NEW ZEALAND – Nestlé, a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate, has expanded its portfolio of health-focused assets with the acquisition of a New Zealand business, The Better Health Company (TBHC).

Nestlé acquired TBHC which is behind the supplement brand Go Healthy from China asset-management firm CDH Investments and the company’s founding shareholders.

The transaction, for undisclosed sum, also includes a manufacturing facility in Auckland for minerals and supplements and the Manuka honey brand Egmont.

The deal is the latest acquisition made by the Swiss multinational food company as it looks to take on more businesses centered on health and wellness.

Paul Bruhn, the head of the Oceania business for Nestlé’s Health arm, said the Go Healthy and Egmont brands complement Nestlé’s global portfolio of active lifestyle and health-and-wellness nutrition brand Verywell.

 

The health and wellness market generated a revenue of over US$4.5 billion in 2018 and is further projected to account for US$6.5 billion by the end of 2026, growing at a CAGR of 4.8%.

Jennifer Chappell, the CEO of Nestlé’s business in New Zealand, said: “This [acquisition] will strengthen our presence not just in New Zealand, but more broadly across the region, with the Go Healthy brand which is already present in Australia, China, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam, and the globally known Egmont brand.”

The acquisition comes at a time when the global health and wellness market is anticipated to witness growth driven by increasing demand for eco-friendly organic food products, coupled with the rapid growth in the requirement for sustainable health and wellness products & services.

According to an analysis by Research Dive, this market generated a revenue of over US$4.5 billion in 2018 and is further projected to account for US$6.5 billion by the end of 2026, growing at a CAGR of 4.8%.

Last month, the multinational food company went on to snap up the Brazil-based health foods and supplements business Puravida for an undisclosed sum, done through the Switzerland-based food giant’s Nestlé Health Science (NHSc) business unit.

Nestlé said the acquisition will expand its portfolio aimed at supporting health and well-being in Brazil into different categories “with more ways to reach consumers and patients with reliable, nutritious and high-quality products”.

Also, in February, the world’s largest food company expanded its portfolio of “nutrition products” with a majority stake in US-based Orgain, a supplier of protein powders, snack bars, and shakes.

Nestlé, which still has an option to fully acquire Orgain, did not disclose the size of the stake it had bought in the Californian company, nor what it had paid.

Last year, the Swiss giant also acquired the vitamins and supplement brands of US-based The Bountiful Company in a deal valued at US$5.75billion.

That transaction included the Nature’s Bounty, Solgar, Osteo Bi-Flex, and Puritan’s Pride lines, as well as Bountiful’s private-label business.

Nestlé said the acquired brands generated net sales in the year ended 31 March of US$1.87bn and an EBITDA margin of 18.3% and the margin is expected to increase above the Nestlé group average, once synergies are fully implemented by 2024.

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