Startup health supplement firm Pro Vitamin Co (PVC) is aiming to export its newly launched range of chewable gummy vitamins into the Australian, European and untapped Middle Eastern markets.
In New Zealand, it took the firm just four weeks to match sales of the Good Vitamin Co, the market leader in the chewable gummy segment.
Last month's launch saw three containers of bulk vitamins imported from its Asian manufacturer, and the firm is tracking at about one container a month.
The reason for its rapid ascent has undeniably been its distribution deal through NZ's 37 Chemist Warehouse stores, where demand is starting to outpace supply across its range of 13 dietary gummies.
Chemist Warehouse, for its part, also likes that all items in the range are sold at the same price point, currently at a discount price of $17.59 for bottles of 50, from the recommended $24.99 per bottle.
PVC's formulations range from ashwagandha and chamomile for sleep, apple cider vinegar for digestion and children's sugar-free vitamin C and zinc formulations.
Executive chair Mitch Cuevas, who up until this June was the pharmaceutical director at medicinal cannabis firm Eqalis, said the company would be looking to expand its range to 18 formulations in October, five of which would be targeted at the children's market.
Cuevas and co-founder, entrepreneur and Wailab founder Bari Samadi had been working on the brand and the initial formulations for about a year ahead of last month's launch.
That included about four months working the therapeutic advertising pre-vetting service (Taps) to verify product claims.
Sticking point
He said key differences between their products were in their taste, particularly important for the children's formulations, and the fact that the gummies "weren't sticky".
"Some of our competitor products, you almost have to have a spoon to get them out of the jar."
Cuevas said the "taste-good" factor meant parents could get away with putting a mixed sachet into their children's school lunchbox, meaning they were getting their multi-vitamins, calcium and omega in one go.
And, he said, because the chewables were strong on their formulations, it's not like a "fairy dusting" of vitamins.
The firm now has six full-time staff, including one in Dubai, supporting plans to launch its full product range into the region by the end of the year.
He said because the range doesn't include animal product-based gelatin, it opens sales up across the vegan, halal and kosher markets.
Gummies, the fastest growing segment of the vitamin supplement market. (Image: Chemist Warehouse)Cuevas told BusinessDesk that the Muslim market, in particular, had been under-traded, so it represents a "virtually untapped" market for chewable products of this nature.
The firm is also in talks with a pharmacy chain in Europe and is hoping to launch there early in 2023, with hopes of moving into the Australian market later in the year.
That would be via the Chemist Warehouse network of more than 500 stores, which represents about 52% of all pharmaceutical sales in the country.
Cuevas said working capital requirements were "significant" for the trans-Tasman launch, expected to be upwards of $5 million in stock.
