Posted: May 18th, 2012 | Author: AlexRasc | Filed under: Chocolate, Consumer Insights | Tags: chocolate, chocolate consumer, Dagoba, dark chocolate, Europe, Green and Black's, Health, health and wellness, healthier, healthy chocolate, Hershey's, high cocoa, Hotel Chocolat, Japan, less fat, less sugar, Lindt, Meiji Seika, North America, organic chocolate, permissive indulgence, premium chocolate, premium indulgence, pure indulgence, Ritter Sport, white chocolate | No Comments »
We are becoming increasingly demanding of our chocolate. We seek out premium indulgence with health benefits, but while some of the health and wellness offerings made available to us enjoy global appeal others find traction only in niche markets. Let’s take a more in depth look at what “healthy chocolate” can refer to and assess its multi-faceted potential.
1. Dark chocolate is a global phenomenon
As consumers, we’ve come to associate high quality chocolate with high cocoa content. This has not only led to plenty of new product launches, but also the positioning of major brands in dark chocolate territory. Pushing this type of product to its limit is something you’ll want to do if you’re a manufacturer interested in establishing your global or national leadership in dark chocolate. Lindt Excellence 99% Cacao Noirissme was released by Lindt & Sprüngli in the West and Chocolate Kouka Cacao 99% was released by Meiji Seika in Japan, and they are both examples of very high cocoa content products that have been well received by consumers due to the associated health benefits.
2. Milk chocolate gets healthier
It’s still the most popular [chocolate type] with consumers in core markets, but variations such as increased cocoa content (e.g. Ritter Sport Dunkle Vollmilch with 40% cocoa solids), less sugar (e.g. Hotel Chocolat 40% Milk Chocolate), or less fat (e.g. Hershey’s Simple Pleasures cream-filled bite size chocolates with 30% less fat than other milk chocolates) are becoming popular milk chocolate enhancement approaches.
3. Organic chocolate, a darling of the West
The growth in demand for organic chocolate attests a general understanding of it being healthier for you. Organic chocolate has played a significant role in shifting chocolate from providing a purely indulgent experience to the ‘permissive indulgence’ consumer space. Unlike the global rise in demand for dark chocolate, organic finds most traction in Western Europe and North America. Major organic chocolate brands include the premium-positioned Green and Black’s (owned by Kraft Foods) and Dagoba (part of the Hershey portfolio).
Source: “Trend Watch: “Healthy” chocolate shows global potential” article by Euromonitor International
Posted: May 16th, 2012 | Author: AlexRasc | Filed under: Consumer Insights | Tags: ageing population, baby boomers, consumer-centric, cultural awareness, demographic trends, demographics, empty nesters, ethnic diversity, New Product Development, statistics, UN, urbanization | No Comments »
There are 7 billion of us now, more than half of us live in urban areas, and our growth is beginning to slow down. Such global demographics trends are impacting economies, labour and consumer markets, and will continue to do so.
Demographic changes provide both challenges and opportunities that your business can engage with:
- An ageing and more ethnically diverse population implies the need for a deeper understanding of how to address the needs of these consumer groups;
- Urbanization makes consumers easier to reach with advertising and products;
- A large proportion of baby boomers and empty nesters may bring bigger discretionary incomes to the market
- At the same time, a large proportion of retirees may have less discretionary income and tend to place more importance on necessities and value for money;
- Greater cultural awareness and workers with the skills to effectively communicate across ethnic and language boundaries are needed to serve in ethnically diverse consumer markets.
Demographic data is readily available from sources such as the UN, national statistics offices, universities, international non-profit organizations, and consulting firms specializing in this type of information.
Selecting data and analyzing trends must be done with great care to ensure an accurate understanding. Demographic trends should not be looked at in isolation – income patterns, economic stability, evolving consumer needs and tastes all impact product and service markets. And one must be aware of that statistics offices that rely on census data produced every 10 years or more may be producing severely incorrect forecasts if there are many changes in the demographic landscape (i.e. unforeseen changes in patterns of migration, economic growth or decline, changes in consumer attitudes and/or government policy regarding childbirth). Furthermore, once new “real” figures are released, national statistics offices do not always revise their previous estimates, thus leading to a break in the historical data series and making meaningful analysis of trends over time very difficult.
Robust demographic data should be a key component of all important corporate decisions. They can help:
- Develop more consumer-centric services and products;
- Allocate marketing resources more wisely;
- Enter new markets with the right product/service offering; and
- Formulate improved forecasts.
These applications can help improve a company’s performance, enable it to take on the opportunities available to it and build market share. In brief, demographics allow you to create a much more accurately targeted vision of where you want to take your business in the future and a clearer understanding of how to get there.
Adapted from “Demographic Transformation Worldwide – A Guide to Harnessing Population Statistics and Analysis,” a whitepaper by Sarah Boumphrey from Euromonitor International.
Posted: May 14th, 2012 | Author: AlexRasc | Filed under: Consumer Insights | Tags: Business Analysis, Consumer Insights, Economy, Insight, New Product Development, Tacit Knowledge | No Comments »
To be successful in the global economy you need to be truly innovative and have the ability to grasp the inner nature of things. You certainly need an insight.
Insight is defined as the act or result of apprehending the inner nature of things. It implies introspection and involves the use of deduction. It denotes an understanding based on identification of relationships and behaviours within a given context or scenario. Insights are sometimes referred to as “flashes of inspiration” or “penetrating discoveries.”
At its core, business analysis aims to understand what makes relationships between consumers and brand strong, which then allows companies to make appropriate decisions in areas such as new product development, new market identification, and new channel exploration. The research itself can range from processing local consumer insights (into global frameworks for consumer understanding) to trend research and new product concept assessment.
Look beyond the data that’s readily available to you. Interrogate it in either an introspective (digging deep into the industry, category, sub-category data), extrospective (looking outside the industry and finding parallels and commonalities) or retrospective (analyzing the past to find answers for the future) manner. When you dig deep you’ll find things that don’t fit the norm, ignore the rules, or go against the trend, and a correct interpretation can reveal insights. And realize that tacit knowledge (the analyst’s expertise) combined with research intuition and common sense should also have a crucial role in the insight generation process.
When it comes to insight generation, there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution. The volume of data, adequacy of the methodology, and the analyst’s capabilities all influence the outcome of insight generation processes. Data and methodology will rarely translate into action without a skilful analyst bringing them to life.
Adapted from “The Art of Generating Insight,” a whitepaper by Euromonitor International
Posted: May 11th, 2012 | Author: AlexRasc | Filed under: Chocolate | Tags: acidity, astringency, bitterness, chocolate, chocolate aroma, chocolate aromas, chocolate flavour, chocolate look, chocolate smell, chocolate snapping sound, chocolate taste, chocolate tasting, chocolate texture, cocoa beans fermentation, sweetness | No Comments »
Chocolate tasting can be an exquisitely seductive experience for those who know how to engage in it with all their five senses.
Here is a chocolate tasting technique you could use:
- Unwrap and observe the chocolate. Notice the lines and curves used in designing it, how many pieces it’s composed of, as well as anything that seems interesting or peculiar about it.
- Smell the chocolate aroma for a preview of its flavour.
- Hold your nose closed to experience only its taste and texture.
- Break a piece of chocolate and notice the ensuing sound.
- Place the chocolate in your mouth and let it rest there for a few seconds to taste its sweetness, bitterness, acidity, and astringency. Acidity arises from the fermentation of cocoa beans, but too much of it reveals a rushed fermentation. Astringency also indicates that fermentation was too hurried.
- Stop holding your nose and experience the chocolate’s aromas.
- Spread the piece of chocolate around your mouth by chewing it five or so times. This releases the secondary flavours and aromas.
- Lightly press it against the roof of your mouth for a brief period of time, where your nose is able to smell it via the retro-nasal passage.
- Let it melt slowly and take note of the texture, which should be completely smooth.
Try to take a mental note of the look, smell, snapping sound, flavour, and texture you’ve experienced.
Your journey to become a chocolate connoisseur has begun! Do let me know how it unfolds.
Recommended reading: “Sweet Dreams – The Story of Green & Black’s” by Craig Sams and Josephine Fairley
Posted: May 9th, 2012 | Author: AlexRasc | Filed under: Chocolate | Tags: Australia, Belgium, Britain, Choco Philly, chocolate, chocolate artisans, chocolate tasting, cocoa origins, cream and butter chocolate, dark chocolate, drinking chocolate, fine chocolate, France, Germany, hazelnut chocolate spread, Italy, Kraft Foods, Nutella, patisserie, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, white chocolate | No Comments »
Global chocolate consumption patterns reveal the existence of national tastes.
The Spanish enjoy their traditional thick drinking chocolate, along with their award-winning chefs’ stylish approach to chocolate that came to life in recent decades.
France finds an elegant appeal in dark chocolate. The country has a strong tradition of patisserie, in which artisans use chocolate for their creations. French filled chocolate usually come in small pieces and have subtle flavours.
The Belgians prefer chocolates filled with cream and butter. White chocolate (made of cocoa butter, milk powder and sugar) is also a top selection. Broadly speaking, Belgian chocolate companies have developed a brand image that suggests ‘accessible luxury.’
Switzerland is well known for its milk chocolate and a rich, caramelized style than has also been adopted by some Italian producers. Italy developed the hazelnut chocolate paste that’s sold as Nutella and inspired Kraft Foods’ recent launch of Choco Philly. Germany’s producers usually started off as family-run patissiers and have a classic style, but due to their number and diversity there is no typical German chocolate flavour.
The British are fans of milk chocolate. Their dark chocolate has typically been sweet and not particularly dark, but the arrival of fine chocolatiers has transformed it into a more lively dark chocolate market.
The United Sates, like the United Kingdom, retains a taste for historic producers, but it is also seeing an increasing number of artisans and an emphasis on where beans are sourced from. Australia has seen similar developments, and is now enjoying the work of artisans concerned about cocoa origins.
Japan has a respect for fine producers and a serious interest in fine chocolate.
Reference: “Chocolate Unwrapped” by Sarah Jane Evans
Posted: May 7th, 2012 | Author: AlexRasc | Filed under: Chocolate | Tags: Africa, Amazon River, Asia, Brazil, Cameroon, Caribbean, Central America, Cocoa, cocoa beans, cocoa pods, Costa Rica, Criollo, Ecuador, Forastero, Java, Madagascar, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Sri Lanka, Trinidad, Trinitario, Venezuela | No Comments »
There is great diversity in the cocoa family, but the three main types to be aware of are Criollo, Forastero and Trinitario.
Criollo sprung to life in Central America and dominated the global cocoa market until the 18th century. It can now also be found in Madagascar, Sri Lanka, and parts of the Caribbean. When ripe, the cocoa pods are soft, deeply rigged, a strong red or orange colour. The cocoa beans are pale pink or white. Rare and low-yielding, this type of cocoa has a much sought-after flavour and lacks bitterness.
Forastero came about in the Amazon River basin and are widespread across Africa, Asia, Brazil, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Mexico. Premium chocolate eaters won’t come near it, but most chocolate eaters are very familiar with this type of cacao – it accounts for 85 to 90% of global production. The cocoa pods are large, hard, and yellow or green in colour, with dark purple beans. It produces higher yields than the Criollo crop, but its flavour is less delicate and bitterer.
Trinitario was developed in the 18th century as a cross between of Criollo and Forastero. Its planting started in Trinidad and spread to Venezuela, Ecuador, Cameroon, Samoa, Sri Lanka, Java and Papua New Guinea. The ripe cocoa pods are hard and usually purple-coloured, with dark and light beans. Trinitario cocoa is highly rated for its flavour.
Recommended reading: International Cocoa Organization website’s About Cocoa section and “Chocolate Unwrapped” by Sarah Jane Evans
Posted: May 4th, 2012 | Author: AlexRasc | Filed under: Chocolate | Tags: 70% cocoa, anchovies, black vingar, butter-filled chocolate, cardamom, cheese, chilli, chocolate, chocolate ingredients, cinnamon, cream-filled chocolate, fruits, ganache-filled chocolate, ginger, green tea, orange, pepper, raw chocoate, sea salt caramel, sea salt chocolate, yuzu | No Comments »
As chocolate consumers, we are intrigued by novelty in ingredients.
Spices such as cardamom, ginger, and cinnamon marry harmoniously with chocolate. Other spices, such as chilli and pepper, can also be enjoyable, but sometimes dominate the flavour of chocolate and take away from the eating experience. Orange is a popular ingredient, but other fruits are generally less successful. Sea salted caramel and chocolate are trendy, but certainly not part of the mainstream.
The ganache-filled chocolates intrigue, the butter- and cream-filled Belgian-style chocolates remain popular, but why not also experience the intense and original chocolates developed by some of the most creative chocolatiers? While flavours such as cheese or anchovies may not lure you, Japan-inspired ones such as yuzu (a citrus fruit), green tea, and black vinegar have a subtle elegance.
An intriguing extension of the high cocoa solids trend (esp. 70% or higher cocoa content) is that of raw chocolate, which has been processed at lower temperatures than normal. This falls even more decisively in the ‘health foods’ range of products, with a limited number of passionate devotees driving most of the consumption.
Why not explore more chocolate flavours until you’ve found the ingredient that perfectly fits your taste buds?
Recommended reading: “Chocolate Unwrapped“ by Sarah Jane Evans
Posted: May 2nd, 2012 | Author: AlexRasc | Filed under: Chocolate | Tags: cacao, chocolate, cocoa butter, dark chocolate, fine chocolate, milk chocolate, no artificial flavours, no vegetable fat, vanilla, vanillin | No Comments »
Like a good life partner, fine chocolate is hard to come by.
You’d better know what characteristics you’re looking for in your life partner, or else anything will go and you’ll be the one to suffer. The same need to understand what’s best for you applies when selecting fine chocolate.
Here’s what you should search for when looking for the best quality chocolate: it should contain no vegetable fat other than cocoa butter; it should have a minimum cocoa content of 30% for milk chocolate and 60% for dark; it should be made from cacao beans whose quality and source have been considered; and it should have no artificial flavourings, such as vanillin (genuine vanilla is in order).
Seek out the finest life partner and chocolate. Why settle for anything less than the best?
Posted: September 7th, 2011 | Author: AlexRasc | Filed under: Marketing, Retail | Tags: Cadbury, Chile wine, Food, Food and Drink, Kantar, Kate Walsh, Kroll, Melvin Glapion, Morrisons, Nescafe, New Zealand wine, Paul Murphy, Profit Margins, Promotion, Retail, Sainsbury’s, Shopper, Supermarkets, Tesco, The Sunday Times, UK, Waitrose, Worldpanel | No Comments »
The promotional activity in UK supermarkets is at record highs: 42 pence of every pound spent is going on items on offer, as per the consumer research firm Kantar Worldpanel. This constitutes an 8% increase from 2007. And 54 pence of every pound spent on big brands – such as Cadbury and Nescafe – is part of a promotional deal.
Retailers and food manufacturers are working hard to keep up their sales revenues, while shoppers have less money to spend and are worried about their finances. The consumers’ spending restraint is having an impact on food sales, which has generally been seen as the most recession-proof sector in retail.
Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Waitrose, and other retailers are making extensive usage of promotions to try and plug the gap between sales forecasts and the reality – for now. But experts say that this is not sustainable. The cost of discounting, which is usually coupled with a hefty advertising budget, is already ripping huge chunks out of the manufacturers’ profit margins – and is also chipping away at the supermarkets.
None of the big supermarkets seem to be willing to make the mistake that Carrefour made last year. The French retailer raised prices in its home market, assuming that its rivals would follow. The competition held firm, welcomed Carrefour’s customers, and the retailer issued another profits warning last week.
Of course, not all promotional activity has a negative impact on margins. “The sales effects of being on price promotion are huge – think at least three times normal sales,” said Kantar director Paul Murphy, “but once you start promoting one year, to grow the next you need to do more. That’s why [promotions] have been likened to drugs.”
Consumers can come to expect to shop in sales. This is increasingly happening in sectors like clothing, as well as food and drink. As an example we can look at New Zealand wine, which became a victim of its promotional success. For years, it was on promotion at about £6. In the past year, it has gone up to its full price of £10 but shoppers think that it is too expensive and have moved over the wines such as the ones from Chile.
Melvin Glapion, head of business intelligence for the global risk consultancy Kroll, warned that this is a short-term fix. “Relying on promotions to get people into stores in dangerous. It’s not where you want to be.”
Article source: adapted from the “Shoppers Addicted to the Price Fix Promo” article by Kate Walsh in the September 4 edition of The Sunday Times. Photo source: The Guardian newspaper.
Posted: August 28th, 2011 | Author: AlexRasc | Filed under: Marketing, Retail | Tags: Convenience Retailing, Convenience Stores, Family Mart, Food, Grocery Retail, Japan, Lawson, Shopper | 1 Comment »
The Japanese convenience stores make for an interesting study because they lead the way in terms of innovation, product assortment, store concepts, but also due to the very high store density.
Convenience stores are very much integrated into the shoppers’ daily lives. They constitute a mature channel in Japan, one which still has room to grow. The country has seen the number of outlets increase by about 10 percent between 2005 and 2010, and the major operators still find room for expansion – Family Mart, for example, is planning to expand by an additional 1,500 new outlets between 2011 and 2016.
Japan is the largest convenience stores market in the world. It accounts for 37 percent of this channel’s total global sales. In most other markets convenience stores constitute 5 to 10 percent of total grocery retail sales, but in Japan convenience stores represent 30 percent of this market.
The Japanese convenience store operators are characterized by a high level of efficiency in their supply chain and they are typically able to be profitable, while having deliveries of fresh food 4 times a day, which some other operators in other countries are not quite able to do yet.
In terms of their offer, convenience stores in Japan are quite heavily focused on food service-type offers (e.g. bento box, rice bowls) and they are more advanced in how they offer meal solutions in comparison to other convenience stores in most other major markets.
In terms of their demographic targeting, convenience stores in Japan have traditionally targeted the 20 to 40 years-old customers (most often male customers), but because of the aging population they are increasingly focused on targeting the older customers, in particular the 40 to 60 year-olds, with new concepts and new services.
Convenience stores in Japan offer a good case study on how to carefully tread the line between providing customers with affordable products and staying profitable.
Sources: Convenience Stores in Japan report by Euromonitor International, Family Mart photo by apocalypsedowell, Lawson photo by lsgrodeska.
Posted: August 27th, 2011 | Author: AlexRasc | Filed under: Marketing, Retail | Tags: Click and Collect Service, Europe, France, Ghost Store, Grocery Industry, Grocery Shoppers, Heston’s Prize Pudding, IGD, Ocado, Ocado on the Go, Online Retailing, Online Shopping, Sainsbury's, Sainsbury's Nectar, Shopper Attitudes, Smartphone Shopping, Tesco, Tesco Clubcard, UK, UK Online Grocery, Waitrose, Waitrose Live magazine | No Comments »
The UK is one of the most advanced online grocery retailing markets in the world, with estimated sales of £4.8bn in 2010, up 21.4% on the previous year, accounting for 3.2% of its total grocery retail sales. IGD suggests in a recent report that growth in online retailing is mostly coming from shoppers increasingly adopting a multi-channel approach to grocery purchases.
Who are the online grocery shoppers?
The age profile of online grocery shoppers skews largely towards younger people (which is broadly in line with the age profile of all internet shoppers). It primarily includes 25 and 44 year-olds and is closely linked to the presence of children in the household. Recent IGD shopper research also shows that the birth of children (from pregnancy to birth of first or subsequent children), and time periods when children are in the house more, such as school holidays, were increasingly are events which trigger a move towards online shopping. Older shoppers are less likely to shop online. For example, the 65+ age group accounts for more than one in five grocery shoppers in the UK, while at the same time accounting for just 13% of all online grocery shoppers – impacted largely by reduced internet use.
Online grocery industry at present:
Despite its rapid growth, online currently remains a relatively small and infrequently used shopping channel. IGD research shows that only 6% of UK shoppers mainly go online for their food and grocery shopping, and those that do buy groceries online generally place an order less than once a month.
Future of the online grocery industry:
The UK online grocery shopping sector is set to reach a total sales forecast of £9.9bn in 2015, growing at a CAGR of 15.3%. This will make online the fastest growing channel in UK grocery retailing. In 2015, online is expected to have a 5.4% share of the UK grocery retail market in 2015, a larger share than that of the discount channel. Note that the £9.9bn sales forecast includes sales from non-food arms such as Tesco Direct and Asda Direct. However, even when these sales are stripped out, IGD suggests that we can expect to see the sector`s value rise to £7.8bn by 2015.
![Online grocery forecasts to 2015 (£bn) [source: IGD research]](http://www.AlexRascanu.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/UK-online-grocery-forecasts-by-IGD-300x193.jpg "Online grocery forecasts to 2015 (£bn) [source: IGD research]")
Online grocery forecasts to 2015 (£bn) - source: IGD research
In the past online grocery retailers have focused on developing home delivery services, but most recently operators have been expanding their skills in other areas of the online proposition. Beyond further developing their websites, grocers are rising their service levels through a combination of improved delivery coverage, tighter delivery slots, and better store picking processes. This includes the opening of more ‘ghost stores’ – outlets that are not open to the public but dedicated exclusively to fulfilling online orders. The roll out ‘click and collect’ services offers customers even greater flexibility in the way they shop and take delivery of their purchases. Tesco is currently trialling this service – a route to market that is already proving popular in France and has the added benefit of reducing the operators’ transportation costs.
ii) Technological advancements: There are currently over 11 million smartphone users in the UK (source: comScore MobiLens) – more than in any other European country – and this number is growing rapidly. This game-changing piece of technology is altering the way people communicate and shop, and the UK grocery industry has been quick to capitalise on its potential. Within a year of the launch of its ‘Ocado on the Go’ app, Ocado was already receiving more than 12% of orders through the platform. Tesco’s Clubcard is now available as an app, and so too are customers’ Nectar balances via Sainsbury’s smartphone application. In the case of Sainsbury’s, the app also acts as a store locator and delivers personalised information about points offers and Sainsbury’s promotions direct to the customer. Waitrose has recently gone further still – with its ‘Heston’s Prize Pudding’ app, the retailer has tied up the growth in social media activity with its marketing campaign for the Christmas period.
Tesco's Clubcard phone app
iii) Changing shopper attitudes: Younger shoppers (esp. those aged 18-34) exhibit the greatest propensity to shop online, but retailers are now engaging with shoppers of all ages more frequently via social networking sites and interactive online magazines. One example of this is the Waitrose Live magazine that features embedded video recipes and product recommendations. Beyond the UK, retailers are already combining e-commerce with the growing taste for social interaction via the internet and using tools such as foursquare to reward loyalty and drive footfall in stores. So called ‘social commerce’, or s-commerce, could have a huge impact on the way retailers interact with customers in the future. Shoppers will continue to demand greater convenience and flexibility from grocery retailers and the online channel enables them to deliver both.
Sources: IGD Online Grocery Shopping factbook, IGD The rise of online grocery retailing article, IGD ShopperTrack research study, and IGD Online Grocery Retailing: Building Capability for a Digital Future report.
Posted: August 21st, 2011 | Author: AlexRasc | Filed under: Health and Fitness | Tags: Ageing, Body-Building, Cold, Diet, Dietary Supplements, Fish Oils, Food and Drug Administration, National Health Service, Supplements, Vitamins, Weight-Loss, World Cancer Research Fund | No Comments »
Many of us take vitamins and dietary supplements hoping to achieve good health, ease our illnesses and defy ageing. However, the huge range of dietary supplements available and the conflicting messages from the media may leave some people confused about whether they need supplements or not. UK’s National Health Service recently released a report looking at dietary supplements and their key findings are featured below.
“Dietary supplements contain vitamins, minerals, herbs or plant material. They can be found in pill, capsule, tablet or liquid form and are used to supplement (add to) the diet, but they should not be considered a substitute for food.” (World Cancer Research Fund)
Key points on vitamins:
• Most of us can get all the vitamins we need from a balanced diet.
• Pregnant or breastfeeding women, children aged under five years and some adults do benefit from taking certain supplements.
• Vitamin supplements should not be used as a substitute for a balanced diet. If you do take them, make sure you do not exceed your daily requirement.
Pregnant women benefit from certain supplements
Key points about weight-loss supplements:
• There is very little evidence that most over-the-counter weight-loss supplements actually work.
• Your Family Doctor/General Practitioner can offer a range of options both to help you lose weight and to maintain a healthy weight. These interventions will mostly be free, so speak to them first.
• If you are still thinking of trying a weight-loss supplement be aware of the risks, particularly if you are shopping over the internet. You could be wasting your money or, more importantly, putting your health at risk.
• Don’t buy weight-loss products on the internet because of the risk of side effects, but if you really want to buy a product, try searching for information on reputable sites such as the UK MHRA or US Food and Drug Administration to check for known problems. Also, try internet searches with words such as “danger”, “scam”, “side effects”, although don’t assume it’s safe if these don’t return results.
Weight-loss wonder pills are unlikely to work
Key points about cold supplements:
• Vitamin C: There is no conclusive evidence that regular vitamin C supplementation, at moderate or high doses, has any effect on reducing the general population’s risk of getting a cold. In people who undergo extreme physical stress, such as marathon runners, there is some evidence that supplementation (not specifically with high doses) reduces the risk of getting a cold. Regular vitamin C may slightly reduce the length of a cold in some people.
• Zinc: There is evidence that taking zinc within a day of developing symptoms of a cold reduces the duration of the cold by about a day and that regular supplementation (for at least five months) protects people against catching colds. For many people, the limited benefit seen here may not seem worth the expense and possible side effects of taking zinc.
• Echinacea: There is a lack of evidence that echinacea in general can prevent or treat colds. There is some evidence that preparations from Echinacea purpurea might reduce the duration and severity of colds in adults. However, the reviewers that concluded this also added that results in this area are “not consistent”.
Rest and plenty of fluids are the best treatment for colds
Key points about ageing supplements:
• Ginkgo: This supplement is generally thought to be safe for most people, but there is very little evidence that it actually does you any good. A recent large review found only inconsistent and unreliable evidence that it has any effect on the risk of dementia or cognitive decline.
• Ginseng: The evidence for ginseng remains inconclusive and more high-quality studies are needed to examine its effects. A recent review found that there may be some beneficial effects on cognition, behaviour and quality of life, but the level of evidence is not convincing and there is no evidence that it can prevent or treat dementia or cognitive decline. The quality of products on the market also varies greatly.
• Glucosamine: UK’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) says that there is insufficient evidence to recommend the use of glucosamine in osteoarthritis. NICE advise that, if people choose to buy it, they should be aware that there is evidence for only minimal pain reduction in some people with the use of glucosamine sulphate, and no evidence that it has any effect on the joint space narrowing of osteoarthritis.
Some people believe ginseng combats ageing
Key points about fish oils:
• The omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oils are important for good health and cannot be made by the body – they must be obtained from the diet. Eat two portions of fish a week, one of which should be oily, such as fresh tuna, mackerel and herring.
• Studies have looked at their possible benefits in people with heart disease and high cholesterol, but government bodies advise that current evidence does not support the use of supplements to prevent cardiovascular disease. However, research continues into their use by people who have already had a heart attack. For such people, consumption of two to four portions of oily fish per week is ideal, though omega-3 may be recommended as a supplement.
• There is no compelling evidence that fish oils boost brainpower or memory in adults or children.
• Fish oil supplements are not suitable for everyone, and can be potentially harmful to pregnant women.
Fish oil supplements are very popular in countries like the UK
Key points about body-building supplements:
• The recommended daily protein intake is 55.5g for men and 45g for women and we can get this from our diet. In fact, most of us easily exceed this every day.
• Too much protein can carry some risks, and heavy metals in some supplements are of concern.
• Claims that protein supplements improve muscle mass and strength for athletes and others are largely unsubstantiated.
• The public are warned against any “body-building supplements”, which may be more likely to do harm than good.
• Some body-building supplements contain illegal anabolic steroids not declared on the label.
Whey protein is a by-product of cheese-making
What’s the best way to get enough vitamins?
The best way for most of us to get enough vitamins is to eat a varied and balanced diet. This includes plenty of fruit and vegetables; plenty of starchy foods, such as [brown] bread, [brown] rice, potatoes, and [brown] pasta; some milk and dairy foods; some meat, fish, eggs, and beans and other non-dairy sources of protein. Foods and drinks high in fat and/or sugar should be kept to a minimum. Vitamin D is an exception here. A small amount is obtained through diet but most of this vitamin is made under the skin when it is exposed to sunlight.
Who needs vitamin supplements?
UK’s NHS reports that certain groups at risk of deficiencies should use supplements:
• All pregnant and breastfeeding women should take vitamin D supplements.
• Women trying to conceive and women in the first 12 weeks of their pregnancy are. recommended to take folic acid supplements, which reduce their child’s risk of neural tube defects such as spina bifida.
• People aged 65 and over should take vitamin D supplements.
• People with darker skin and people who are not exposed to much sun should take vitamin D supplements.
• All children aged six months to five years should be given a supplement containing vitamins A, C and D.
• Your Family Doctor/General Practitioner may also recommend supplements if you need them for a medical condition.
If you fall outside of these groups and buy vitamin pills then the chances are that you will be spending your money on surplus amounts of vitamins you’ve already gained through your diet.
More information about supplements can be found here:
- UK’s NHS
- UK’s MHRA
- US Food and Drug Administration
![Online grocery forecasts to 2015 (£bn) [source: IGD research]](http://www.AlexRascanu.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/UK-online-grocery-forecasts-by-IGD.jpg "Online grocery forecasts to 2015 (£bn) [source: IGD research]")
