“We’ve had a successful collaboration with Skånemejerier around ProViva since 1994, and are therefore very excited about the possibility to launch an entirely new range of beverages together with them,” said Michael Oredsson, CEO at Probi.
The products contain probiotics developed by Probi over several years and for which an extensive clinical study on common colds was presented in August 2008. The study was carried out in Berlin by an independent research institute on behalf of Probi. The placebo-controlled, randomised, multi-centre study comprised 310 volunteers.
“We believe that delicious products that noticeably improve consumers’ body defence and provide benefits such as fewer, milder and shorter common cold periods, have the potential to become bestsellers in the chilled category,” said Björn Sederblad, CEO at Skånemejerier.
The range will contain a combination of two new probiotic strains patented by Probi, one within the family lactobacillus plantarum and one within lactobacillus paracasei. In the Berlin study, the degree of common cold symptoms and the duration of common cold periods were significantly reduced in the group that received Probi’s product, compared with placebo.
From a commercial point of view, the most interesting result was that nearly 50% of those given Probi’s product considered it to be very effective and another 20% considered it to be effective. The level was considerably lower for those who were given a placebo, and almost no one in that group considered the treatment to be very effective.
Source: Probi
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024