We are proud to share that SKIM was asked to contribute to the June/July 2013 issue of the Nutrition Business Journal, with an article on how medical foods brands can best face the challenges in their industry. In the resulting 3-page spread, SKIM Director of Consumer Health Benoît Gouhier shares how the medical foods industry can position itself for success between clinical medicine and consumer nutrition.
Medical Foods in the Middle
Many experts describe the medical foods industry as “emerging,” but it could be more aptly described as “nascent.” Nascent industries, according to Adrian Yeow, assistant professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, are particularly challenging enviraonments for new entrants. The most basic challenge they confront is the issue of legitimacy with investors, customers, regulatory agencies and other potential entrants into their industry. By this description, virtually every aspect of medical foods is fraught with risk, uncertainty and quickly evolving barriers to entry.
Many of the marketing challenges inherent to medical foods center around establishing legitimacy within the amorphous boundaries of an industry that sometimes has trouble even naming itself. Is it medical foods, medical nutrition, functional foods, or nutraceuticals?