ANZ Focus: Australia's Doctor V, New Zealand's cherry focus, cultivated meat debates and more feature in our round-up

By Pearly Neo

- Last updated on GMT

Australia's Doctor V, New Zealand's cherry focus, cultivated meat debates and more feature in this edition of ANZ Focus. ©Getty Images
Australia's Doctor V, New Zealand's cherry focus, cultivated meat debates and more feature in this edition of ANZ Focus. ©Getty Images

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Australia's Doctor V, New Zealand's cherry focus, cultivated meat debates and more feature in this edition of ANZ Focus.

Going beyond energy: Australia's Doctor V reinforces focus on functional drink innovation in APAC to ride on growing trend

Australian firm Doctor V is moving beyond an energy drinks focus to innovate in the wider functional beverage space, hoping to ride on the growth of the functional drinks trend in APAC.

Doctor V's hero ingredient in its products is Siberian pine needle extract, an adaptogen that is known for its high content of vitamin C, iron, antioxidants and other micro-nutrients. 

Based on this, the firm has developed four different functional beverages thus far focusing on Mood (containing damiana), Clarity and Focus (nootropics), Recovery (liver and kidney cleansing herbs), and Workout (green tea extract for caffeine). 

"All of our products use berries and herbs that are handpicked and wild – none of these ingredients are farmed – very premium and exclusive, and we use different combinations of herbs, berries and vitamins to bring out the best functionality from each drink,”​ Doctor V Head of Marketing Richard Hugo Lark told FoodNavigator-Asia​.

Doomed to fail? Industry experts clash on economic and nutrition feasibility of clean meat

There is still a long way to go for cell-cultured meat to become a viable meat alternative due to factors such as the large investment required, cost to the consumer, scalability and the bioavailability of nutrients for good nutrition.

This is the view of Professor Paul Wood, a professor in biotechnology at Monash University and director of national services body Dairy Australia.

Not cherry picking: NZ hopes cherry functional health benefits can help boost exports

New Zealand is pumping in cash to boost its cherry-growing industry by funding research to assess the nutritional value of the stone fruit that has been purported to reduce inflammation, regulate blood pressure and improve sleep among many.

For a start, the country’s High-Value Nutrition (HVN) Ko Ngā Kai Whai Painga National Science Challenge has awarded a development grant worth NZD$55,000 (USD$34,000) to Cherri Health and Manufacturing (CH&M). The development grant targets emerging industries to help boost their growth.

US formula shortage: Bubs Australia’s infant formula tariff free, firm works with two more retail chains

Bubs Australia’s infant formula sold in the US will receive tariff concessions under a trade deal, while the firm has also announced agreements with two additional retail groups to sell its products.

This will add on to the nearly 5,000 stores across 34 US states that have already stocked its products following US FDA’s approval of its products to curb the country’s formula shortage.

Nestle Health Science to acquire GO Healthy and parent firm, hails brand’s ‘simplified yet effective’ vitamin regimen

Nestle Health Science is set to acquire dietary supplement brand GO Healthy alongside the brand’s New Zealand-based parent company, it added that the GO Health brand enjoyed a unique position in the market with its “simplified yet effective” vitamin regimen.

This will be the global nutrition giant’s first acquisition of a company based in Asia-Pacific.

Known as The Better Health Company (TBHC), it is the parent company of dietary supplement brand GO Healthy, manuka honey brand Egmont, and New Zealand Health Manufacturing businesse

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