Aged-care nutrition becomes bigger part of Trisco Foods business

Australian manufacturer Trisco Foods has announced its acquisition of the Enprocal and Prime Nutrition brands, allowing the company to further gain traction in the aged-care market.

The brands sell about 3 million dietary supplements each year to help those in nursing facilities and hospitals that are lacking in sufficient nutrition.

“The Enprocal acquisition provides us with amazing synergies and we now have great range of products in the aged-care area,” said Chief Executive Mike Tristram.

These brands, purchased from the Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Co for an undisclosed amount, will build on Trisco’s current product range aimed at the aged-care market. In 2014, the company launched its Precise Thick-N INSTANT liquid thickener range designed to help people suffering from dysphagia, a condition that makes swallowing difficult.

The success of this range and rapid growth in the market encouraged Trisco to add Enprocal and Prime Nutrition’s protein-enhanced supplement powder to its product range. Despite the fact that Trisco is known for manufacturing sweeteners and syrups, Tristram said he expects aged nutrition to become an integral and even dominant part of the company in the future.

“It could eventually dwarf the other part of the business in a decade’s time,” he said.

The acquisition will also expand Trisco’s distribution areas, as Enprocal products are exported to Hong Kong, New Zealand, Malaysia and China. According to Tristram, the Queensland-based company already has a strong foothold in Asia, making up Trisco’s largest export region.

However, while the supplement market for the elderly is rapidly growing in the APAC region, Tristram noted that different countries in Asia have different problems, which poses a significant challenge to distributors trying to enter these markets.

“Different Asian countries have different ageing population issues,” Tristram told Nutraingredients Asia. “But it is not known what solutions are needed for the aged within those emerging markets. There are younger countries, such as the Phillipines, where we don’t see a huge opportunity at this point, but there will eventually be one.”

China’s ageing population was also highlighted as having particular huge growth potential in the market. Trisco plans to further expand its aged-care products both within and outside this region with the help of its newly acquired brands.