The Turmeric Co. has science strategy to compete with big sports nutrition players
The new three-strong range named Raw Hydrate offers 100% natural, unpasteurized electrolytes (3,600 mg) with just three ingredients per bottle—watermelon (the source of naturally occurring electrolytes) alongside lemon, mint, pineapple, pomegranate or lime.
With no added preservatives, sugar or sweetener, the drinks are appropriate for children through to the elderly, not just athletes.
Former international football player Thomas Hal Robson-Kanu, who founded the company in 2018, hopes to make the Turmeric Co. the next Suntory of the beverage world, with a wide portfolio of brands but focused on health boosting natural ingredients.
"We’ve perfected our raw juice manufacturing process, and that’s our trade secret and what
makes us stand out from the crowd," he said. "While there’s a lot of juices on the shelves that look the same, there are massive differences from an ingredient processing perspective."
The five-strong range of turmeric shots includes the Original, alongside shots with added vitamins C and D3, beetroot, ginger and soon to launch ashwagandha.
The firm already has two published studies backing the turmeric shot’s recovery and gut health benefits in elite male football players as well as a third study focusing specifically on women’s health markers currently under review.
The team can now further dedicate itself to building the science backing its botanical functional drinks with a government funded Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), a partly government-funded program to encourage collaboration between businesses and universities.
In this case, the KTP will see 70% of the firm’s 32-month research program (around £200k) funded by the government while the company will contribute £75k and will employ a PhD research graduate to work as an in-house researcher.
"It’s a phenomenal initiative, but it’s very hard to get and is usually granted to the Unilevers of this world," Robson-Kanu said. “We had already worked with Nottingham Trent University on our previous study, and we worked with them to create a 'work plan'—a schedule of studies to back our innovations."
An upcoming study will aim to test the Raw Hydrate drinks in comparison to water and an alternative isotonic drink to evaluate hydration and glucose spike outcomes. After that, the company plans to conduct studies on its turmeric shots to verify their impact on a range of health parameters including inflammation, pain, and recovery, across various demographics.
Robson-Kanu explained the scientific backing will help the brand to communicate its health benefits, which it currently struggles to do within the strict advertising regulatory framework.
"We’ve had advisories from the ASA that we can’t communicate certain claims even when we are simply sharing testimonials from customers. So we see scientific backing as an opportunity to have an impact on the population’s perception of health and nutrition," he said.
Other new products in the pipeline include a turmeric and extra ginger shot (tapping into the popularity of current best-seller turmeric and ginger shot) and a turmeric and ashwagandha shot using KSM-66 ashwagandha.
Speaking about the recent regulatory debates around the safety of a number of botanicals, including curcumin, maca, melatonin, and most notably ashwagandha, the former athlete explained these ingredients helped him recover from major knee injury and operations as a teen and saved him from a dependence on side-effect ridden medications, yet "the same regulatory bodies that deemed those drugs safe might restrict natural supplements that helped me manage my pain... This situation begs the question: Are we addressing the root cause of the health crisis?"
He added: "Large pharmaceutical companies do not financially benefit from natural remedies. This context might help explain why these effective natural ingredients often face significant scrutiny."