Reckitt Benckiser (RB), the giant U.K.-based multinational consumer goods company, which makes a wide range of household products from cleaning to pain relief, is spending GBP 5 million (USD 8.4 million) to promote its recently launched MegaRed krill oil capsules in the U.K.
MegaRed Fast Absorbing Omega-3 Krill Oil and MegaRed Extra Strength Omega-3 Krill Oil capsules are manufactured by Schiff Nutrition of Salt Lake City in the United States, which RB purchased in November 2012.
MegaRed krill oil marks RB UK’s entry into the fast growing vitamins, minerals and supplements business. This category is worth GBP 758 million (USD 1.3 billion) in the UK and is growing at an annual rate of 4 percent, according to Mark Pearson, RB UK category marketing director.
“But we have big plans,” he said in a trade interview, “and our aim is for MegaRed to deliver GBP 23 million (USD 38.6 million) sales value to the category in the next three years.”
“Currently fish oils and omega-3 products dominate the UK market,” Pearson said, but the new RB U.K. campaign to support MegaRed is set to grow this market further by encouraging women to take the supplement to support heart health. “Traditionally this has been led by targeting a largely male 45+ audience, but it is an issue for both men and women and this is an important point of education. A recent consumer survey revealed two thirds of women do not start thinking about heart health until their 50s — so it is essential to reach this group.”
MegaRed offers a number of key benefits over other products currently available, such as fish oils, says Pearson. “As a product MegaRed’s unique selling point is that krill oil is among the best delivery formats of omega 3’s and has none of the downsides of fish oil and cod liver oil. Unlike fish oil, which is non-water soluble, krill oil is easily dispersed in the stomach, resulting in no fishy repeats or aftertaste. The capsules are also smaller than many fish oils so they are easy to swallow, thereby overcoming many barriers to taking fish oils.”
MegaRed was introduced into Boots’ U.K. outlets in January with the message: “When it comes to looking after your heart, omega-3 fatty acids are known for their health benefits and now there is a different ingredient that can help support a healthy heart. Krill Oil is a new type of fish oil that is easily absorbed by the body.”
Away from the company PR, it is a proven fact that krill oil has a much better health-boosting effect than fish and other omega-3 containing oils. So says Dimitri Sclabos, general manager of Tharos, a Chilean consultancy which has been advising on the utilization of krill in the Southern Ocean for the past 23 years.
“Not only is krill oil a natural source of the omega-3 fatty acids — eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid — plus the antioxidant astaxanthin, it is unique in that the majority of the fatty acids are provided in phospholipid form,” he said. “This means there is increased tissue accumulation of omega-3 fatty acids and improved blood lipid profiles.”
Krill, the tiny crustacean caught in the Antarctic, is probably the last remaining underexploited fish resource in the world. However, this does not necessarily mean that there is an inexhaustible supply of krill oil.
“In terms of biomass, it [krill] indeed remains the largest unexplored biomass,” Sclabos said. “But at Tharos we have seen so many companies taking this for granted and thinking that krill will last forever and the market is ready to take whatever it is able to produce. However, this has not been the case for the last 10-15 years.”
It remains to be seen whether MegaRed krill oil makes it big in the U.K., but Reckitt Benckiser certainly believes it could well do so.
