Personal and household care company McPherson’s has entered into 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 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 +5 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 reported.
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.”
