Health food and allergy specialist Freedom Foods has entered the liquid breakfast market with a snack milk product it hopes will get the seal of approval from critics of the category as well as parents.
Consumer organisation Choice last year released a scathing report on the health credentials of various products in the category, though Sanitarium, which makes the Up & Go range, has publicly rejected those claims.
Freedom Foods, however, is positioning its recently released liquid product squarely in the health space by declaring it both nutritious and allergen free.
Freedom Foods group managing director Rory Macleod says there has been phenomenal growth in the category. According to the company, the liquid breakfast market sector in Australia now exceeds $148 million, and is growing at 19 per cent per annum.
However, the company says it is not interested in competing directly with the more adult Up & Go market. Instead it’s targeting kids through health-conscious Australian parents.
The first two products in the range, Cocoa Crush and TropicO’s Banana, are made with natural cocoa and banana respectively and contain vitamin D, calcium and protein.
“It seemed obvious to us that there was a vast gap in the market that we needed to address,” Macleod says. “Our research showed that up to nine per cent of Australian children under the age of 10 have a perceived lactose intolerance, and it is well documented that one child in every classroom in Australia has a nut allergy.
“Our no-added-sugar proposition is a first for the liquid breakfast category and will appeal to the one in five Australians who are now following a low sugar diet.”
The sugar content comes solely from the breakdown of the natural milk sugar into its simple sugars galactose and glucose, both of which are easily digestible.
Nutritionally, the products are comparable to a 200ml glass of reduced fat milk, but with extra vitamins.
The recipe is also “lunchbox safe” in that it is free from nuts, gluten, lactose, sweeteners and artificial colours or flavours, and the products meet the Healthy School Canteen Guidelines.
The 200ml packs are sized specifically for kids, and are 20 per cent smaller than the 250ml category average.
The products were introduced into Coles and Woolworths late last year with full distribution reached in January this year and supporting promotions took place in February.
Liquid gold: Freedom Foods says the category is seeing phenomenal growth.
