Enzymes: A New Frontier in Health Supplements

Enzyme supplements have a wide range of health benefits including alleviating digestive issues and boosting immunity. For example, consumers who can’t metabolise lactose in dairy, can take lactase supplements to avoid bloating and diarrhoea. Alternatively, they can help elderly consumers to increase their absorption of key nutrients from foods to prevent malnutrition (or sarcopenia). Malnutrition creates opportunities for infections and diseases, therefore enzymes can be critical for developing robust immunity. This can also apply to consumers keen on wellbeing and fitness since enzymes can increase nutrient absorption from meals and help them to achieve their goals. In short, enzyme supplements come with the promise of significant impacts on consumers, but their value proposition and the correct mode of use needs to be expressed clearly and convincingly.
Without clear communication, consumers can get confused or even get dissuaded from using enzyme supplements. Our research shows that when it comes to enzymes, most consumers are struggling to fully understand their benefits, their mechanism of action, and even how to consume them. This confusion can directly affect consumer perception of whether they are receiving the desired results from these products. We identified three common complexities faced by consumers and also draw inspiration from marketing strategies of successful businesses leveraging the science of enzymes in an increasingly crowded supplements market.
Taking the Pulse of the Consumer Experience around Enzymes

Figure 1: Instagram – “You don’t need digestive enzymes. You are just wasting your money on false claims”
A common hesitation of consumers around using enzyme supplements stems from a general concern about their efficacy. There are two parts to this problem: Firstly, there is limited awareness on how the enzymes work, and secondly there is limited scientific evidence showing health benefits. Consumers struggle to fully understand the benefits of enzymes. While the “good bacteria for gut microbiome” tagline helps put benefits of probiotics in layman’s terms, our research found that the consumer experience is not the same for enzymes. The issue is further complicated when Healthcare Professionals chime in on social media to highlight that there is limited clinical evidence on the effectiveness of enzyme supplements.

Figure 2: Twitter – “I do take lactase enzyme pills, but they don’t work very well. I usually just try to eat cheese in moderation”
Owing primarily to a poor understanding of how enzymes work, consumers struggle to interpret labels on enzyme supplements. Since there are no regulated “daily values” (DV) assigned for enzymes, consumers can make assumptions about the optimal amount and use frequency for enzyme supplements. While some consumers express that they take their enzymes before/after an occasional risky meal, others state that they take them on a daily basis to boost their immunity or to build tolerance. Information such as the source of enzymes and “fillers” used to stabilise capsules are among the key information on the labels confounding consumers. And while some of this information can be found in technical details on the labels, consumers end up lost in the jargon.

Figure 3: Reddit – “Thank you everyone for your input!!!! I have a better overall opinion now due to everyone’s thoughts. I will still use enzymes because they do help me on a daily basis, but they aren’t an excuse to have whatever I want whenever I want. I will try fodzyme perhaps but I know that I cannot lean on that.”

Figure 4: Reddit – “My understanding is that the enzymes, including fodzyme, beano, lactaid, are meant to be used only on the occasional meal.”

Figure 5: Twitter – “I wish it said the individual doses of the ingredients. If it has a huge dose of serrapeptase I know some people have bad reactions to that. It’s up to you. The individual ingredients look good and I like the enteric coating.”
Enzyme supplements are primarily seen as digestive aids by consumers, and this perspective has constrained the expansion of these products to mass clientele. The prospect of expanding the consumer base beyond this segment is further hindered by the technical complexities explained above. Ignoring these concerns can foster uncertainty and consumer distrust.
How Can the Businesses Build Winning Propositions?
Neglecting or miscommunicating the health benefits of enzymes could mean failing to capture otherwise interested consumers. Effective consumer communication is dependent on good consumer research and a clearly defined and scalable consumer segmentation. As part of our research, we identified some ideas and best-practices from firms leveraging the science of enzymes:

Figure 6: Facebook – “It’s Official!”

Figure 7: Wheat Rescue

Figure 08: Facebook – Fodzyme AMA

Figure 9: Reddit – Fodzyme AMA
When consumers find labels confusing to follow, they can miss out on the intended benefits. In absence of scientific evidence and standardised labelling requirements, businesses can evaluate the existing labels to alleviate the confusion over the amount and frequency of use. Addressing this challenge can also mean an opportunity for product development and allow a newcomer to innovate their way into the supplements market. For example, rather than relying on capsules that can be used before or after meals, FODZYMES comes in powder form sachets which is sprinkled over food and consumed with meals.
Reaching New Customer Segments
Businesses have an opportunity to capture additional consumers through clear and direct communication. Each consumer challenge can hold opportunities to win market share from competitors and also to grow the market size by shaping consumer habits. Furthermore, it creates opportunities for product development in ways that address consumer concerns.
Sector & Segment partners with businesses to better understand the challenges and opportunities presented by consumers globally, and build go-to-market strategies accordingly. Our research experience is tailored to capturing the needs to consumers and patients in both consumer health and healthcare spaces, including:
- Segmenting and sizing their consumers by need
- Conducting competitive research to understand best-in-class practices, and
- Delivering primary research with consumers, key decision-makers and healthcare professionals to develop informed marketing strategies.
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