WATCH: APAC start-ups on surviving amid COVID-19 and the booming beauty supplement market

In this episode of Nutrition Asia, we feature Kynd, an Australia-based start-up founded in June this year, and Nourished Asia, a start-up based in Kuala Lumpur.

For Kynd, the company saw an opportunity to disrupt the vitamin category in its domestic market, where its vitamins and nutricosmetics are sold in Blooms the Chemist and Coles.

“We made a very bold move, I think, to not postpone our launch. ​

“I can certainly understand why some people would do that [amid COVID-19], but for us, we saw an opportunity with our market.​

“​The biggest opportunity we saw was that Australians, particularly, were investing more in their health and vitamin sales were growing,” ​Matthew Stenmark, founder, said, adding that the firm faced challenges in establishing its brand name during this period.

Logistical challenge is one of the key problems COVID-19 had brought about, and this was also the case for Nourished Asia. 

Nonetheless, the company established in September last year is set for a revenue of RM$3.6m (US$888k) this year.

Jinn Tan, project director said the company's top three bestsellers were its skin health, weight management, and immunity products.

“Staying at home and working from home have made people realised that they should have time and balance in their lifestyle, so I guess that puts a bit of weight on the sales trend.” ​