Marketing a health juice against all odds

Marketing a juice drink in a juice-saturated environment is a tough job since one has to slug it out with juice giants, which have been dominating the scene for decades.

More often than not, the giants’ only edge over others is a big advertising budget, which enables them to dish out creatives on print and television that entice consumers to patronize their products.

It is thus a daunting task for Nina Peña, sales and marketing manager of Sydenham Laboratories, to have her health juice drinks find their rightful place in the sun.

“I know I have better products than those out in the market and I am confident that people will soon realize that what we offer is not just a thirst quencher or just a sugar-filled drink but a scientifically formulated juice with micronutrients that will help improve the health of children and people in general,” Peña said.

Credited for spearheading the launch of Jus 4 Kids, a health juice drink for children more than a year ago, Peña said Sydenham Laboratories Inc., which is into toll manufacturing of multivitamins and medicines, had, before launching its health drink, commissioned noted nutritionists to do research and studies on how to mix multivitamins into health drinks for kids without interfering with the juice taste.

One of those nutritionists is Dr. Rodolfo Florentino, chairman and president of the Nutrition Foundation of the Philippines, who can attest to the health benefits of these juices.

From the success of these kiddie drinks, Sydenham extended its scientific mixings and came out with Peak, a health juice for adults.

In spite of the vitamin factor, Peña said Sydenham juices taste good as they are made of natural juice concentrate and puree and have absolutely no artificial flavors.

Even the amount of sugar added to these drinks is carefully studied so that this does not adversely affect the health of consumers.

Its improved product for kids is now known as Jus 4 Kids Plus, which effectively combines CGF and taurine to ensure that children get the best health benefits from the delicious beverage even if they only drink one flavor.

Each pack is also fortified with vitamins A, C, E, B1 and B3, zinc, and iodine — micronutrients that help improve the growth and immune system of children.

Sydenham’s original product, Jus 4 Kids, was recognized by England-based magazine Beverage Innovation as one of a growing number of vitamin-enriched health beverages around the world that offer their target markets a multitude of health benefits.