The Health Strategy Network (HSN) Conference Series, continuing this month with a meeting in Sydney, Australia, has enlisted the CEO of Australia's leading supplement brand, Blackmores, to open the event.
Darin Walters will discuss the evolving nutrition industry in Australasia at an opening dinner. The event is expected to attract more than 60 decision makers from around the world.
"We have a great opportunity in this industry to build and keep the confidence of the consumer. The momentum behind consumers taking a more proactive role in their health will not change, but our need to anticipate how that demand changes is critical," says Walters.
The HSN series aims to offer participants strong networking and knowledge sharing opportunities, using global market data and case study group discussions. The Pan-Pacific conference will include a case discussion of the Clover/Nu-Mega story.
After achieving local market penetration, the technology-focused Australian firm Clover launched into global markets through a series of successful partnering relationships. The company uses HiDHA Omega-3 oils both as oils and microencapsulated powders in its diverse food and supplement lines, which have proven to be highly successful in Australia, but it needs global marketing partners in order to expand to outside markets.
Hamish Drummond, Clover founder, says that by working with local research organisations and development teams within other companies, consumer products can be brought to market all over the world. "Multinational companies can see our success in Australia as a test market," he explains.
HSC, made up of industry consultants, claims the timing for such an event in Australia is right and executives are highly supportive of a forum to discuss the strategic challenges facing the industry. Executives from the top food, pharmaceutical, ingredient, complementary medicine companies, along with top leaders from government and academic institutions, are expected to attend. The event will be sponsored by Blackmores, Robert Forbes & Associates, BASF Human Nutrition and NPIcenter.
The Pan-Pacific Conference, from 23-25 July, will be followed by a continuation of the series in Tokyo, Japan, 15-17 October and Cancun, Mexico, 19-21 February 2004.