Welltodo Today: Nestlé Spends $2.3bn On Nutrition Company, 2018 Consumer Wellness Trends, Selling Men’s Wellness

Today’s key global wellness news articles from around the world, impacting the industry and influencing the business of wellness.

The top 18 trends of 2018 are here!

From cycle-tracking apps and birth control-delivery services to at-home STI testing, the reproductive health space is being disrupted by women-founded startups focused on getting health access into the hands of women-and out of the hands of politicians. Take Maven, whose digital-first approach provides around-the-clock access to health-care pros-without that interminable wait on the exam table.

The most famous woman on Facebook on the secret to her success

Kayla Itsines has taken the fitness world by storm and has recently disclosed the simple trick that helped her along the way. Over the past few years, Itsines has amassed an enormous following on social media, with over 8m followers on Instagram and a whopping 16m followers on Facebook to date.

Virgin Active co-founder receives investment boost to roll-out Sweat! gyms

Frank Reed’s gym chain Sweat! has received £3.75m (US$5m, €4.2m) worth of equity investment that will see a roll-out of five new clubs in the next 12 months – doubling its portfolio of sites. The deal with Puma Investments includes an option for a further equity investment of up to £2.5m (US$3.4m, €2.8m) after 12 months.

Tetra Pak’s modular portfolio offers new processing solutions – FoodBev Media

Tetra Pak has launched Intelligent Customisation, a modular portfolio of heating systems which offers tailor-made processing solutions for food and beverage manufacturers. The modules, which are based on the company’s technologies in dairy, beverages and prepared food processing, can be combined in a number of configurations, ‘allowing every heating solution to be customised to meet the specific needs of each individual customer’.

Pretty in Pink: How to Sell Men’s Wellness in 2017

On the first of November, a chic new startup named Hims opened for business. And as news of it began to spread, it elicited a passionate response from the media. “I refuse to believe, even with $7M of Peter Thiel-backed Series A funding, that this company is for real,” Curbed editor in chief Kelsey Keith tweeted, alongside some screenshots of its website.

The unlikely origins of fitness culture could give us a different view on what it is to be a man

It has never been more urgent to discuss what it is to “be a man”. As the poet Austin Allen says: “No one is happy with the conventions of masculinity, least of all the men who strictly obey them.” The fit, muscular, athletic body has been a long-held manly convention.

Special report: As incomes increase, why are organic food sales in Asia not yet soaring?

Although it is home to 8% of the world’s organic farmland, organic food sales in Asia account for just 6% of the global total of US$82bn. And despite being projected to grow by 10% year-on-year to 2020, organic sales today account for less than 1% of total food sales in across Asia – even in the top three markets of China, South Korea and Japan.

 

Nestle to buy vitamin maker Atrium Innovations for $2.3 billion

LONDON (Reuters) – Nestle () is paying $2.3 billion (£1.7 billion) to buy Canadian vitamin maker Atrium Innovations, it said on Tuesday, expanding its presence in consumer healthcare as it seeks to offset weakness in packaged foods. The world’s largest packaged food company is buying the maker of vitamins, probiotics and meal replacements from a group of investors led by Permira Funds.