Qina launches personalised nutrition database

New online platform is the industry’s first curated and scored database of personalised nutrition solutions, providing market insight and access to experts

By Murielle Gonzalez

Qina, a Portugal-based personalised nutrition consultancy firm with a global reach, has launched an online platform providing users with the industry’s first curated and scored database of personalised nutrition solutions currently available on the market.

Dr Mariette Abrahams, founder and chief executive of Qina, said the new online tool is a much-needed resource for practitioners, food and drink companies and consumers alike.

Abrahams noted the sector is rapidly growing and consumer interest is at an all-time high, but health professionals – and companies – are struggling to keep up with current scientific and industry developments. She argued that understanding which companies are considered to be credible within the personalised nutrition space remains challenging. For Abrahams, the new Qina platform enters the market to bridge this chasm between industry and practice.

“A report by UBS estimated that the personalised nutrition industry would grow to $64 billion by 2040 – quite an impressive step up from the $4 billion estimated last year,” said Abrahams. She noted that there is considerable hype around personalised nutrition from a marketing perspective. and that early adopters have an interest in health and wellbeing, but the slow adoption of digital tools by frontline practitioners who are trusted advisors makes personalised nutrition sometimes a step too big for many individuals or even practitioners.

Abrahams said: “A combination of factors such as lack of consumer understanding of what personalised nutrition entails, or what the benefits of a personalised approach are, remain challenges the industry must overcome.”

Personalised nutrition: What do consumers want?

Food, nutrition and health are top priorities in people’s minds. Abrahams argued that consumers want to see proof of how a solution will work or benefit them. “This demand coincides with the growing body of evidence supporting the benefits of a personalised approach in terms of health outcomes and behaviour change,” she said.

Abrahams pointed out that an Australian study found greater behaviour change using a personalised approach with video and dietetic support.

She said that in the UK, a study found that real-time feedback for grocery shopping based on loyalty card data leads to a modest reduction in saturated fat intake.

Abrahams also noted that a recent systematic review of 15 studies in the US, Canada and Europe concluded that a personalised nutrition approach is superior to generic dietary advice.

“These studies show that personalised nutrition is far from a trend, and more likely to be a long-term strategy nutrition, food and health companies will need to prioritise,” said Abrahams. “With more people focusing on prevention, it is only a matter of time before personalised nutrition becomes everybody’s responsibility and business within the value chain.”

The Qina platform

Abrahams said the new Qina platform stems from the company’s vision for the future, where individuals of all backgrounds know and understand what works best for their own bodies to optimise their health and prevent or delay the onset of diseases.

“We believe in a future where individuals understand what to eat and how the food they choose affects their health. We also believe in the power of digital tools to inform, educate and influence important decisions individuals make about their food, their environment and their health,” said Abrahams. “There is no better time than right now to communicate consistently and clearly about the benefits of a personalised approach.”

The Qina platform consists of an online curated and scored database of solutions within the personalised nutrition industry. Users (companies or practitioners) can navigate solutions by company name, tag, and keyword or can compare companies by segment using our proprietary Qina score.

Abrahams explained: “The Qina score is calculated out of 100 points, based on our own criteria on what makes a personalised nutrition solution great, such as availability of scientific evidence, access to experts, privacy, adherence to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and team diversity to name a few.”

While users can keep track of how a segment is growing and track new players in the industry, it is also possible to add a Qina subscription to access domain expertise for projects and market insights.

The Qina platform is aimed at companies operating in the food and beverage industry, as well as digital health, functional food and nutrition supplements sectors.

The Qina platform is available on https://qina.tech and already features 200 companies. Abrahams said new improvements are constantly being made.

Seeing that many of the same issues and challenges are experienced by companies and practitioners, Qina decided to develop an independent platform to make it easy for users to navigate the competitive landscape in personalised nutrition on a subscription basis.

Abrahams said the Qina platform offers a structured database of companies within the industry. Users can search for companies by segment, technology, business model, and scientific validation.

“The platform also provides a score for each solution in the database,” said Abrahams. “The score is based on a scoring system uniquely developed by Qina,” she added, noting that the score is determined by parameters such as scientific validity and privacy.

Qina’s platform also provides market insight through exclusive articles and access to experts in personalised nutrition for project support via subscription top-ups.

Qina has been providing consultancy services to start-ups, SME’s and multinationals as well as other consultancies for the last decade.