01.09.2005 // Financial Times Deutschland
The health industry: that extra sales boost

"... health-promoting foods are booming, whereas the ?normal? retail food products are in stagnation. ?Foodstuffs with additional benefits are basically the trend?, says Kerstin Ullrich from the Gesellschaft für Marketing Research und Innovationsmanagement (GIM argo). Functional food evidently provide that crucial extra sales boost: the Germans spend an estimated annual sum of 6.5 billion euros on food and drink that promise added health value. This amount is likely to rise still further, despite the fact that enhanced food costs up to 30 percent more than normal fare. (...) And yet the functional food wave cannot be exploited ad infinitum. Not every market launch comes off. ?There are limits to what can be expected of the segment? warns market researcher Ullrich. Nestlé learned this the hard way with Nutrel, their new umbrella brand. The ?Vega Plus? vegetable drink, a muesli bar containing folic acid for pregnant women, and an energy bar designed to maintain a high blood sugar level were taken off the shelves again within a short space of time. The products that had been launched with a massive advertising campaign evidently attracted too few buyers. ?We have realised the importance of explaining the product benefits to the consumer?, says the Nestlé spokesperson in summing up the situation. (...) "Even though low GI breads are selling well and ACE juices are proving a sure-fire success, the strategy of enhancing foods with additional benefits does not work for every product?, explains expert Ullrich. The general health hype has already led to a lot of uncontrolled growth. And ?cholesterol-free water? or chocolate bars that are supposed to improve blood circulation are enough to instil mistrust in any consumer, however favourably disposed their attitude."