Raisio Group and the Benecol Launch Case Analysis

Park University

Benecol was launched in 1955 by the company Raisio in Finland (“Benecol,” 2010). Benecol has become a successful additive to multiple product lines due to its unique ingredient of plant stanol ester. The ingredient has been proven to reduce cholesterol levels and can easily be added to any food (Grant, 2010). Raisio, up until 1997, produced much of the plant stanol it needed and was self-sufficient in its exploitation of stanol ester technology (Grant, 2010). Raisio then made the decision to become part of Johnson & Johnson in order to gain global marketing, manufacturing, and distribution capabilities. Through …show more content…

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Benecol seems to have a place in the market when it comes to finding foods that will help with one’s health. Due to the awareness programs out on cholesterol in the recent years. More and more people are becoming fans of foods that claim to lower cholesterol. There are, however, some challenges that Benecol will have to face in the future. While the FDA approves Benecol as a “functional food’ it may at one time decide that Benecol isn’t as beneficial as a pill. Because Big Pharma control much of the health claim disputes in the field, Benecol may one day be told it actually does not have enough proof to lower cholesterol. A similar even happened to Cheerios, which has been claiming it lowers cholesterol for years (“Cheerios,” 2010). Benecol should continue to do multiple trail and studies to ensure that every new product with plant stanol continues to prove to be effective in lowering cholesterol.

Another strategy for growth for Benecol may be to be more aggressive in advertising. The product does not seem to be advertised widely and could benefit from more exposure, especially in the USA, whom has become health food crazed and has a large market on consumers that are always looking for new health foods to help their