The subsidiary of Health and Happiness Group (H&H Group) notices that nootropics use is growing in the US and believes that the trend will eventually spread to Australia.
It hopes to pioneer the movement with the products that are currently exclusive to Chemist Warehouse and its website. There are however, plans to introduce the range into grocery chains as consumer understanding increases.
“Nootropics are quite well established in the US, but something which we've seen a lot of emergence and interest in with Australian consumers.”
“We’ve decided, as part of Swisse’s legacy, which is always to be innovative and to lead with science, we will trial and pioneer our own range," Kerrie Wade, director of marketing for ANZ at Swisse told NutraIngredients-Asia.
Examples of nootropics include ashwagandha, Bacopa monnieri, and Ginkgo biloba.
They are substances that “primarily activate cognitive functions, such as memory and learning”, by improving the brain’s supply of glucose and oxygen and also have antihypoxic effects, according to a review published in Nutrients in 2022.
Since the launch of the nootropics range in mid-July, sales have exceeded forecast.
Wade revealed that the range already took up about 12.5 per cent of the nootropics supplements market share.
The brand’s energy products typically take up a market share of around five per cent, this means the nootropics launch has more than doubled its market share.
Of which, Focus Nootropics is its bestselling SKU. It claims to maintain concentration and support brain function.
The tablet product contains American ginseng trademarked CEREBOOST, biotin, choline, folic acid, nicotinamide, vitamin B1, B2, B5, B6, B12, E, lutein, tyrosine, and phosphatidylserine.
“The actual sales trajectory so far has been promising. We've seen around 12.5 per cent market share, which is in line with our Swisse brand performance but higher than our initial expectations for this range.
“And for new product development which usually takes a little bit longer to establish itself, those are early strong signs.”
“We've got around three months of scanned sales, which suggests that consumers are looking up and thinking about nootropics.”
Wade said that while consumers might be unfamiliar with the term nootropics, they might already be taking ingredients which can be counted as nootropics from their existing VMS regime.
For instance, Australian consumers are typically familiar with B vitamins, and they identify these as energy-boosting ingredients.
This is why although nootropics are typically identified as brain health related products, Swisse has decided to categorised their SKUs as “energy” products instead.
Another reason is that Australian consumers also tend to engage more with energy products than brain health products.
“Interestingly, we've launched them in the energy segment of our portfolio. The reason is because that is a segment that we are trying to premiumise and modernise, and we saw a lot of nootropics working in the energy segment.”
“Whereas in brain health, which is probably where you may expect to find nootropics in some markets, it's a much smaller segment at the moment, with lower levels of engagement from the Australian consumer," she explained.
For the young and old
The nootropics were designed to cater to both young and older consumers.
In this case, Memory Nootropics is designed with the older consumers in mind.
It claims to improve memory recall and increase cognitive performance. Key ingredients used are Vitis vinifera extract trademarked as COGNIGRAPE, sage, biotin, choline, folic acid, B vitamins, lutein, selenium, and zinc.
“The memory product was targeted to a more mature consumer, where memory function, particularly as part of the brain's cognitive function, is one area which deteriorates," Wade said.
The remaining two products – Stress Control Nootropics and Focus Nootropics are directed towards the younger crowd.
“Our target consumer for Swisse is the younger VMS consumer, so we have two of the three products focusing on the needs of the younger consumer.”
Stress Control Nootropics claims to support a healthy stress response and increase mental alertness.
Key ingredients include Rhodiola rosea extract, green tea, caffeine, iron, iodine, zinc, B vitamins, as well as biotin, folic acid, and nicotinamide.
“Even though 70 per cent of Australian households are using VMS, there's real opportunities to increase that penetration on a subcategory level.”
“And one of those subcategories where we see that opportunity is with the younger consumer in the areas of stress, mood, and sleep and energy. There's that opportunity there to use VMS as a more natural solution to support those needs.”
The nootropics are also packaged in bottles with bright orange caps and labels, which Wade said was a common colour for energy related supplements in the market.
This means that Australian consumers can easily identify the range as energy products.
Closing the gap
Still, there is much work to be done in consumer education. Some common questions from consumers include whether nootropics works.
“We see ourselves as first to market because it's not really established and understood as a terminology.”
“Even though consumers have been taking typical nootropic ingredients for years, probably as part of their vitamin regime, that title and naming convention of nootropics and the terminology attached to it in enhancing cognitive performance of the brain function, is something which is still becoming more established with the Australian consumer.”
“For us, it is really to close that gap of the consumer's understanding," said Wade.
On the retailer front, she pointed out that the launch of nootropics was supported as it was an innovative endeavor.
“Chemist Warehouse and the grocery channels are supportive of innovation, because innovation is what drives new business growth for them and for us.”
