Freedom Foods Group has launched its first foray into personalised nutrition with a new brand, Vital Life. The first product, Immune Shot with Lactoferrin, combines the immune system protein with manuka honey and vitamin C.
FFG GM marketing and innovation nutritionals Di Strang told Food & Drink Business Vital Life was a market disruptor, creating a whole new category of consumer nutrition. “It doesn’t belong next to traditional supplements, and it doesn’t belong in the honey aisle. Our goal is to change people’s health habits.
“The supplement market has been around for a long time and we are witnessing a growing pill fatigue. Our challenge was to produce a functional nutritional product in a format that gave consumers a totally different experience. Where it almost feels like a treat.”
Vital Life Immune Shot contains:
- Ultra-pure, premium Australian Lactoferrin- PUREnFERRIN by FFG;
- New Zealand harvested Manuka honey valued for its antioxidant and antimicrobial properties; and
- Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant to support many body systems, including the immune system.
The product comes in a shot format with a bend, snap, squeeze call to action.
“This is shifting functional food from a chore to a seamless part of your day. You can eat it as is, drizzle it on your breakfast, add it to a smoothie or have it in your bag or school lunchbox. The squeezy is 4.8 grams of honey, so it tastes delicious, the polar opposite of taking a tablet,” Strang says.
Disrupting the market
In the last four years, FFG has invested $430 million in capital expenditure. A key component of that was the construction of new nutritional capabilities and a 500 million litre capacity expansion at its Shepparton plant in Victoria, where Vital Life is made.
Group head safety and compliance Rob McDonald told Food & Drink Business last year that FFG was a disruptor in the food and supply chain industry. For McDonald that was largely due to CEO Rory Macleod's pragmatic approach that “if you build the facilities and put in the infrastructure, then your capacity increases and your sales can go up” (Food & Drink Business 11/11/2019).
Strang echoes those sentiments. Lactoferrin is a premium product and not many companies make it, so securing a consistent supply can be challenging, she says. “Rory could see the value in lactoferrin and how to commercialise them. His skill is in looking at industries completely different to ours and then working out how to build it into the business.
“There was an enormous difference in capacity and capability when he first scoped this, but the company focused investment on that team to enable them to do something technically difficult. From there the company works fast. I joined in October last year and while there was certainly work underway there was no brand or branding. And we launched this week.”
FFG has trademarked its lactoferrin, PUREnFERRIN. Strang says the protein itself is an interesting one. “What is fascinating about it is its multifaceted action in the body, and the broad-spectrum therapeutic benefits it provides. It stimulates several types of immune system cells so they can function faster and more effectively. It can fight off bacteria, viruses and fungal infections and it also binds to iron. This means it weakens many bacteria and viruses because it takes away their food source. It can also stop viruses from entering cells and replicating, so helps stop the infection spreading.”
Vital Life Immune Shot contains:
- Ultra-pure, premium Australian Lactoferrin- PUREnFERRIN by FFG;
- New Zealand harvested Manuka honey valued for its antioxidant and antimicrobial properties; and
- Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant to support many body systems, including the immune system.
The product comes in a shot format with a bend, snap, squeeze call to action.
“This is shifting functional food from a chore to a seamless part of your day. You can eat it as is, drizzle it on your breakfast, add it to a smoothie or have it in your bag or school lunchbox. The squeezy is 4.8 grams of honey, so it tastes delicious, the polar opposite of taking a tablet,” Strang says.
Vital Life Immune Shot comes in a packet of 7 shots for $29.99. Strang says more products will follow in due course.
