Probi to provide Swedish D2C cosmetics company’s first gut health probiotic

16 Jun 2021 --- Probiotic supplier Probi and Swedish D2C cosmetics and wellness company Oriflame are partnering to globally launch a probiotic supplement targeting general gut health.

Increasing scientific evidence connects gut health with many health benefits, including beauty benefits,” an Oriflame spokesperson tells NutritionInsight. “Our current concept is primarily focused on delivering digestive benefits, but new beauty from within concepts with probiotics may come in the future.”

The product will be Oriflame’s first probiotic supplement in its Wellness by Oriflame portfolio. Notably, as one of Oriflame’s strategic product categories, wellness has generated “the greatest value creation during the last years,” from 8 percent sales in 2016 to 17 percent in 2020.

“Probi sees Wellness by Oriflame as an exciting partner for growth, based on common ambitions of increasing health and wellness for people all over the world,” Charlotte Beyerholm, director of marketing and global communication at Probi, tells NutritionInsight.

Oriflame’s go-to-market plan will cover several countries, with a wide geographic reach. The first launch is planned to take place this fall, with a continued roll-out in the Wellness by Oriflame markets during 2022 and onward.

Wellness is one of Oriflame’s strategic product categories, having generated 8 percent in sales in 2016 and 17 percent in 2020. Other ingredients covered in the Wellness by Oriflame portfolio include omega 3s, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, and supplements for soups and shakes.

Choosing the right strain
Based on Probi’s concept Probi Digestis, the new product will be a “customer-specific formulation” combining Probi’s probiotic strain L. plantarum 299v (LP299V) with micronutrients and plant extracts.. 

“LP299V is very well suited for a variety of delivery formats within dietary supplements and food applications,” Probi CEO Tom Rönnlund also tells NutritionInsight.

He affirms the strain is “the most clinically researched plantarum strain in the world” with several documented effects on gut health. 

LP299V was recently featured in a line of quick-dissolving powders targeting immunity and digestion, but is also incorporated in Probi’s iron absorption supplement FerroSorb and Sanofi’s Cenovis Kids Superbiotics.

According to Innova Market Insights data, probiotics continue to spearhead the gut health sector. The top health positionings of global product launches tracked with “probiotics” in 2019 were Digestive/Gut Health (39 percent), followed by Probiotic (25 percent), Digestive/Liver Health and High/Source of Protein (both 21 percent).

Globalizing gut health
Outside of the beauty sector, Probi has struck various partnerships this year to bring its probiotic strains to the immune and bone health sectors. 

Over-the-counter health and wellness player Perrigo signed a semi-exclusive agreement with Probi to bring premium probiotic digestive and immune health concepts to 14 European countries. Probi is also entering into a collaboration with La Trobe University in Australia to investigate the relationship between the gut microbiome and bone health. 

By Anni Schleicher