How Kerry tackles nutrition trends in women’s health, weight loss and longevity

As the nutrition industry is increasingly focusing on innovations in trending health areas of women’s wellness, healthy aging, and weight loss, Kerry tells Nutrition Insight how it uses clinical trials to address underserved needs and consumers in these segments.

The team highlights its research targeting real-world health gaps and consumer groups, such as expanding women’s health solutions beyond traditional products, conducting trials in older populations for its healthy aging products, and supporting GLP-1 users with gastrointestinal side effects.

Jordan Dow, global VP at Kerry, highlights women’s health, improving health span, and weight loss as key trends in the nutrition space.

“The biggest trend that we see, that we absolutely plan to win in, is women’s health,” he underscores. “We have a great portfolio across need states and under met need states, such as mastitis. This impacts about one in three, almost one in two, breastfeeding moms. It is very painful, and most of the time it results in bottle feeding, as opposed to breastfeeding.”

He also notes that Kerry’s portfolio includes products to treat polycystic ovary syndrome and boost fertility in women. Moreover, he says the company is planning to launch a new product that will boost fertility in both men and women.

“This is a single product for both male and female to collectively boost fertility rates across partners; it’ll be a world first,” says Dow. “And that’s one of the reasons that we continue to win business in women’s health, because we’re playing in areas that just don’t have a lot of solutions.”

“If we’re aiming to be the kind of scientific light post for the industry, we also make a very concerted effort to play in need states that are undermet.”

Kerry’s R&D director for women and infant health, Monica Maria Olivarez, recently told us the company aims to close the clinical gap in women’s health.For example, he says that many companies on the market work in similar categories, where urinary tract infections used to be the core of women’s health. “That’s one of 100 issues that need to be addressed, and we very much want to play across others than the standard.”

Women’s wellness solutions

Another area in women’s health that Kerry works on is menopause, with its Sensoril ashwagandha ingredient. Last year, clinical research found that this ingredient supports the quality of life and health of postmenopausal women.

Laura Collins, Ph.D., Research, Development, and Application director in Cognitive Health, says that Sensoril has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety. She highlights that research found that the ingredient reduced menopause symptoms across all domains, such as hot flashes and sweating.

“We’re getting real-life results,” she details. “We had statistical significance on being published, and we’re now looking through these two papers around clinical significance in menopause that have real-life benefits in a real-life setting and demographics. We’re really excited about that.”

She notes that Kerry aims to be a leader in science and transparency, having completed 100 clinical trials, with 20 still ongoing.

“We are answering real-life need states, at a really high bar,” says Collins. “Women’s health is a good example, because it’s been such an underserved area for so long.”

Boosting the health span

Dow says longevity is another key trend, focusing on extending the health span so consumers can live longer and, above all, healthier years. “We have a range of trials that show health benefits in 50 and 60-plus.”

Dow underscores the importance of doing randomized clinical trials in an older population on solutions that target relevant health areas.“For example, Wellmune, which is one of our core products in our business, is a yeast beta glucan. We have trials for seniors on showing boosting immunity in seniors, because what you deal with when you’re over 60 is very different from the immunocompromised kind of realities you have when you’re a teenager or an adult.”

He underscores the importance of doing research in an older population. “We’re one of the few companies that continues to invest in randomized clinical trials in that age population.”

According to Dow, some companies in the industry reposition their current solutions for specific health areas that are more common among older consumers, like digestive health.

“That’s not the way that we want to play, we want to have the science credentials that are addressing under met needs.”

He notes that the company is committed to running more trials to demonstrate the health benefits of its portfolio in adults over age 60 over longer periods of time.

Collins adds that Kerry looks at the body’s biological process. “We’re aligning ourselves to the 12 hallmarks of aging, which have been updated into 14, and trying to address those differences with our ingredients, particularly to address how aging happens.”

She also points to the global disparity between lifespan and health span. For example, a few years ago, the WHO cautioned that the US recorded the world’s most considerable divide, as people lived an average of 12.4 years with disability or illness in 2019, compared to a global average of 9.6 years.

“It’s something where we can, with our technologies, address and support in a proactive way,” says Collins.

Science-backed solutions

Dow highlights that Kerry’s clinical trials on healthy aging focus on conditions that exist and are more predominant over a certain age range.

Collins says Kerry aims to be a leader in science and transparency, with a focus on clinical trials that answer real-life need states.“There may be holy grail solutions that just don’t have solutions today, such as cell senescence. Very few, if any, have been able to prove that we can help protect and extend the life of your cellular composition,” he details. “Our intent is not to understand the impossible, but it is to look at the predominant issues that exist in later life.”

Dow says Kerry does not set out to create products that help consumers live to 150. “But if we are going to live to 90, let’s ensure that most of those years are going to be healthier.”

For example, he points to menopause support as one of Kerry’s healthy aging solutions. “It’s a female product, but it’s also something that tends to happen when you’re a little bit older in life; there are symptoms that can last for decades. That is absolutely impacting health span.”

Other areas linked to healthy aging Kerry aims to compete in are cognitive health and beauty-from-within. For cognition, Dow points to Sensoril, which is supported by 15 clinical trials.

“What we’re looking to do now is determine how we address some of the physiology or the conditions that exist over a certain age range,” he adds. “More trials will be looked at to be run over an older demographic.”

Kerry will also continue to invest in beauty-from-within, says Dow. “We have another product in our portfolio, a postbiotic, which shows skin benefits. Over time, it allows you to retain moisture in the skin — and more moisture, fewer wrinkles.”

“There is more to come,” he teases. “We can’t disclose it because a lot of these projects are in our pipeline, but the philosophy that we’ll have in aging will be very similar to women, where we will be looking to address conditions that don’t have solutions.”

Healthy weight loss

Another key trend Kerry observes in nutrition is weight loss, along with the growing use of GLP-1 therapies.

Rather than creating an alternative to GLP-1s, Kerry focuses on alleviating users’ digestive health issues so they can stay on the medication.“We made a choice that we weren’t going to try to create a better GLP-1 option. That’s not what we wanted to do,” says Dow.

“What we did notice, though, is that the vast majority of patients who are going through the GLP-1 experience have gut issues. They have diarrhea, bloating, or discomfort. We had a hypothesis that two of our products could actually yield a benefit, clinically proven, with data in GLP-1 patients.”

Dow notes that the company tested its BC30 probiotic and, in a separate study, its postbiotic Plenibiotic. BC30, a Bacillus coagulans strain, supports digestion and boosts protein absorption, while Plenibiotic is linked to digestion and skin health support.

“What we showed is, in the cohort of hundreds of patients who are going through a GLP-1 intervention, for those that were suffering from gut issues, 70% were alleviated to the point they stayed on the medicine,” details Dow.

Collins adds: “We think there will always be a very solid place for supporting people on that journey.”

“It is about extending that and ensuring we can support them,” she underscores. “It’s tough when people want to do this, but can’t stay on it; it’s a big life choice for them. Those studies are great,around 60% of people said it was a game changer.”