Smart C+ offers vitamin-packed beverage

MANILA, Philippines - Wellness is spiritual and personal. Though the brain is wired for comfort, beliefs are the masters of change. The most exciting breakthroughs of this century will come not only from advancement in technology but also from personal informed choices.

Considering that the festive holidays are nearing and most people are bound to find themselves stressed out and encountering major energy drains from all the traveling and feasting, it is therefore a good time to plan ahead, lay the groundwork for eating well, generate motivation from within, and gradually embrace lifestyle changes as an adventure.

And since people are more health-conscious these days, the wide array of products that are now offered are healthier and with added benefits. Consumers are likely to consider these products, as these are easy, convenient solutions that can be incorporated into their respective lifestyles.

An example is the inclusion of ascorbic acid in a bottled beverage. Vitamin C is required for the growth and repair of tissues in the human body.

Oishi, the manufacturer of innovative and trend-setting snack products, offers Smart C+ as the company’s first venture into the ready-to-drink market.

“This is an opportunity for Oishi to diversify its product portfolio into the ready-to-drink (RTD) category. We already entered the powdered beverage segment with Sundays, proffering its popular mango and melon flavors as well as with our other bottle drink Fruit & Fiber,” said Liwayway Corp.’s VP for marketing Shera Tiu.

“The convenience of RTDs also cannot be beaten by other beverage forms, in how these can be seamlessly incorporated into your lifestyle — as you go about your day, take a snack or lunch break, and on your way home. So it’s still an excellent alternative to have and be readily available in that sense,” Tiu said.

“There is increasing health awareness among consumers nowadays. The RTD beverage segment is a large growing market and there’s a rising popularity of drinks with added benefits like vitamins and such. We really liked the idea of a high-vitamin C drink (perhaps the most appreciated among vitamins) with all-natural components,” Tiu said.

“Vitamin C is commonly found in drinks but in minimal doses, not in the levels that our body consumes. If you are after 500mg of vitamin C though, a supplement or Smart C+ can conveniently give you that. Smart C+ contains the equivalent Vitamin C of either 11 lemons, eight oranges and four grapefruits. This surely beats lugging around all those fruits to keep you protected. With Smart C+, getting your daily dose of Vitamin C+ has never been this convenient and refreshing,” Tiu added.

Product diversification

Delicious, affordable and fun, the bottled beverages did well with consumers. Smart-C has 500mg of vitamin C in every 500ml bottle. It contains natural fruit juices and has no artificial colors, flavors and preservatives.

Smart C+ also comes in 350ml and soon in one-liter PET bottles. It has three flavors: Lemon Squeeze, Orange Crush and Pomelo Grapefruit.

“Smart C+ contains 500mg of vitamin C which helps boost your immune system. It also enables your body to produce collagen, a protein essential to every cell of the body, thus providing your body the strength and resilience it needs to fight the daily wear and tear brought about by an active lifestyle. With 500mg of vitamin C in every 500 ml bottle, you can cope with the daily demands of your life, which makes you unstoppable, and ready whenever wherever,” Tiu said.

“Presently we also have Fiber & Fruit products which offers fiber in a convenient and refreshing drink. Each 350ml bottle already contains five grams of fiber, the equivalent of a sachet of the popular fiber supplements available in the market. And yes, we definitely have more beverage concepts lined up. They will come out of the market next year and will also come from citrus fruits that are now currently studied in our labs,” Tiu added.

How it all began

Oishi is a Filipino brand of innovative snacks and beverages that includes Oishi Prawn Crackers, Marty’s Cracklin’, Pillows, and Smart C+, among others. Liwayway Marketing Corp. is the company behind the Oishi snack line.

Oishi’s history dates back to 1946 when its founders Mr. and Mrs. Chan Lib began repacking and selling starch and coffee in post-war Manila. Reflecting the optimism of the time, they branded the products Liwayway which in the local dialect means “dawn.”

In 1974, Oishi brought in Japanese technology to make snack foods and named them Oishi and Kirei. Oishi, which in Japanese means “delicious,” later became the umbrella brand. Kirei, on the other hand, means “beautiful” or “clean.”

“Smart C+ is in a totally different category being neither carbonated drink nor bottled tea, but yes, consumers somewhat drink them interchangeably especially with C2’s sweet tea drinks,” Tiu said.

“Smart C+ offers an alternative in many ways. For one, its subtle sweetness is already attracting consumers who find current offerings too sweet. Secondly, if we are taking antioxidants from tea, then vitamin C could be the most well-known antioxidant, and with 500mg of it in a 500ml bottle of Smart C+, that’s a lot of antioxidants,” Tiu said.

“What is relevant to the consumer is the effective vitamin C that they get from the drink and not what we put in. The declared vitamin C content is measured based on what is effectively in the drink when the consumer drinks it. We also test for the stability of the vitamin C content as part of product development, to make sure the declaration is accurate,” Tiu said.

“With Smart C+ having no added preservatives, artificial sweeteners, and artificial colouring, it’s also a more natural drink option, that’s why drinks are somewhat pale in color. This is because of the absence of additives” Tiu added.

With Smart C+, getting daily doses of ascorbic acid has never been this conveniently refreshing. For more Smart C+ information, simply log on to www.oishi.com.ph