Nutritional Growth Solutions expands children’s growth supplement to China with social media influencer support
10 Mar 2021 --- Israel-based Nutritional Growth Solutions (NGS) is continuing its Asian expansion by bringing its flagship Healthy Height protein shake to China, overcoming significant regulatory challenges.
Healthy Height has been clinically proven to improve children’s height, and contains 12 g whey protein per serving, without corn syrup or other additives. It is gluten-free, soy-free, no GMO and includes 350 mg of the amino acid arginine per serving. It also is low in sugar and sodium.
Moving to China
Speaking to NutritionInsight, Liron Fendell, CEO of NGS, says the expansion has come with difficulty.
“For a brand that’s been created in Israel and evolved in the US, expanding into China is a whole new challenge. Regulations in China are notoriously difficult; parents have different preferences than in the US, not to mention the logistic complications of exporting from the US to China.”
To overcome these hurdles, the NGS team has been preparing for the China expansion for a long time, she says.
“We’ve shifted some of our production processes to New Zealand to facilitate logistics and made changes to the product to adhere to local needs and preferences. We also completed the regulatory process to make sure we are well prepared to succeed in this market.”
Currently, over 90 percent of NGS’ revenues come from sales in the US, but the company is looking to get a more significant part of its revenue from the Chinese market in 2021, Fendell says.
“We plan for it to become a major market for us by 2022.”
Gavin Thomas’ first internet breakout came in 2013, at the age of two.Rising demand
The company says a sharp rise in online sales was seen during the COVID-19 pandemic and last year expanded sales to APAC countries including South Korea and Japan.
Overall, NGS recorded a 58 percent growth in sales in 2020. As part of the company’s move into China, it signed a deal with child celebrity and social media influencer Gavin Thomas.
Thomas has more than 8 million followers on Chinese social media platforms and has featured on China’s edition of ELLE Magazine. He is the youngest recipient of the Weibo Influencer Award.
Healthy Height
The severity of the COVID-19 pandemic has, as in much of the world, driven a focus on healthy diets in China, says NGS.
Increasing per-capita disposable income is also allowing Chinese consumers to pay more attention to premium foreign brands. Nutritional supplements were among the fastest-growing categories on Tmall Global (one of China’s largest online marketplaces) during 2020.
NGS, therefore, decided to offer Healthy Heights on a new online store through Tmall Global.
Monthly sales of nutrition supplements exceeded RMB 1 billion (US$153 million), with protein powders and amino acid supplements among the largest categories.
Age of the influencer
By signing a social media deal with influencer Gavin Thomas, NGS aims to tap into one of China’s most effective marketing strategies.
“Social influencers and key opinion leaders are playing an increasing role in digital marketing in China and can be a great way to approach a targeted, relevant audience,” asserts Fendell.
“For us, it is all about working with people with whom we have an authentic relationship, and that truly believe in our products. We believe real and enthusiastic customers are the best way to get more people to not only know about our product but trust it.”
Innova Market Insights pegged “The Age of the Influencer” as a top trend for 2021.
The market researcher notes that companies need to gain trust among consumers. Two in five consumers report they do not believe vloggers, bloggers and influencers are honest about the products they promote.
“While there are many products in the market claiming to improve kids height, Healthy Height is the only product that’s been clinically tested and shown to increase kids height while also having a clean label,” concludes Fendell.
By Louis Gore-Langton
