Bone and joint health brand Caltrate sales up double digit in APAC last year

In FY24, bone and joint health brand Caltrate and multivitamin brand Centrum have reported “double-digit” and “high-single” digit sales growth in APAC, and these were largely driven by sales from China.

Localisation of products and services was one of the key factors for its continued growth in China.

One example is its “Bone Up China” program, which was credited for driving the sales of Caltrate.

This program centres around the treatment and prevention of osteoporosis.

According to a 2024 self-care report by Haleon China, “Bone Up China” started in 2014 where it has engaged medical experts, the government, and retail pharmacies in educating the public knowledge on bone health. It also comes with professional consultation and a bone density screening for free.

The programme is said to have benefitted 700 million individuals in more than 100 cities across China.

Strong performance of the Caltrate brand was also aided by a competitor being out of stock during FY24, said the company.

For Centrum, the company also launched Centrum Daily Kits – a personalised daily nutrition targeting different gender and life stages.

It is also centred around daily nutrition designed for Asians, which Haleon China said was a concept that resonated well with Chinese consumers.

“Centrum Daily Kits highlighted its superiority around ‘daily nutrition designed for Asian people’, which resonates very well with Chinese consumers and proven to be a strong point of differentiation,” Haleon China told NutraIngredients-Asia.

The kits have also leveraged on herbal medicinal claims. China has seen a revival in functional foods that use herbal ingredients in recent years.

“The use of well-known local herbal ingredients like gingko and curcumin also supports this proposition,” said Haleon China.

Haleon China also told us that one of its focuses moving forward would be on healthy ageing.

“One of our focuses is health ageing due to the obvious trend of the growing ageing population in China.”

Haleon’s global VMS business reported a revenue growth of 3.4 per cent, up from £1.64bn (US$2.08bn) to £1.7bn (US$2.16bn) in FY24.

The VMS business contributed 15 per cent to Haleon’s total revenue of £11.2bn (US$14.3bn) last year.

Haleon’s other business include oral health, pain relief OTC, respiratory health, and digestive health products.

Total revenue for Haleon was down 0.6 per cent from £11.3bn (US$14.4bn)to £11.2bn (US$14.3bn) last year.

Gross profit, however, climbed 1.1 per cent from £6.75bn (US$8.58bn) to £6.82bn (US$8.67bn).

India business benefitting from health professional advocacy

Elsewhere in India, multivitamin brand Centrum is said to have held on its number one multivitamin brand share on Amazon. The brand has also since expanded into brick-and-mortar stores.

“Encouraging performance has been supported by strong commercial campaigns showcasing health professional advocacy particularly for joint pain,” said the company on its VMS performance in India.

The Centrum brand, in particular, its Centrum Silver product, was also aided by clinical trials showing its cognitive function benefits.

The brand has also expanded into the eye health category with the product Centrum with Lutein. This is a daily multivitamin formulated for adults over 50 years old to help promote their heart health, brain function, and eye health.

Centrum and Caltrate are also less affected by seasonal flu demands when compared to brands like Emergen-C.

“Emergen-C is a brand that has performed well for us. It is a great subcategory, but it does have a bit of a seasonal element to it. And we certainly saw that with the extreme spikes in Emergen-C during COVID and during the different variants. So outside of that piece of seasonality, we feel good about that business.

“And as we have always said, we have a very unique asset in Centrum being really the only global VMS brand in the world in over 68 countries, fantastic footprint in China with Caltrate and Centrum.

“We feel good about that category, and we feel like it is in a more stable place where we would expect it to be, outside of that bit of seasonality,” said Haleon CEO Brian McNamara in response to analyst’s queries on how the firm would envision its VMS development trajectory after the firm’s FY24 results presentation.

CFO Dawn Allen added that innovation would continue to play a role in gaining market shares.

“Innovation is working really well across all categories, whether it is Otravin Naval Mist, whether it is things like Centrum Silver, or the daily sachets that we have launched, or Centrum Essentials…I think innovation continues to drive category growth and results in share gain. So I think that gives us confidence,” she said when responding to analysts’ queries.