Gut health has recently gone mainstream in the retail space and brands including Symprove have gained traction among retailers, with major listings now a regular occurrence. The trend has grown alongside an increasing concern in digestive health within the UK, as shoppers lean towards a more well balanced lifestyle.
Grocery Gazette sat down with Symprove to discuss how the brand has been shaping the industry, the current state of the gut health product market and the future plans which it has.
Tesco’s Accelerator Programme was designed to support innovative and promising challenger brands and start-ups and Symprove has offered premium gut health products which standout due to their water-based solution.
The brand was founded to meet the gap in the retail market for a premium gut health solution which meets the need for improvements in the UK for digestion and stomach related ailments.
The Tesco partnership marks a major step for the brand, with the expansion into nationwide stores.
Charles Stiles, head of retail at Symprove said: “Tesco really wants to accelerate their health and wellness leadership and increase differentiation. I believe the reason they’ve identified Symprove is certainly when it comes to that differentiation and unique. The market has predominantly been encapsulated in tablet form.
“We offer differentiation with a patented water-based solution. In health and wellness leadership, Symprove is certainly the largest brand within probiotics in the UK. Tesco’s including Symprove, I believe, would offer their customers premium and efficacious gut health solutions.”
Symprove expanded its business strategy to adjust to a national retail setting, moving from a monthly subscription programme with four- and twelve-week pack formats to a one-week pack. Additionally, the brand focused on delivering a physical experience for customers at brick and mortar retailers.
Stiles said: “We had to consider the way people shop or want to shop. What we have learned over the last few years was that a lot of people want to walk into a retail store, touch and feel the product before they buy and to engage with a brand at specific moments of need.”
This shift aims to meet the consumer demand for immediate products to assist with gut distress, which is a change from the previous offer of longer periods over some weeks. In the sphere of gut health, the brand leaned towards depending on health professionals to advocate for the product.
Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning
Stiles said: “We are using a variety of channels to appeal to customers. We have a significant healthcare practitioner team and one of the ways we appeal to customers is driving advocacy through healthcare professionals. Whether that’s general practitioners, gastros, dietitians, what we are doing is really educating those people on why it’s improve versus other brands. We have built a significant business on the back of their recommendation.”
Moving forward, Symprove is targeting international expansion beyond the UK and Ireland market. The brand is confident that the product can have standout shelf-visibility due to its “significant proof of concept, both in science and in customer reviews.”
Stiles said: “In terms of the ambitions moving forward, our mission is to provide life-changing gut health for millions. So I think our ambition is certainly to continue to access as many people internationally who are looking to change their gut health in a meaningful way.”
“The gut health category is multifaceted, first and foremost,” added Stiles. “So you’ve seen an explosion in our space, which is the traditional probiotic or vitamin aisle area. But we’ve seen that focus shift across multiple categories, toward gut health and wellbeing.”
“We saw the fantastic work over the last few years of the likes of kefir within dairy, and with pro and prebiotic sodas, within the soft drink aisle. We’re certainly starting to see multiple categories really engage with the gut health in general.
“There has been a lot of studies, press, media, which has really started to drive the overall gut health agenda. I think consumers are starting to really be more aware of the importance of that in their overall wellbeing.”
Looking forward, retailers can anticipate a further increase within the category as innovation-driven brands such as Symprove find new ways to offer gut-health solutions to customers. There is significant space in the market for challenger brands and start-ups to create new items which shoppers can purchase.
Tesco rolling out a local gut health brand is an indicator of a move towards larger scale popularity of gut health products.
