What Would Synlait Be Worth to Fonterra or a2 Milk?
Speculation of a possible joint move by Fonterra and a2 Milk to buy Synlait raises a much bigger strategic question, says agribusiness expert Dr Nic Lees.
An independent clinical trial of its ingredient iNdream3 is said to have proven its efficacy as a sleep promoting ingredient.
The product is made from melatonin-rich milk, collected in the hours of darkness when cows naturally produce increased concentrations of melatonin in their milk. Melatonin is a sleep-promoting hormone that plays a key role in helping humans to regulate their day/night cycle.
“We’ve been developing this product for several years and this clinical trial is a major milestone in proving the ability of iNdream3 to improve sleep,” says Dr Simon Causer, Synlait’s R&D manager.
The product uses melatonin in its natural form, whereas in almost all other products it is synthetically produced or extracted from source materials with lower levels of melatonin, Synlait says.
The milk powder has been sold in Korea by a Synlait customer since January 2015. Its retail product, Sleepiz, is sold as a powder in a sachet that consumers reconstitute as a drink.
“iNdream3 is an exciting opportunity. It demonstrates our capability as a nutritional business to create and add value for the long term,” says Synlait’s managing director John Penno. “This is a high value product. Synlait and its milk suppliers who provide night milk will benefit, with suppliers receiving a payment above the market milk price.”
Development of the product was funded by Synlait with the help of DairyNZ via the Primary Growth Partnership scheme.
