Let them eat caviar: UK manufacturer riding Asia's omega-3 wave to success
It recently partnered with Apollo Group, India's largest healthcare provider, to stock its Omega 3 Herring Caviar supplement at Apollo's 2,600-plus pharmacies.
Already, the brand is carried in over 300 Holland & Barrett stores across the UK and Ireland, and the company has reported straight like-for-like sales growth throughout the past year despite British high street consumer sales having slowed down.
Founded in 2014, the company's eponymous owner — a personal trainer and former rugby player — told NutraIngredients-Asia: "Many of our operations are outsourced, so we have no need to employ anyone at this stage."
(O)mega opportunity
Presently, Tom Oliver Nutrition products are sold in 10 countries, including the UK, UAE, Hong Kong, Singapore and now, India.
The company's partnership with Apollo is the latest step in its Asian expansion.
According to Oliver, the partnership came about after Apollo deemed the Omega 3 Herring Caviar supplement would be well received by its customers.
This, he said, was due mainly to its formulation with fish gelatin, which offers added amino acids and protein, and is said to aid digestion, ease joint pain, improve skin health and maintain bone strength.
With Asia set to drive the growth of the omega-3 sector, Tom Oliver Nutrition's success in the region so far is buoying its confidence. In fact, 20% of the company's business comes directly from Singapore alone.
It expects to enter China, South Korea and Qatar this year, followed by Saudi Arabia, Japan and Malaysia next year.
"We have seen year-on-year growth since the start, and this year will double our revenue to over £1m. We are forecasting continued growth over the forthcoming year, with revenues in excess of £1.2m," Oliver said.
Not just another fish in the sea?
While omega-3 supplements are a dime a dozen, Oliver believes his product's use of caviar and fish gelatin gives Tom Oliver Nutrition an advantage over the competition.
He explained that he wanted to develop an omega-3 supplement that was easy to swallow, didn't leave a fishy aftertaste, and required consumers to take only one capsule a day to meet the recommended amount of fatty acids.
"The herring caviar comes from fish stock already harvested, no fishing operation is required and (there are) no additional emissions," he said.
He also revealed that the herring caviar extract used in the supplements are derived from the roe of Norwegian spring-spawning herring caught off the west coast of Norway.
He added that the fish oils are from anchovies and sardines caught off the coast of Peru and Chile, and act as a source of marine omega-3 triglycerides.
