The Food Doctor is one of those brands that sound familiar even if you have not seen the distinctive green-packaged snacks bearing cheeky instructions to Get it on' or Cleanse'. Yet since the company ended its one-year licensing agreement with Tesco, its health foods and snacks have only been available through seven distributors in the UK supplying specialised outlets such as Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Fresh and Wild, Planet Organic and GNC.
Without the might of Tesco behind it, it faces a challenge: how, as a small company, does it convert strong brand awareness into sales without alienating potential customers that cannot find the range anywhere?
The unusual power of the brand is all down to a growing interest in functional food, says Michael de Costa, the MD and business brains behind the food arm of the business. "All the big companies are straining at the bit to develop functional foods," he says. "They face the challenge of moving from low fat foods, which have long been associated with healthy eating, to foods that are more widely health promoting. That's what The Food Doctor is trying to address: we want to be in the next wave of innovation which sees health food delivery switch from the pharmacy counter to the supermarket checkout."
De Costa argues that the consumer is fed up with disingenuous claims made by certain manufacturers about the health benefits of their products, particularly in the snack food arena. "They might have a handful of vitamins but they are packed full of refined sugars."
The idea of The Food Doctor is not to pump products full of vitamins but give consumers natural foods that contribute to a balanced diet. "The Food Doctor is a brand that the public really understand," he says.
The company founders, Ian Marber and Vicki Edgson, published the first of The Food Doctor books four years ago and often feature in magazines and on television. The company also offers a nutritional consultancy service that advises on foods and supplements that may help with conditions like eczema, pre-menstrual tension, irritable bowel syndrome and low libido. But the brand is now known as much for its food products as its publishing and consultancy.
Evolution from a publisher
De Costa recalls the company's evolution from its days as a publisher. "I'm a restaurateur and four years ago I met Ian and Vicki. They had written a lot of recipes in their first book and were not really sure where it could go. They came to me with the idea of opening a café. I didn't want to go for that but I loved the name, so we began to offer nutritional advice, at first to some of the big City institutions and then health clubs."
The book range and advisory service were both going from strength to strength when three years ago de Costa hit on the idea of a snack range. "People were always going on diets and the problem area was snacking." The company developed a range of fruit and seed snack bars using oats, rye and sesame seeds as well as nutrients like spirulina a bluish green algae and gingko biloba. With the supermarkets evolving their healthy eating ranges from those aimed solely at weight loss, it was only a matter of time before one came knocking at the door.
A year and a half ago, Tesco did just that. Then, The Food Doctor had only 12 products in its range. The deal with Tesco allowed it to develop a 32-product range of juices, soups, salads and mueslis.
Hooking up with the grocery market leader had its downside, however. De Costa is reluctant to go into detail, but he comments: "The opportunity gave the brand terrific exposure, which we don't regret, but Tesco possibly lacked the strategy for such an early stage business. There was also the question of limiting our expansion potential," he says.
The relationship was dissolved by mutual consent after a year and The Food Doctor now hopes for a tie-up with a major supplier. It has talked with "major international brands", says de Costa, but has no firm interest as yet.
Meanwhile it continues with product development and among the lines it is working on are Good Day and Good Night oat-based drinks with additives to aid digestion, pot noodles that are not packed with monosodium glutamate and salt, as well as ready-to-cook and frozen meals.
But, without the backing of a bigger outfit, many of its ideas for new food products will remain on the drawing board, concedes de Costa.He still has high hopes, though."We think we have the potential to do for the health food market what WeightWatchers has done for the slimming aids market," he says.
"But we need a big brother on the production and the research and development sides. Our strategy is to get into a bigger market. It is not only about the product, but having it scientifically supported."
{{ANALYSIS }}
Without the might of Tesco behind it, it faces a challenge: how, as a small company, does it convert strong brand awareness into sales without alienating potential customers that cannot find the range anywhere?
The unusual power of the brand is all down to a growing interest in functional food, says Michael de Costa, the MD and business brains behind the food arm of the business. "All the big companies are straining at the bit to develop functional foods," he says. "They face the challenge of moving from low fat foods, which have long been associated with healthy eating, to foods that are more widely health promoting. That's what The Food Doctor is trying to address: we want to be in the next wave of innovation which sees health food delivery switch from the pharmacy counter to the supermarket checkout."
De Costa argues that the consumer is fed up with disingenuous claims made by certain manufacturers about the health benefits of their products, particularly in the snack food arena. "They might have a handful of vitamins but they are packed full of refined sugars."
The idea of The Food Doctor is not to pump products full of vitamins but give consumers natural foods that contribute to a balanced diet. "The Food Doctor is a brand that the public really understand," he says.
The company founders, Ian Marber and Vicki Edgson, published the first of The Food Doctor books four years ago and often feature in magazines and on television. The company also offers a nutritional consultancy service that advises on foods and supplements that may help with conditions like eczema, pre-menstrual tension, irritable bowel syndrome and low libido. But the brand is now known as much for its food products as its publishing and consultancy.
Evolution from a publisher
De Costa recalls the company's evolution from its days as a publisher. "I'm a restaurateur and four years ago I met Ian and Vicki. They had written a lot of recipes in their first book and were not really sure where it could go. They came to me with the idea of opening a café. I didn't want to go for that but I loved the name, so we began to offer nutritional advice, at first to some of the big City institutions and then health clubs."
The book range and advisory service were both going from strength to strength when three years ago de Costa hit on the idea of a snack range. "People were always going on diets and the problem area was snacking." The company developed a range of fruit and seed snack bars using oats, rye and sesame seeds as well as nutrients like spirulina a bluish green algae and gingko biloba. With the supermarkets evolving their healthy eating ranges from those aimed solely at weight loss, it was only a matter of time before one came knocking at the door.
A year and a half ago, Tesco did just that. Then, The Food Doctor had only 12 products in its range. The deal with Tesco allowed it to develop a 32-product range of juices, soups, salads and mueslis.
Hooking up with the grocery market leader had its downside, however. De Costa is reluctant to go into detail, but he comments: "The opportunity gave the brand terrific exposure, which we don't regret, but Tesco possibly lacked the strategy for such an early stage business. There was also the question of limiting our expansion potential," he says.
The relationship was dissolved by mutual consent after a year and The Food Doctor now hopes for a tie-up with a major supplier. It has talked with "major international brands", says de Costa, but has no firm interest as yet.
Meanwhile it continues with product development and among the lines it is working on are Good Day and Good Night oat-based drinks with additives to aid digestion, pot noodles that are not packed with monosodium glutamate and salt, as well as ready-to-cook and frozen meals.
But, without the backing of a bigger outfit, many of its ideas for new food products will remain on the drawing board, concedes de Costa.He still has high hopes, though."We think we have the potential to do for the health food market what WeightWatchers has done for the slimming aids market," he says.
"But we need a big brother on the production and the research and development sides. Our strategy is to get into a bigger market. It is not only about the product, but having it scientifically supported."
{{ANALYSIS }}
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