From concept to confidence: How consumer insights transform a novel nutrition format into commercial reality

Summary 

• As global populations age rapidly, seniors face growing nutritional insufficiencies that traditional supplement formats fail to address, creating demand for innovations that integrate seamlessly into existing dietary patterns rather than requiring new supplementation routines.
• When dsm-firmenich tested an innovative food-integrated micronutrient format across 6,000 consumers in 12 countries, the research revealed not just market acceptance but precise target audiences, optimal usage contexts, and regional variations that shaped the path to commercial launch.
• The journey from Sprinkle It Technology™ (SIT™) concept testing to its market launch with Rohto Pharmaceutical in Japan demonstrates how comprehensive consumer insights to minimize risk and drive innovation, identify winning strategies, and transform promising nutrition innovations into products that genuinely serve the populations who need them most.

By 2050, 2.1 billion people—more than 20% of the global population—will be over 60.¹ This dramatic demographic shift brings profound implications for health systems and nutritional strategies worldwide. Research shows a troubling ten-year gap between life expectancy and health expectancy, those years lived in good health, feeling well and mostly free of disease.² With almost a decade lost to ill health, aging populations face increasingly heavy healthcare burdens while struggling to maintain adequate nutrition.³

The challenge isn't simply living longer—it's living better. As people age, maintaining nutritional compliance becomes more difficult due to factors including decreased appetite, difficulty swallowing, medication interactions, and declining nutrient absorption.^{4, 5, 6} Traditional supplement formats don't always align with the preferences and capabilities of older adults, creating a disconnect between nutritional need and consistent intake.

Against the backdrop of this challenge, consumer preferences around nutrition delivery have been evolving. Many consumers, particularly seniors, prefer integrating nutritional support seamlessly into existing dietary patterns rather than adding separate supplementation routines. This "food-first” approach reflects a desire for solutions that enhance rather than replace familiar eating habits—but only if formats genuinely deliver on convenience and sensory acceptance.⁷

Challenges like this—when there’s a disjunct between preferences, current format availability, and market need—create both opportunity and risk for nutrition innovation. Novel delivery systems can address real unmet needs, but they also represent substantial development investment in formulation, stability testing, manufacturing setup, and regulatory compliance. Without validation through consumer insights, manufacturers risk launching products that confuse rather than attract consumers, miss key usage occasions, or fail to resonate across different markets and demographic segments.

In this article, we’ll tell the story of how comprehensive consumer insights transformed an innovative micronutrient delivery technology from promising concept into commercial reality, serving aging populations in Japan.

Nutrition innovation that aligned with the ‘food-first’ preference

In 2022, dsm-firmenich evaluated a novel technology designed to align with food-first consumer preferences: Sprinkle It Technology™ (SIT™), a delivery system packaging vitamins and minerals into small granules (just 1mm) that consumers could sprinkle over or mix into their food immediately before eating.

The technology offers functional advantages, addressing real barriers to consistent nutrition especially among older adults. The granules use a natural matrix allowing vitamins to integrate seamlessly into food, with minimal impact on taste or texture. A stick pack format provided convenience without requiring special preparation. Most importantly, the format allows people to enrich the foods they already eat rather than requiring them to adopt entirely new consumption patterns.

But technical elegance doesn't guarantee consumer adoption. The fundamental questions remained: would consumers actually embrace sprinkling granules onto their food? Which consumers? In which markets? Without answers grounded in consumer insights, launching represented a costly gamble.

The research: Concept validation at scale, spanning markets

Rather than relying on limited focus groups or single-market pilots, dsm-firmenich designed research to capture the full complexity of consumer acceptance. The study surveyed 6,000 respondents—500 in 12 countries spanning Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and North America. Each respondent completed a 10-minute questionnaire covering demographics, general attitudes toward nutrition and health, and product usage. After reviewing the concept description, they answered specific questions including unpriced purchase intent and provided open-ended feedback.

This multi-dimensional approach ensured the research would reveal not just whether consumers liked the concept, but precisely how they would integrate it into their lives.

What the insights revealed: Patterns that shaped strategy

The top-line finding offered validation: 65% of respondents indicated they would purchase the product. Most wanted single-serve sachets, which they could take once a day to meet nutritional requirements. But these aggregate statistics, while encouraging, couldn't guide strategic decisions about positioning, targeting, or market entry priorities. The real value emerged from analyzing patterns across multiple dimensions.

Usage contexts provided tactical direction

Sixty-three percent would use the vitamin granulate produced by the Sprinkle It Technology™ (SIT™) at breakfast, with cereals (52%) and yogurt (50%) as top pairings. Additional occasions included lunch (31%) and dinner (29%), with use in soup highly popular in Japan. These insights informed packaging decisions (single-serve packs for morning routines), positioning strategy (flexible meal enrichment), and even potential partnerships with breakfast or soup brands.

Product preferences shaped development priorities

More than half of respondents would accept slight impacts on food taste (58%), texture (54%), or appearance (51%). Strong interest emerged for including additional nutrients like fiber (75%) and protein (68%). These insights pointed towards product development opportunities.

Demographic insights challenged initial assumptions

Purchase intent skewed younger: above 70% for those under 40, compared to 52% among those 60 and older. While aging populations face clear nutritional challenges, the data revealed that younger, proactive consumers showed the strongest format enthusiasm. This didn't negate the senior opportunity—it revealed the need for different positioning strategies across age demographics and market segments, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

From insights to commercial launch

The consumer insights generated through this research directly informed strategic decisions culminating in commercial launch. In November 2024, dsm-firmenich announced the market introduction of Vision R, made with Sprinkle It Technology™, through partnership with Rohto Pharmaceutical for the Japanese market. Japan, having the world’s oldest population, was particularly well-suited to this kind of nutrition innovation.

The product specifically targets nutritional insufficiencies among seniors to support healthy longevity. It launched in Japanese medical institutions, where it is provided with hospital meals or recommended to outpatients. The healthcare setting go-to-market strategy reflects sophisticated understanding, as the medical context provides structure and guidance that can increase adoption among older adults facing the greatest nutritional challenges.

Consumer insights provide a foundation for opportunities and reduce risk

Today's nutrition market operates where multiple forces create both opportunity and risk for manufacturers. What works in one market may not translate due to cultural eating patterns, format familiarity, or taste preferences. Placing consumer understanding at the center of nutrition innovation can create successful products with novel delivery systems that are pre-validated to fit consumer preferences and behaviors. The Sprinkle It Technology™ journey demonstrates this approach.

While multi-market concept testing validates specific innovations, leading manufacturers recognize that consumer insights must be an ongoing capability. Comprehensive understanding emerges from multiple research streams working together—from longitudinal health concerns tracking (like dsm-firmenich's Global Health Concerns Study spanning 25 countries) to specialized research on longevity and healthy aging, to strategic market sizing across segments and health benefits. This integrated approach reveals not just whether consumers will accept an innovation, but how evolving priorities, emerging needs, and market dynamics should shape development pipelines and positioning strategies.

For manufacturers facing similar challenges—like introducing new formats, entering new markets, or repositioning existing products—the lesson is clear: research might reveal your innovation needs refinement, different positioning, or alternative market prioritization. But discovering these realities through research costs far less than learning through disappointing sales after launch.

This is how promising nutritional technologies become products that genuinely improve lives—by ensuring they fit not just nutritional needs, but the real-world behaviors, preferences, and contexts of the people they aim to serve.