The writer has been an observer of the
“health” “functional” food space for some years. As an individual interested in
nutrition and exercise, the observation has been made that there is retardation
in the absorption of technology in the “function beverage” space. When one
attempts to purchase beverages at large, one finds the absence of attention to functionality
in general, and more specifically to functionality peculiar to specific human
action. There is consumer vigilance for,
and knowledge of, nutrition in the context of human action, yet the market is
void of a practical solution. This reality presents an opportunity to enter the
beverage market.
The functional beverage space is
projected to grow at 6 to 10% annually into the medium term, by contrast, the
fluid milk and softdrink markets are going to contract. This is a vibrant space
with new technology coming available at an accelerated pace, an enterprise that
possesses as it paramount functionality “adaptability” supported by consumer
insight, is promised a dominant place in the market.
Product Definition
1) Business Mission
a.
The
business mission is to capture fully all relevant technologies in the function
food space, to capture all relevant consumption information, to accurately
assess the needs and desires of various market segments and to deliver the
resulting cutting edge functional beverage to the market.
2) Product Description / Concept
a. The design criteria starts with desired
nutritional outcomes related to a given human endeavour and then incorporates
other contributing factors of success, like for example, palatability.
b.
The
product concept consists of a line of health oriented functional food beverages
that are nutritionally tailored to given human actions, utilising both the full
spectrum of technology and ingestion data to create a beverage line, by way of
example for a single athletic beverage line: pre, during and post work out
beverages, beverages developed for workout type – whey protean intensive
beverage for weight lifting, carbohydrate rich beverage for endurance
activities, energy drinks, high protean evening beverage etc.. There are new “technology
driven” imperatives for the timing of nutrient consumption related to exercise,
and nutrient configuration related to exercise depending on what point one is
at in the exercise cycle.
c.
The various human requirements
for nutrition relative to activity can be largely addressed by managing the
macro nutrient mix, Protean, Fat and Carbohydrates, as such, it is the
intention of the writer in the beverage design process to alter the macro
nutrient mix by accessing multiple ingredients to optimise the beverage to
where people are in the exercise cycle, and / or to what type of exercise
activity they intend to engage in.
d.
There are other functional
foods required by the population that the products will either be designed to
address directly or offered as an adjunctive benefit to the exercise related
products. The products will take the form of functional beverages, like for
example, an energy drink offering with comparable or better palatability than
other energy drinks in the market, with a vastly more beneficial macro nutrient
profile; this product will contain all the requisite ingredients peculiar to
other energy drinks with the addition of a macro nutrient configuration most
suiting a specific human action.
e.
Ingredients will be varied and
come to light as the product of the development process, as they are sought to
satisfy identified consumer demands, they may include items like Melatonin,
caffeine, fibre, vitamins etc …
f.
The key differentiating factor
in the design process’, is the attention to “functionality” in the context of
“human action”.
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