NIU’s Global Round-up: CBD in Latin America, sports nutrition influencers, and more

NIU-s-Global-Round-up-CBD-in-Latin-America-sports-nutrition-influencers-and-more.jpg
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What's happened this week around the Nutra-Verse? Stay on top of things with our weekly round-up of key news from across the globe.

LATAM

CBD in Latin America: Which countries will embrace it?

“The near-term opportunities for CBD in Latin America are more promising than for marijuana,” says a new report from the Brightfield Group, but the path forward for CBD consumer products in in the region could be hindered by high price points and the region's patchwork of regulations.

Despite the constraints, some countries like Colombia and Mexico already have legal commercialization frameworks in place.

In Colombia, CBD products -- including supplements, oils, tinctures, sprays, capsules, and topicals -- are legal through retailers licensed by INVIMA (Colombia's food and drug regulatory agency) provided they contain <1% THC by dry weight content.

Plus, the country has local production, thereby eliminating additional import fees and costs.

In Mexico, the Federal Commission for the Protection Against Sanitary Risk (COFEPRIS) granted several commercialization licenses for CBD products with less than 1% THC content in 2018 including oils, dietary supplements and cosmetic products.

According to Brightfield, several retailers are expected to begin selling CBD products most likely testing the waters with capsules and topicals by the end of 2019 or early 2020.

To date, Brazil has only legalized CBD for medical use by patients with a doctor's approval, but Brightfield is predicting that the country will eventually allow CBD as a supplement ingredient if the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (ANVISA) approves the cultivation and production of medical marijuana.

For more on this, please click HERE.

Europe

Sports nutrition industry told to get social media savvy

Panelists at the NutraIngredients-Europe Sports Nutrition Summit in Amsterdam recently said that the sports nutrition industry has a responsibility to embrace social media and try to control some of the confusion.

“The world is more connected than it’s ever been and yet its more disconnected than it’s ever been as people are looking at their phones the whole time,” said Prof James Morton, professor of exercise metabolism and nutrition at Liverpool John Moores University.

“We can’t control the people providing the information on their phones from people who aren’t qualified to provide that information and yet it’s being taken as fact and that can get the industry so confused."

Many brands have started trying to communicate the science to shoppers via influencers on social media, added Nick Morgan, director at Sports Integrated, but this may not necessarily be the best way to get the facts out there.

For more on this story, please click HERE.

The topic of influencers will come under the microscope this week on NutraIngreidents-USA during the White Spaces and Influencers: Winning in a Crowded Sports Nutrition Marketplace webinar.

This free to attend editorial webinar will take place on September 26, 2019 at 12:30pm Eastern / 9:30am Pacific, and will feature Candace Nixon, Senior Influencer Marketing Manager for Nutrabolt (Cellucor | XTEND); Dr Susan Kleiner, Owner of High Performance Nutrition, LLC & Director of Science and Communications at VitargoJohn Venardos, VP of Regulatory and Government Affairs at Bodybuilding.com; and Tom Morgan, Senior Market Analyst for Lumina Intelligence.

For more information and to register for FREE, please click HERE.

Asia

Herbalife reveals 3 key market opportunities for APAC

Obesity, personalized nutrition, and aging are the three key opportunities in APAC's dietary supplement market, according to Herbalife, which posted a 23% year-on-year rise in sales in the region.

The firm’s Q2 earning report represented the the sixth quarter in a row that the region has set a new all-time record for sales volume.

Herbalife’s APAC senior VP and MD, Stephen Conchie, told NutraIngredients-Asia that the firms is eying three key opportunities in APAC’s health and nutrition market:

1. Obesity

Citing figures from the Asian Development Bank, Conchie pointed out that two out of five adults in APAC were overweight or obese.

Against this backdrop, the firm, which has meal replacement as part of its core portfolio, said that the Formula 1 Nutritional Shake Mix, Herbal Aloe Concentrate Mix, and Tea Mix, were its best sellers in SEA.

2. Aging

“We are seeing strong growth in demand for healthy ageing products from consumers across demographic groups. 70% of the millennials and baby boomers today are on the lookout for healthy aging products ranging from skincare to nutrition,” said Conchie.

The healthy aging products ranges from nutrition supplements for improving digestive health, heart health, bone health, joint health and eye health.

3. Personalized nutrition

Conchie believes that the firm’s network of independent members will allow the firm to tailor personalized nutrition programs to the customers’ wellness goals.