Monteloeder unveils white label tailored nutrition app amid industry push toward tech

27 Jan 2022 --- Ingredient supplier Monteloeder is entering the tech space with a tailored Metabolaid nutrition app targeting weight loss and cardiovascular health. 

“We are trying to fill a gap that we had already observed five years ago. Back then, we saw that the industry was struggling to shift toward a more consumer-centric approach,” Jonathan Jones, chief scientific officer, Monteloeder tells NutritionInsight.

As a result, Monteloeder has been focusing on developing digital tools to help businesses deliver their customers a more personalized experience with items containing their proprietary formulas, Jones continues.

“The focus of Monteloeder will always remain in the B2B space and what we have developed is a white-label prototype that any company can use to create its digital strategy.”

Consumer-centric solutions in demand
In combination with the usage of the Metabolaid app, the Metabolaid nutritional supplement – a hibiscus and lemon verbena extracts-based formula that may reduce fat buildup in adipose tissue and the liver – has shown to be part of a complete tailored health solution.

Nutrition companies emerging in the tech space is “a trend that we are seeing not in the future, but now. We are already seeing other players with similar strategies, mainly in the B2C space, but some are already appearing in the B2B space,” says Jones.The Metabolaid app includes daily reminders to take the supplements and how they must be taken.

As consumers demand more personalized, experience-based solutions and companies begin to shift to more consumer-centric solutions, Jones discloses that “the inclusion of technology in the nutrition space will become much more prominent.”

Linking supplements with apps
To ensure consumer engagement and adherence, the app’s algorithm includes the supplement’s effects, the most relevant lifestyle habits linked to the product and simple behavior change strategies, Jones explains.

“The tech company we partnered with develops the app based on our guidelines and adds in the user experience strategies to make the app interesting, easy-to-use and fun.”

The app demonstrates that taking a supplement to reach a specific goal, such as losing weight, is achievable but requires a little effort from the consumer’s side as well. This includes eating healthy and exercising, he adds.

“Looking at the supplement side, the app includes daily reminders to take the product. Also, the app keeps track of how many pills they have left and reminds them to repurchase when they are running out.”

Adherence, behavioral change and information design
In explaining how the app was designed, Jones says it is based on three premises: adherence, behavioral change and information about the app.

Consumer adherence to supplement routines is key as it is one of the significant challenges in the industry, notes Jones.

“The app includes daily reminders to take the supplement, as well as when and how they must be taken. The consumer needs to take the supplement properly to obtain the benefits. Properly designed apps have been demonstrated to improve treatment adherence.”The app includes recommendations on adding simple habits that can impact users’ weight loss goal.

In behavior change, Jones adds that “adopting lifestyle changes is another great consumer challenge.”

“The app is designed to include simple lifestyle habits to facilitate their inclusion in consumers’ daily lives. The lifestyle habits included are drinking enough water (as water helps curb appetite and improve overall health), fruit and vegetable intake and physical exercise.”

It’s essential to provide information on the product’s effects and progress with lifestyle adjustments, adds Jones.

“This includes keeping track of their progress, not only regarding product intake but also their lifestyle changes and the amount of weight lost. Charts are included so that the users can see their progress for each habit and health parameter.”

Investigating the app’s effects
Monteloeder completed its first weight-management app three years ago, based on its Metabolaid ingredient, and tested the combined app and ingredient on 450 consumers, Jones continues.

“Results showed a high retention rate and consumer appreciation, which motivated us to pursue this strategy further.”

Building on this, a new study on the Metabolaid app recently found the addition of a mobile app (in conjunction with the Metabolaid dietary supplement) with daily reminders to follow healthy lifestyle recommendations increased physical activity.

Overall, it improved blood pressure and fat mass levels compared with a group performing the same intervention but in the absence of the mobile application.

“This recently published study demonstrates that the use of a mobile app helps users to adopt lifestyle habits that improve their overall health, while at the same time making them aware of the supplement´s effects, which sometimes are not easily perceivable or require a certain amount of time,” says Jones.

Other members of the nutrition industry are also drawing on technology to power personalization, with a roundtable of ADM, DSM and Gnosis by Lesaffre, experts recently exploring how digitized consumers are drawn to tailored nutrition and new delivery forms.

By Nicole Kerr