Functional foods rely on factors such as additional nutritional benefits or convenience rather than taste or low cost, to drive sales. This makes effective communication of product benefits to consumers, marketing groups, press and scientists fundamental to success. For maximum sales impact this often requires converting complex science concepts to benefits with genuine consumer appeal. Clear communication of the science behind new functional foods (particularly nutricosmetics) can help journalists understand why these products are worthy of editorial coverage. Communications to academics must be particularly effective to overcome the natural cynicism of the scientific community. Alimentarius provides the rare ability to seamlessly and effectively communicate product and ingredient benefits to consumers, marketers, journalists, and academics. This has the advantage of providing a consistent message to consumers across all forms of media. At the academic level our scientific communications include conference presentations and publication in scientific journals. Alimentarius have also provided advertising copy and health claims for catalogues, point of sale (POS) material, websites, national newspapers, magazines, poster campaigns, radio and terrestrial TV.

Our expertise in nutritional biochemistry has made Alimentarius the natural choice to write the key scientific documents for the European food industry. These include position statements for the European Specialist Sports Nutrition Alliance (ESSNA) on the ‘addition of amino acids to foods’ and ‘the safety of creatine supplementation’. These documents were successfully used to counter European food directives that would have severely damaged the European functional food industry by stifling diversity, innovation and reducing product efficacy. Alimentarius have also written a range of application notes for the biggest protein manufacturers in Europe, which were used to facilitate the formulation of effective and commercially successful foods. These covered applications in both health and sports foods, covering formulations for muscle building, endurance sports, weight loss, appetite control, combating sarcopenia and enhancing immune function. For examples of our case studies relating to science communications click here.