By Christinna Højholt
August the 24th, 2021
In 2018, the market of beauty supplements was valued at USD 2,3 Billion. Currently it is projected to reach USD 3.3 Billion by 2026 and is growing at a CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) of 4.61% from 2019 to 2026.
Now, with that in mind, let’s not talk more about numbers and abbreviations, but more about WHY the beauty supplements has become THIS popular?
Beauty comes from within.
And the thing is, there is a reason behind the saying. We see a rising link between health benefits and beauty supplements. People want to feel and look their best – and as the money shows us so well, the supplying market follows and grows. This is also the reason why “Beauty Supplements” has its own category on My Beauty Guide app (Appstore & GooglePlay)
For the same reason, the Danish company, Nordic Nutriments was founded. Henrik Ludvig, Mikkel Kjærsgaard and Per Jensen, noticed the tendency and began their journey back in 2018. The cute, tasty and vitamin-rich gummy bears, as you may have seen before, are also to be found under the name “VitaYummy“.
We had a “5 QUICK QUESTION” talk with the Managing Director, Henrik Ludvig and Head of Marketing, Dorthe Schlichter, to hear more about the future business plans for VitaYummy.
How did the idea of VitaYummy start? Did you see a gap in the market?
Henrik: “Back then, my co-founders and I were all working for Nutramino (sports nutrition). We started to notice the increasing interest in “inner beauty” and that health and beauty is beginning to be perceived as a whole. If your idea is good enough, there will always be competition – hence we are not alone on the market. With that said, our biggest mission has always been creating high quality products without compromising on good taste.
In 2018 we introduced our first three products: Our bestseller and hero product, “Hair & Nails” along with multivitamins, one for adults and one for children. When our retailers noticed the interest in “Hair & Nails”, they started buying the rest of our product range and that build a strong foundation to expand our assortment.”
Why is VitaYummy’s products relevant in a market with a lot of competing brands? How do you make sure to stand out?
Henrik: “We want to be more than “just” a beauty supplement brand. We seek to inspire and create a universe BY women FOR women. No matter where you are in life, whether you are young, older, have children or not, we have something that suits your personal needs and upgrades your vitality.
Our two highest priorities are the following: the ingredients should be effective and must taste good. If not, you end up eating effective, but bad tasting gummies, or good tasting gummies with no effect at all.
Accordingly you can buy our products for a fair price. A delightful visual expression with a simple and clear communication: No matter which product you choose from our range, the price will always be the same. You get 60 gummies for a month’s consumption. That’s it.”
Dorthe: “VitaYummy include and does not exclude people. Women are our audience, so our full focus lies with them. Even though she may buy our products for her children or her man ends up “stealing” a gummy or two at home – and that’s totally OK.”
Where do you see the market of beauty supplements in five years? And how does VitaYummy keep up?
Henrik: “The whole market is constantly growing, but in the years to come we have to accelerate even faster. One of our main missions is to expand internationally, but first: be innovative, pay attention, listen to our costumers’ needs as well as follow up on global trends.
Especially we notice an increasing interest in the “inner beauty” category. This fall we will introduce three new products:
- Beauty Sleep – Because you should not underestimate a good night’s sleep
- Energy support – Not like the daily dose of caffeine, but the kind of energy that keeps you going all day
- Hair & Nails Peach – Because it is our hero product and people loved the taste, when we introduced it as a limited edition”
Dorthe: “We will keep finding inspiration from women. They define our brand. Hence we ask ourselves: What can we do to make her day better?
You should see Henrik when we run our test panel. It lies in the smallest details. If they like the taste, he is already on to the next step, creating a product with our product developers.”
How do you to this day communicate with your consumers?
Henrik: “Nowadays the consumers want detailed answers, and they expect it fast, which is totally understandable. For the same reason, we strive to be present online and quick to reply to any queries – On Instagram, by E-mail and telephone.
Keeping in mind, we don’t sell medicine, we sell supplements and the difference is huge, when it comes to giving advice and guiding the consumers about our products. The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration also keeps a strict guidance about it, so this can sometimes be challenging for us. But we are here for our consumers and do everything we can to be transparent and keep the experience positive.”
Speaking about My Beauty Guide Dashboard – What kind of benefits will VitaYummy get from using it?
Dorthe: “To me, it is today’s form of a focus group. You get closer to your end-user and let’s be honest – they have no mercy. If you think about it, isn’t it what you want as a company? To hear the REAL and honest opinion? This way, you get something unique. We can use it in a constructive way, and we get the opportunity to develop things for the better. Henrik works at high speed, so if we get a “not so good” review, we react and respond immediately.
When we connect directly with our end-user, we get the chance to enter a dialogue and understand them on a new level. The other way around, the end users get to know us and have their questions answered. The intention for us is to engage and adapt for the better. It is very important for us to be present and constantly communicate with our consumers, as well as our retailers.”
Henrik: “We need authentic opinions. In a test panel, there will always be someone who isn’t fully satisfied with a product. But we need to know what’s going on. By being present on My Beauty Guide, it has helped us to improve.
We ask ourselves. What can we learn from a review? Of course, you can’t get everyone to love you as a brand. But the goal is to get the majority to love the taste, ingredients and texture.
We are a small, Danish company on a journey with our consumers. This is one of our main and most important values.”