The Nutritional Outlook Episode 41: The evolution of the women's health category with Lori Lauersen of Unilever Wellbeing

Sebastian Krawiec: Can you explain what Unilever Wellbeing is, and kind of the brands that encompass Unilever Wellbeing?

Lori Lauersen: So the Wellbeing Collective at Unilever is a portfolio of seven acquired businesses. We have Liquid IV, which is the number one powdered hydration brand in the US. Nutrafol, the number one dermatologist recommended hair growth supplement brand in the U.S. Olly, the original disruptor in the U.S., bringing you know both benefit-led and beautifully designed innovation to the forefront of the category and Smarty Pants, which has high quality vitamins and supplements in a premium space, really, with an unparalleled commitment to quality and transparency, really supporting everyday health. We also have on it, Welly and Equilibra rounding out the portfolio.

SK: Obviously, women's health is a burgeoning, growing category. Can you tell me a little bit about Unilever's strategy for targeting women's health needs and kind of moving that category forward so that support is a little bit more comprehensive?

LL: At Wellbeing, we are really trying to improve people's health, their confidence and their wellbeing through our brands. Specifically as it relates to women's health, we're focusing on addressing white space areas through rigorous scientific research, real world evidence for our product and our portfolio. We really have a two-pronged approach. First, it starts with the science, really ensuring that we've got robust products, evidence, claims, benefits that are meaningful to women across all of the life stages, from puberty to pregnancy, postpartum and even menopause, and then second, really thinking about disrupting the narrative, making these issues more approachable, helping to make the conversation more natural, so women can really feel supported and empowered to make the best choices for their unique needs.

SK: I wonder if we can kind of dig into those white space areas. I think you mentioned menopause, postpartum, can you dig into those a little bit kind of talk about what specific benefits within those areas you're kind of targeting because there's a wide range of interests within those spaces themselves,

LL: There's a really wide range, I fully agree. I mean, the research is building right? There's new evidence that's being generated by Unilever and our brands, but also by the world at large, as more and more women are studied in clinical research, as more and more advancements happen. And so, our portfolio, we're looking at science backed solutions from our brands such as Nutrafol, our Olly Smarty Pants and Liquid IV so that naturally helps us to laser in, in terms of areas around hormonal balance, around mood, around enhancing hair, skin and hydration. These are really some of the focus areas that we're looking at the moment.

SK: What do you attribute to this kind of renewed focus on women's health? Obviously, it's a space that has been neglected over the years, but I guess, why now? Why is this kind of a moment where we're seeing such a huge interest.

LL: I think there's a couple of factors Sebastian that go into it. Number one, we are living in this age of the empowered consumer, right? With so much content being created and shared through social media with, you know, consumers expecting and demanding to be able to have higher quality and higher transparency in terms of ingredients and evidence, right? It's raising the bar, and we are uniquely positioned to be able to help support them by answering those questions. So kind of number one, I think it's around the age of the empowered consumer. Number two, I do think it's this part around there's new insights around learning about her specific needs, right? I'm sure you're familiar with the statistics in terms of how few and far between women were recently researched in clinical studies prior to 1993 and of course, women, in terms of supplements, was even fewer. And so as more and more evidence is generated, we're learning about the different biological needs for women and really helping them to and thinking about that, what does that mean, and what are the end points? What are the real-world benefits? How can we, with those insights, better curate and customize personalized products that will be meaningful to her? So I think that's really the second. And, you know, the third is which I'm really proud to be part of is the normalization of the conversation. So, we're not all the same, right? Biologically, we're not the same. And therefore, if we're having more and more empowered conversations about our differences, we can think more creatively about those differences and create a community and the support even beyond the product that really helps her with her unique needs.