One of Australia’s leading suppliers of beauty, personal and household care, McPherson’s Limited (MCP) has entered into the health and wellness segment, announcing a joint venture with privately owned Australian company, Soulful.
“We [have] leveraged our strong financial position to make strategic investments to grow in the $13bn health, wellness and beauty market,” McPherson’s Managing Director, Laurence McAllister said. “MCP has recently acquired 51 per cent of the Australian owned health and wellness company, Soulful, which marks our entry into the growing areas of health and nutrition.”
Soulful insight
An emerging brand in the health and wellness space, according to Mr McAllister, Soulful “has strong potential not only within its current segments, but also within the broader gut health and digestive market”, a market that is reportedly worth approximately “$0.4bn [in Australia], growing at five per cent, and $3.5bn in China, growing at 11 per cent.”
Soulful’s product range is said to currently include dried fruit snacks, an infused honey range, and student, pregnancy and adult milk powder.
“Adult nutritional drinks in China alone is forecast to reach $1.5bn by 2023, growing at 34 per cent annually,” Mr McAllister said.
Growth driver
In addition to supporting McPherson’s strategy to enter the health and wellness space, leveraging the company’s existing core capabilities such as existing sales and marketing expertise, and providing McPherson’s with an experienced partner in health and wellness, Mr McAllister says the new venture is also expected to “drive McPherson’s domestic distribution and export growth.”
