In the agreement, in which Nutrinovate acquired all A to K shares on 1 October, the deal is expected to, “make a positive contribution to Nutrinovate's market position and create an expanded platform for continued growth”.
“A to K is a modern and innovative company in the fast-moving health product category (FMHP),” says Magnus Nilsson Vall, CEO of Nutrinovate.
“The company has in recent years built a business in Sweden and has a growing presence, especially on Amazon's platform in the UK. A to K complements Nutrinovate well, both in terms of geographical presence, sales channels, and product range.
“We look forward to continuing this journey with A to K's existing range and with a number of new launches under the brand.”
Increase absorption
A to K's product line-up, which is currently available to purchase on Amazon UK and other selected retailers, consists of oral vitamin sprays that combine a personal element to its makeup.
The products’ spray method of delivery serves increase absorption in the body, avoid the inconvenience and discomfort with large pills and avoid the need for water when taking supplements.
Its ‘Recharge’ vitamin spray for example contains vitamins B6, B12, D and folic acid which contributes to reduced fatigue and exhaustion and comes 15 millilitres (ml), 30 daily doses.
“A to K has become an established consumer health care company in Sweden and we are proud of what we have achieved since start,” says Claes Persson, CEO of A to K, which was founded in 2016.
“We see Nutrinovate as a very suitable owner of the company and there are significant synergies between the companies' current portfolio and market position.”
Nutrinovate’s acquisition could be seen as a way of addressing the recent upsurge of vitamin supplement sales, as consumers these products as a way of warding off the virus’ effects.
Speaking to NutraIngredients in April just as the pandemic took hold, the firm’s CMO and co-founder Mikael Lindblad, said the situation had affected business ‘enormously’ in largely positive ways.
“Sales of the day-to-day vitamin and mineral range have gone down quite a bit and distributing products across the global market has been very tough,” he explained.
“We had an entire trailer confiscated from us in Portugal and we’ve had products that can’t get out the airport because of import and export sanctions in different countries.
"But our anti-virus products have gone through the roof, as people are searching for any products that they think could help give them that added element of protection against the coronavirus.”
Evolva deal
In 2017, the firm looked to reinforce its nutricosmetic offerings with news that it would combine Evolva’s Veri-te resveratrol and a novel dissolvable film technology in its Functional Film Technology (FFT).
The FFT is a dissolvable oral film strip system that enables functional ingredients to be delivered to the body through the inside of the cheek offering advantages including direct distribution to the bloodstream, faster bioavailability, and ease of use.
“We see Functional Film Technology as a game changer in the food supplement business,” said Nutrinovate CEO Magnus Nillson-Val. “It is a perfect carrier for ingredients like Veri-te resveratrol, where absorption is critical and challenging.”
