There is a shift in the functional food and drink market from simple vitamin fortification to more proactive nutrition. Consumers are looking to address specific needs like gut health, cognitive focus, and metabolic wellbeing. Rather than following restrictive diets, there is a growing trend toward a food-as-medicine philosophy. Beneficial, ingredient-led products are being integrated directly into consumers daily routines.
Helen Johnston spent decades leading British magazine publishing before a health diagnosis transformed her career. With a diagnosis of an autoimmune illness in her 30s she pivoted away from the media and focused on nutrition to help manage her health. By retraining as a nutritionist and spending two years of R&D she developed a new functional food product —SUCSEED.
Start by learning from industry experts
By immersing herself in trade shows and talking to people she absorbed knowledge of the industry. Attending the free lectures, talks and checking out the other challenger brands in these shows is a great way to build up the understanding and confidence to launch a new product.
During her time training as a nutritionists she met experts in the field and was able to develop a functional food business built on organic, regenerative sourcing and real nutritional science.
Listen to the podcast to find out how Relish helped SUCSEED come to market with feasibility studies to assess the competitors, functional food target market and vital pricing strategy which gave Helen the confidence to move SUCSEED forward to market launch.
Built through nutrition training, expert collaboration, and careful sourcing from organic and regenerative farmers, SUCSEED combines seeds and herbs such as nettle, dandelion, ginkgo, and moringa into four versatile blends. It was important to Helen to make a product that is able to be used on sweet and savoury dishes without overpowering the flavour of the meal.
Route to market
Helen has grown the functional food brand through trade shows, local retail sampling and strategic listings, aiming to make a daily boost to nutrition simple, accessible and delicious. It is estimated that 96% of us don’t get the recommended level of fibre in our diet – Helen is on a mission to make it easy to change that.
Consumer research
Almost half a year before she even had a product, Helen took her concept to trade shows like IFE to do the customer research and check if people were interested in her idea. She got great feedback, made useful connections, and this gave her the confidence to continue.
The neighbourhood model
Instinctively, Helen has followed the ‘neighbourhood model’ since launch. This is a hyper-local, route to market strategy with targeted, localised engagements rather than that a broad, national campaign.
With Helen originally from Norfolk, SUCSEED formally launched at the Aldeburgh Food Festival as a local functional food brand, and sold out quickly, giving her that much needed boost of validation. The network spread from there to local farm shops, and department stores such as Jarrold’s of Norwich.
She was also able to add a second neighbourhood cluster around her London home. The benefit of following the neighbourhood model is that she is able to support her retailers with samplings and instore events. With innovative products, getting the message out by being present at instore events really helps to explain the concept direct to customers. Putting product directly into their hands is critical in establishing a tribal following in the first years of a product launch to gain initial momentum. Once this traction is established it gains a life of it’s own and national growth follows the buzz.
Making the most of the trade shows
Helen is a master of making the most of her opportunities, with trade shows such as IFE, Speciality and Fine Foods, and the Farm Shop and Deli show proving vital to generating the connections with retailers and getting those all important listings.
Listen to this episode if you want to find out:
Listen to the podcast: How to Grow a Functional Food Business like SUCSEED
