Personalized nutrition-based companies are growing at an alarming rate, thanks in part to the rise in high-quality digital technology and fast consumer adoption. Nowadays, consumers demand better products, with proven efficiency, and technology allows companies to provide consumers a way to meet that demand.
Whereas the food and nutrition industries are rapidly adopting personalized nutrition strategies, the nutraceutical industry is lagging behind. Despite this, there are a few personalized digital approaches currently available in the market, but we are happy to be considered as the first identify this need in the industry, developing the “Digital Nutraceutical” concept.
As a case example, we designed a digital solution based on our Metabolaid ingredient, focused on helping consumers lose weight and improve their cardiovascular health. This digital solution, in the form of a mobile app, was developed based on the observed effects in the clinical trials, thus using the clinical trials as a way to define the consumer journey with the product. In this manner, the app is capable of managing the consumer´s expectations with the product consumption, as well as provide them with insights as to the benefits to their health. In order to “digitalize” our ingredient, it was necessary to rethink the way we design our clinical trials. To this end, we had to include digital tools and consumer wearables in the studies to truly understand the subject´s habits, in a real-world context. Then, taking together the clinical and real-world data, it was possible to discern what parts of the user´s daily habits are more relevant for the expected outcome, and how and to what extent does the product help in reaching the outcome. We can then include this information into the app and therefore design an intervention strategy based on the results of the clinical study. This allows to provide a more personalized solution for the end consumers, as we can compare their results with those observed in the clinical study, provide them with insights on how to improve, as well as manage their expectations with the product.
In order to test this solution with real end-consumers, we partnered with CLESA, one of the largest dairy companies in Spain, to offer a yoghurt-based drink that included the ingredient Metabolaid as well as a mobile app.
CLESA performed a promotional campaign to recruit volunteers, challenging them to test the combined solution for 90 days. A total of 400 volunteers decided to participate in the challenge. Repurchasing was facilitated through the app, sending the product directly to their homes. Also, we used behavior change techniques, introducing small but significant changes, in a consecutive order, so that the users could adopt them without disrupting their overall daily life. Also, daily reminders to take the product was included to help consumers adhere to the product intake, as adherence is important to maximize its benefits. Finally, daily tips were provided through the app, which would inform the users of how the recommended behavioral changes will improve their health, and how to seamlessly implement them.
As a result of the pilot test, over 87% of the consumers remained active at the end of the 90 days, which was a much higher percentage than expected. In general terms, retention rates of health & fitness related apps after 3 months are only 5-10%, and similar numbers are detected with dietary supplement repurchases. Therefore, to see such a high level of dedication from the users indicated that the strategy seemed to be working.
As for the introduction of new behavioral habits, we were able to detect a noticeable increase. For example, users reported increasing over twice-fold the amount of fruits, vegetables and water that they took daily, and increased over 50% the amount of physical activity performed weekly. Overall, over 85% of the users reported significant weight loss thanks to the combined solution, with an average of almost 6kg lost in 90 days.
As for the consumer assessment, the majority perceived that without the app they would not have been able to complete the 90-day test, and would continue taking the product and using the app afterwards. Overall, the general perception was that they enjoyed the experience, regarded the app as an effective tool to help them reach their health goal, and would like to see this approach in the market.
In conclusion, personalized nutrition keeps growing, but is still far from reaching maturity. There are many companies offering personalized solutions for their clients, with no one leading the way. In this sense, Monteloeder has been at the forefront of providing personalized nutrition solutions for their clients, based on proprietary dietary ingredients together with digital tools to manage customer experience and expectations. The Actilac project has demonstrated that our personalized solutions can be feasibly implemented into the general market.
The work presented here has been financed by the European Union´s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement Number 783838
Jonathan Jones, PhD. Product Development Manager
Cristina Sansano. Digital Product Design Lead
