The company first entered China with two of its brands, Renzo’s Vitamins for Kids and EZ Melts, via cross-border e-commerce platform Tmall about a year and a half ago.
Both brands are marketed for their convenient fast-melting tablet format, which has been well received in the US, according to Juan Mata, executive marketing director of Solara Labs.
Speaking to NutraIngredients at the recent Hi-Fi Asia in Shanghai, Mata said that while the brands have seen stable sales in the Chinese market, there has not been fast growth.
“We don’t have an office here, so we need a partner that really knows the market and how to grow brands, especially brands from English-speaking countries, and that has experience with Tmall and Douyin to recommend the content that we need to put out,” he explained.
Based on sales performance so far, Renzo’s calcium supplement has been very popular in China, with vitamin B6 being an unexpected frontrunner as well.
“We have vitamins for eye health and calming as well as probiotics et cetera, but the one that we are actually selling the most is vitamin B6, which is really good for kids who have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). As there’s not a lot of competition for vitamin B6, we are selling well in Tmall.”
Mata also highlighted how its iron supplements from EZ Melts and Renzo’s—for adults and children respectively—differentiate from products in the market.
“The thing with iron supplement is that it usually comes with side effects like constipation. The type of iron that we use (carbonyl iron) is very gentle on the stomach, as opposed to ferrous sulfate or iron salts.
“For kids, liquid iron supplements are known to cause black stains on teeth. The other advantage our fast-melting tablet has is that it doesn’t stain the teeth and is formulated with vitamin C, which helps the absorption of iron.”
Apart from being a “fun format”, the tablets are made using plant-based sweeteners, such as monk fruit extract, to mask the metallic taste of iron supplements.
“Parents like that we don’t use sugar because gummy vitamins for kids are typically made with a lot of sugar and gelatin. Our tablet also contains three times more nutrients than in a gummy, which has limitations on nutrient contents.”
Better ingredients
At the same time, Mata believes that Renzo’s and EZ Melts have stood out in a “very crowded” vitamins, minerals, and supplements (VMS) space in the US due to the dissolvable format.
“There are a lot of gummy, liquid, capsule, and tablet brands, so having a different and proprietary technology is what has allowed us to grow in the US,” he said.
“The format works very well in the US, especially among seniors because they tend to have a harder time swallowing pills. It’s a very nice experience in that they can take their vitamins by just putting them in the mouth and letting it dissolve.”
Beyond the convenience factor, Solara Labs also places emphasis on its in-house research and development led by its founder and CEO, Dr Jose Rocca.
According to Mata, Dr Rocca and a team of scientists are constantly looking for the best ingredients to develop differentiated products.
In the case of folate supplements, for example, there is folic acid which is widely used and lower in costs, and there is methylfolate, the biologically active form of vitamin B9. Unlike folic acid, it does not require metabolic conversion by the body and can be immediately absorbed.
“We use the most bioavailable form of methylfolate (L-methylfolate), which is more expensive. It is also perfect for people with gene mutations that reduce their ability to convert synthetic folic acid into active folate.”
