The company’s protein shake powder “Healthy Height” is designed as complementary nutrition for healthy children between three and nine years old.
It is also meant for children who lack good nutrition due to health issues that may impair eating.
Containing 12g of whey protein as well as 350mg of the amino acid arginine per serving, the product claims to be gluten-free, soy-free, and GMOs-free.
Aside from making into shakes or smoothies, the powder can be added into ice cream or pancake batters.
Within APAC, the products are recently made available in China’s mother-and-baby stores as a pilot project to gauge market reaction, CEO Liron Fendell told NutraIngredients-Asia.
The protein shake powder first made its entry into APAC in India four years ago, with GSK selling it under license through the brand “Horlicks Growth”.
NGS, which is an Israel-based company listed on the Australian stock exchange, said it would venture into three more APAC markets next year.
Fendell said the company has been finding local partners and distributors with good market knowledge of Japan, South Korea, and Australia.
The plan is to sell the products via both online and offline next year.
“There is much demand for Healthy Height in APAC. These parents know the advantage of good nutrition to help growth and the market (for children’s supplements) is growing rapidly.
“This is why we have decided to focus on expansion in APAC,” Fendell said.
She said that the biggest market for Healthy Height has been the US since it was first launched in 2018.
In Israel, the product is sold via the brand “Pro Up” and is marketed to paediatricians and dietitians.
Decades of R&D
According to Fendell, research on the protein shake formula took more than a decade and the formulation was finalised in 2010.
The formula was developed by medical professionals specialising in paediatric endocrinology, gastroenterology, and nutrition.
They are Professor Moshe Philip, director of the Institute for Endocrinology at the Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, and Professor Raanan Shamir, Director of the Institute of Gastroenterology, Nutrition, and Liver Diseases at Schneider.
A two-phase one-year clinical trial over a period of four years was also conducted using the product, Fendell said.
Phase one of the study was a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised clinical trial lasting for six months. Phase two was an open-labelled extension of the study also lasting for six months.
Findings published on The Journal of Pediatrics showed that those who took more than 50% of the recommended dose for one year saw their total height standard deviation score (height-SDS) increased by 0.19 ± 0.14.
Those who took less than 50% of the recommended dose did not have an increase in their height-SDS.