Detecting Emerging ‘Hero’ Ingredients Before Competition

The headlines are ripe with ingredients that may?cause?health concerns: Red Dye 3 has been linked to cancer; Sugar supplements are linked to heart disease; Titanium Dioxide may be carcinogenic.??These are what we call 'villain' ingredients, ingredients that pose risks for brands and manufactures.??These risks include the hard costs of reformulating or adjusting your supply chain; risks may also be soft costs, such as loss to equity, reputation, and consumer trust.??In contrast, there are ingredients that emerge that may help?prevent?health concerns, those 'hero' ingredients that aid in the prevention of diabetes, cancer, or even effects of aging.??The addition of these ingredients to a formula is about growing topline sales.??

When it comes to identifying true villain and hero ingredients, it’s difficult to differentiate between a lasting trend or simply a flash in the pan. Having the ability to detect hero ingredients that are true emerging trends vs just background noise before your competition is the difference between winning and falling behind.

Just as we see villain ingredients taking up increasing headline space,?ingredients that may help prevent disease and showcase health benefits are increasingly in the headlines.?Just in recent days, we’ve seen headlines about?sea cucumbers and the prevention of diabetes, as well as?Java Plums and a myriad of health benefits, including improving heart health, preventing diabetes, and boosting immunity. Just this week, there was a?headline about taurine, an ingredient found in proteins and also energy drinks, that has been shown to slow the aging process.?

The risk manufacturers run is being late to the party.?Once an ingredient’s health benefits have reached the headlines, there’s a good chance the competition will know soon or already does.??That’s because once any ingredient has made it into mainstream news sources, word of their benefits will spread quickly through market and consumer channels. Often, something has already caused a 'spark' for that ingredient, be it a scientific article or an influential social post.

Not all 'hero' sparks?spread?in the same pattern. Some reputable news outlets (e.g. Guardian, NY Times) pick up studies from respectable publications (e.g. New England Journal of Medicine), but other times stories spread from influencers who have a following or scientific publishers who have a large citations network.??This makes pattern recognition critical to differentiate between the noise and what is most likely spread.

It's important to have access to a database that can identify patterns and give early alerts for potential hero ingredients.??A great example of this is with Sea Cucumber.??There have been scientific articles about Sea Cucumber’s health benefits for years.??This one dates back to 2016:?Anti-diabetic activity of Holothuria thomasi saponin.??Having 7+ years advance understanding of the science behind this hero ingredient could help a company that wants to use this ingredient to get in front of competition:

• Claims support?for ingredients that may already be in your product to promote via marketing or to support formulators putting it into the product.
• Part of that promotion via marketing is:?Identify reputable influencers?who can help share story about ingredient benefits.
• ?Front end innovation: designing new products with ‘hero’ ingredient.

Getting a head start in understanding the next big hero ingredient, the next emerging trend, and the benefits that these ingredients could have to consumers allows manufacturers the time and resources needed to grow topline sales and further establish consumer trust.??Those early signals are happening now – and the time to start monitoring them is now.