Piet Driessen, CEO Driessen Group
Driessen Group of Companies, a well-established family-owned business with 92 years of experience, focuses primarily on the development and production of food ingredients and finished products. One category of products the company marketed was a sports nutrition protein powder under the brand name ESP Nutrition.
"We saw a growing demand among athletes for sauces that taste good and fit into their diet," said CEO Piet Driessen.
At the time, there was a gap in the market for low-calorie sauces that were also tasty, and realising this, Driessen said that they utilised an existing flavour company within the Driessen Group to innovate great-tasting healthier sauces. This resulted in Callowfit's inception.
Making a healthier sauce that maintains taste excellence and has the qualities and characteristics of traditional alternatives that consumers love comes with challenges.
"At Callowfit, we have set the bar even higher, as our products are free from lactose, gluten, aspartame, titanium dioxide, and animal products, and are without fat or added sugar."
However, it has created a diverse range of healthy alternatives to traditional sauces that consumers love and set the standard for manufacturers globally, with Callowfit products available across 30 countries.
Healthy lifestyles have become increasingly important to consumers, and they are more often making purchasing choices aligned with their dietary and health values and goals. The challenge for brands like Callowfit, which creates healthier products, is that retailers globally have marketing expectations that brands must fulfil independently to promote the visibility of their products and, consequently, the sales of the products on store shelves.
With the growth of health trends, brands like Callowfit are being sought out by consumers and are becoming mainstream due to both their marketing and consumers' desire to find products aligned with their health needs.
"The big challenge for us is to manage these expectations at retail properly."
Following this is the continued need to improve and innovate Callowfit’s existing products' flavour and quality excellence.
Due to consumers' desire for health products, Callowfit's popularity as a brand and manufacturer has grown exponentially. Adapting to the differing labelling regulations and requirements of the countries where it supplies products is a significant challenge. This is particularly true with regard to raw material requirements.
"We have a constant challenge in changing laws and regulations."
Read more from Piet Driessen on page 65:
