The firm, which supplies dessert and beverages to restaurant chains, launched its own brand of powdered nutritional beverages in July.
Sold under the brand Wellboost, it consists of Care Plus – a hospital grade powdered drink for supporting muscle growth, bone structure, energy, and immune function.
The other product launched was Immuno Plus – also a powdered drink that contains lactoferrin, prebiotic fibre, and probiotics for supporting the immune system.
The products are currently sold via e-commerce in Australia.
Managing director Dirk Pretorius told NutraIngredients-Asia that the company was in talks with hospitals, pharmacies, and age-cared facilities for distributing the products within the home market.
At the same time, he plans to export the products into major markets such as China, Middle East, Indonesia, and Latin America.
“We already sell our (dessert) products to 65 markets. These (China, Indonesia etc) are the markets where we already have a relationship with and where people who are interested in our products.
“Also, we know that lactoferrin is a big thing in the China market at the moment, and Australian-made products are also known for its quality in those markets, so we definitely hope that these will benefit us in the long run,“ he said, adding that he was open to work with commercial partners for both offline and online retail opportunities.
Market position
Spending more than 12 months formulating the supplements, Pretorius said the venture was to address the current market gap for tasty nutritional products.
“We are always looking for an opportunity, especially on the product export side, and since we are a dessert and beverage manufacturer by tradition since 1976, the difference between us and other products is our experience and expertise with making good tasting products,” he said.
The products are available in chocolate, vanilla, and neutral flavours.
Another key difference is the company’s addition of probiotic culture bacillus coagulans, trademarked LactoSpore MTCC 5856, into both of its Care Plus and Immuno Plus range.
A human clinical study by Majeed M and et al published in 2016 has showed that the probiotic is effective in managing IBS.
“The one thing different about our product is that it contains probiotics throughout the range,” he said.
Ingredients wise, he pointed out that lactoferrin, while popular in China, was still relatively new in Australia.
“Lactoferrin is starting to become popular, it is something new, people are only realising its benefits, but I think it will definitely become bigger because it’s a proven immune system stimulant,” he said.
The company is already working on range extension and the next nutritional product launched would be a plant-based product.
