Nestle experiment in Japan could create a $1B business

Nestle’s unit in Japan expects a fledgling business selling nutritional drinks and supplements to aging consumers to grow into a nearly $1 billion business within a decade as the food giant becomes the latest to employ genetics to market food.

The world’s biggest food company has seen increasing demand for a Japanese subscription program for nutrition that can cost about $600 a year for capsules and other products.

Consumers send in photos of their plates of food via a smartphone chat application and the program’s AI pushes them to round out their meals with Nestle’s nutrient-boosted green teas and milk products.

They can also complement the advice using DNA tests and blood samples.

Kozo Takaoka, the head of Nestle’s business in Japan, aims for the program to be another way the world’s largest food company can shift to healthier options and further away from processed foods and sugary treats, the executive said in an interview in Tokyo.

Nestle had total sales of $1.8 billion last year in Japan. Speaking from his Tokyo office, Takaoka — who is credited with popularizing KitKats into a local premium product — talked about the food giant’s push into nutrition and health.

“Around the world, health problems associated with food and nutrition have become a big issue, Nestle must address that on a global basis and make it our mission for the 21st century.

“Along those lines, Japan can become a model country for Nestle’s developed markets because we have an aging society and shrinking population.”

“Since we started, we’ve gotten over 100,000 users. It’s taken on with customers much faster than we expected.

“In the future I’d be happy if the wellness segment made up half of Nestle Japan’s sales, and the other half was food. We’d like to reach $900 million in sales in 10 years.”

“We’ve had executives from Nestle’s operations in China, the Swiss headquarters and elsewhere in Asia come look at our wellness program and learn from it.

The most important thing is figuring out what kind of new problems consumers are facing in specific markets.”