Financial updates: a2 milk, Blackmores, Meiji, BYHEALTH
China boom: a2 milk reports strong growth from mother-and-baby stores and domestic online channels
The a2 Milk Company (a2MC) said it has seen strong sales of its infant milk formula in China via both mother-and-baby stores and domestic e-commerce channels.
In particular, demand for its China label product, a2 Zhi Chu (至初), had been strong over the year, and the firm had bumped up its presence in both offline and online stores.
For instance, the number of mother-and-baby stores selling its products had expanded from 22.8k last June to 26.5k this June.
Acquisition boost: McPherson’s reports strong growth for former Blackmores brand Fusion
Australian firm McPherson’s has reported almost 90 per cent annual growth in its health business in FY22, with the herbals brand Fusion – previously owned by Blackmores’ Global Therapeutics – performing particularly well.
Sales of Fusion was said to have increased 26 per cent in the second half of FY22.
Fusion focuses on products that combine traditional herbal ingredients with vitamins and minerals, while Oriental Botanicals specialises in supplements developed based on traditional herbal ingredients.
Blackmores will beef up its local inventory for the 13 markets that it currently operates in, design new pack sizes for certain markets, and target eye health growth in China over the next year, the company’s CEO told NutraIngredients-Asia.
The firm’s group revenue was up 12.8 per cent yoy to A$649.5m, driven by strong growth in South East Asia.
Thailand was one of the best performing markets and some plans include providing smaller pack size products, in order to cater to convenience stores such as 7-Eleven.
Sports nutrition sales steady despite price hike, yogurt sales still down – Meiji
Meiji’s sports nutrition brand SAVAS has reported steady sales growth despite price hike and a reduction in product volumes in its FY22 Q1 results.
However, sales of functional yogurt continued to decline yoy, largely due to market competition.
For SAVAS specifically, the sales of SAVAS had increased 0.6 per cent to JPY$11.8 billion (US$88.6m), with favourable sales from RTD products.
China health foods giant BYHEALTH reported a 23 per cent slump in its net profit in the first six months of this year, as its brick-and-mortar retail took a hit from renewed lockdowns across the country.
Sales from offline retail was down 6.97 per cent, while online was up 1.48 per cent.
The other two key challenges to its business were supply chain risk and market competition intensified by other local firms.
