When you hear an eight-year-old child talking about L. casei immunitas and probiotics, then you know that advertising works.
The advertising spend on functional food and drinks has soared in recent years and it would be unusual to sit through a television ad break and not see an advertisement for a drinkable yogurt or healthy spread.
Media analyst Gary Power of Saor Communications says the marketing of products is very sophisticated, involving television, radio and outdoor advertising as well as sponsorship of health-related activities. He attributes much of the campaigns' success to our "cash rich, time poor" way of life, with busy working mothers buying the products to ensure that their children do not lose out on nutrients. He also sees an element of pester power, with children watching the advertisements "and encouraging mum and dad to chuck the products in the shopping basket".
The small bottles of drinkable yogurts are convenient for lunch boxes and attractive to little hands. Indeed, food industry experts expect that children's healthy products will see some of the greatest growth in the next five years.
Glanbia is one of the leading Irish food companies with a stake in this new sector. The group is investing more than €20 million in its innovation centre in Kilkenny, which employs more than 50 scientists. About half of its innovation work is on functional foods, according to Joe Collum, marketing director of consumer foods. It recently launched the Essence range of concentrated dairy boosts that target different health complaints such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or low immunity.
"Within Glanbia's consumer foods division, there is a major focus on enhancing the functionality of its portfolio of products of yoghurts, milk and cheese," Collum says. "Future growth is likely to come from other more specific health benefits, for example, enhanced weight loss and performance management."
Glanbia spends one-third of its €15 million marketing budget on functional foods, and that is expected to increase to about half the spend in the coming years.
Enterprise Ireland estimates that Irish food companies produced about €120 million worth of functional foods and drinks last year. This is expected to have doubled by 2009. According to industry data, the advertising spend for most functional foods jumped in the first months of this year. The advertising rate card spend on Actimel was up more than 300 per cent between January and April this year, compared with the same period last year. Most of this €1.36 million was split between television and outdoor advertising, with a small amount of radio.
Yoplait Essence is a new product, so the increase in spend cannot be compared, but the rate card spend was €581,426 between January and April, mostly on television advertising. The rate card spend on Flora Pro-Active increased by 260 per cent to €957,624 while the Benecol spend remained almost the same, at €157,719. However, the spend on Yakult fell this year by 79 per cent, with just €53,400 being spent in the first four months of the year.
Gary Power says the spend on healthier alternatives can only go one way. "It's a very important lifestyle change. I don't think we have even reached the halfway point yet," he says.
"There's huge potential for growth. It's here to stay, without a doubt."
