Launching your own food supplement gummies brand, here is a challenge raising questions.
As a reminder, gummies are food supplements in the shape of soft candy made of gelatin or pectin like « gummy bears ».
The gummies market is showing a very strong growth. In French drugstores for the first semester 2021, they reported a growth of 88%(1)! In Europe, the average annual growth is of 95% from 2018 to 2020(2). Finally, worldwide, the sales prevision is reaching 7 billion dollars (3).
So, should you absolutely follow this trend? How do you know if you should launch your brand of food supplement gummies ?
Here are 4 factors to consider before launching your food supplement gummies brand :
1- Your brand DNA
Does the universe of gummies suit your brand’s DNA? (Regarding your brand’s image, your company’s values, your founder’s wishes…).
This question is undoubtedly the first to ask. Even if the market demand is there, it is essential that the gummy and its playful aspect should be in harmony with your brand.
The gummies are appreciated, because they bring delight and delicacy. Nevertheless, they can be criticized for their sugar content or their limited amount of active ingredients. If you don’t have enough elements to counteract those aspects, more or less consciously, your sales pitch won’t be optimal.
2- The Health segments you want to treat
Are the health segments you wish to position yourself in adapted to gummies ?
If you approved that gummies suit your brand’s DNA, you must then define which segments of healthcare/well-being/beautycare you would like to treat.
Thus, beginning of 2021, the most represented segments by the gummy galenic form in French drugstores were : sleep (with ZzzQuil™ Sleep-aid from Procter & Gamble as first growth contributor), the ENT sphere (sore throat) and hair and nail beautycare.
To ensure launch success, you must position yourself on one of those 3 segments for a part of your range. Do not hesitate, then, to choose other segments to supplement your range and differentiate yourself.
Caution: all the segments cannot be represented by high health efficacy. Indeed, as the active ingredients amount is limited in a gummy (in general 200mg against 350mg in a tablet or capsule), it is important to select active ingredients that are efficient at low dosage.
3- The space to devote to your gummies
Do you have to develop a little number of gummy products or do you have to devote a full brand to them ?
After approving the health/well-being/beauty segments to treat, you must ask yourself if your whole range will constitute a brand of gummies.
To answer this question, you absolutely have to know what the most famous gummy brands are in France. To this end, notice that the leading gummy brands in France are Les Miraculeux, Lashilé Beauty and those who integrated this galenic form such as Biocyte, Cultiv, Valdispert, Arkopharma, Epycure, Ouity…
Therefore, launching a full brand of gummies means sharing the market with the brands already in place. To ensure your launch’s success, it is crucial to put in place financial or technically innovating assets to offload your competition from a part of the market.
If your competitive advantages don’t go far enough, it is probably wiser to opt for a galenic form diversification within your range of food supplements.
4- Formulation exclusivity
At this stage, you have questioned your brand DNA and defined the health segments on which you want to position your gummies. These considerations will lead naturally to the following question : How to make gummies? Do you have to develop your own gummy formulation or simply choose a catalog formulation ?
It all depends on what you expect from your gummies :
- Will they be subject to a range diversification supplementing cosmetic products, food products…(you already have a crowd of faithful customers that you want to feed with your offer ?
- Are you relying on your gummies to aim at new customer targets and/or to meet a strong need from your existing target ?
You now understand that, a standard formula is enough in the first case, however, it is necessary to develop a customized formulation to fully differentiate yourself in a universe marked by the gummies.
Eventually, whatever your choice, think about anticipating your needs because gummies take time to develop and to produce (around 6 months for the whole).
In conclusion, launching gummies can prove to be an excellent idea, provided that you address precisely the 4 factors described above.
If you would like to know more, do not hesitate in consulting our article How to develop good gummies for your product range? and in contacting us for the development or production of your gummies.
Raphaëlle DA COSTA
Founder of Kares-up
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(1) (4) Gers Data
(2) Innova Market Insights
(3) Market Research Future
