, can learn lessons from these companies and gain insights that can be applied in any setting.

The report shows that even businesses with a portfolio of long-established brands whose health credentials are far below what is required in today’s market can successfully refocus themselves on health, provided that management has the vision, the will and the competence.

• What the seven companies also have in common is that they are connecting to the most important trends in food and health, which are identified in this report as follows:
• Digestive health - a wellness issue and the biggest opportunity
• Fruit & superfruit - the future of food and health
• The marketing power of “naturally healthy”
• Beauty foods - the newest niche
• Weight management more about maintaining than losing
• Mood Food feels its way
• A tipping point for the premiumisation of health
• Healthy snacking for the “me generation”
• Kids’ nutrition - connecting to multiple trends is crucial
• Are antioxidants the new probiotics?

The report shows how companies with diverse portfolios have connected to many of these trends (eight or nine of the trends, in the case of Danone, Unilever and PepsiCo) while other companies are connected to a smaller number of trends, but have such deep expertise in these narrower areas that they have achieved leadership that has become unshakeable.

This report also shows that, of the many strategies that companies can adopt, the most successful companies are choosing either:

• marketing intrinsic healthfulness or
• new category creation.

The defining strategies of food and health worldwide, explained in this report, are not mutually exclusive and, as shown, some companies often have success using both within the same brand.

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