PharmaLinea puts consumer concerns to bed with sleep supplement launch

Speaking about the product in a NutraIngredients-hosted launch webinar, the firm's marketing and PR Director Matevž Ambrožič suggests that the many socioeconomic instabilities throughout Europe since the pandemic mean consumers are on the search for products to reduce their stress and support their sleep.

He explains that in the years since COVID-19, factors causing instability haven’t gone away but they have just changed and as a result the sleep and stress has been the fastest growing dietary supplements trend for the last three years.

He displays Euromonitor data (2022) revealing the mood and relaxation category is a relatively small, niche market but it is in growth, making it a particularly “favourable situation for new product launches”.

“Interest is there but the current products on the market seem to not provide satisfactory solutions to consumers’ problems, as around 50% of consumers worldwide are frequently looking for new solutions.”

Maja Orešnik, Science & Research Director at PharmaLinea and Hermes Consilium, adds that most products on the market are based on herbals such as passion flower, valerian root, lavender, chamomile, and lemon balm.

“More often than not you will find products contain a mix of ingredients with each present in just a miniature amount and we have no information as to the origin, consistency of the sourcing and so on... Plus these ingredients are rarely supported in children under the age of 12.”

“Good quality sleep is about more than just falling asleep quickly... it is about sleep duration, sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, day time dysfunction, subject sleep quality and sleep latency.”

She asserts that consumers now realise that good quality sleep means good quality life as sleep is essential for various aspects of wellbeing including immunity, cognition, metabolism, and mood.

Ambrožič adds: “We believe the time to enter the market is now because it’s growing quickly but it’s not too full.

“People are looking for new solutions as they aren’t happy with the products on the market. The products don’t offer a lot of differentiation and they don’t tackle the problem holistically.”

Looking at recent product launches in this arena, Ambrožič notes that many products promote sleep quality.

”We believe this is because consumer awareness of sleep quality is growing. Perhaps in the past people thought about it just in terms of the falling asleep aspect but with wearable devices consumers are now analysing their results in terms of stages of sleep, number of wakes etc.”

Ambrožič asserts that melatonin is still the leading ingredient in new product launches in this space but there seems to be a growing market segment for melatonin free products.

"Several segment leaders with existing melatonin products are launching melatonin free products as a range extension and emphasising the fact it’s melatonin free as the product USP.

“So we believe having melatonin and melatonin free products in your range can be beneficial.”

The firm's new stick pack product 'Your Good Night Acute Sticks', provide a powder that can be incorporated into beverages, with 300mg of a patented bioactive peptide referred to as 'QNight' (full details to be revealed to clients_ which the firm asserts is scientifically backed by nine studies to provide fast sleep support.

It also contains: Vitamin B6 (2mg); and Magnesium (200mg); with or without a low dose of melatonin (0.4mg).

The product joins PharmaLinea's existing sleep health range which includes syrup and capsules but this is the first addition with a melatonin option. 

Discussing marketing options for brands, Ambrožič suggests three strong USP's for this product: Focus on the strong scientific backing of the key ingredient; positioning it as a health investment with a focus on sleep as night time health management; and the melatonin free option offering a safe and side effect free product for the whole family.