Marketing Omega-3 Products as Nutraceuticals

Abstract

Efamol Ltd has been one of the leading fatty acid supplement manufacturers for some 30 years. It has a tradition of marketing science and research based products and with sales in more than 25 countries is one of the few international companies in this field.The market for omega-3 products, fuelled by a succession of positive reports in the media, is currently undergoing a period of significant growth. Recent estimates value the European market for omega-3 based supplements at over US$200 million and the global market at over US$700 million. Growth rates are estimated at 8% per annum with individual markets such as the UK showing growth significantly in excess of that figure.Dividing the marketing of omega-3 oils into either 'business to business' i.e predominantly as a bulk or raw material ingredient or 'business to consumer' i.e. as finished product there are some fundamental differences in the product propositions and key positioning criteria.In both cases however, somewhat surprisingly, the source of the oil is not important, whether it comes from tuna or bonito, menhaden or mackerel does not really matter and usually is not even disclosed. As a raw material of primary importance is the fatty acid composition specifically in terms of EPA and DHA and a number of fish oil 'categories' have been created and defined by the relative contents of these two fatty acids, e.g: 18:12 (18% EPA 12% DHA), 5:25, 30:20, 50:10, or 60% or 70% total n-3 Producers of oils falling outside these fairly tightly defined categories will find it difficult to sell their product. Along with fatty acid composition, quality is a key factor. Not only must the oils be fully refined by conventional, molecular or chromatographic techniques but accompanying analysis and documentation must be comprehensive. Customers increasingly rely on manufacturers for their own quality control. The consumer marketing of omega-3 products falls into two sectors: • 'functional' foods • nutritional supplements Of these the latter currently represents the significantly greater of the two.