Slimming health range a sales success
The health and wellness boom has inspired the food industry and, as the demand for ‘better for you’ products has continued to escalate, many companies are driving sales through innovation. One such company is Slim Secrets, with their range of healthy snackfood…
Established in 2005 by Melbourne-based wellness and weight loss coach Sharon Thurin, the company has quickly established itself as a power brand in the healthy snack bar industry.
Sharon Thurin – Founder of Slim Secrets
Ms Thurin’s background is as diverse as it is inspirational. A qualified lawyer, secondary school teacher, best selling author and mother of three, it was as a wellness and weight loss coach that she found her calling. Since then, Ms Thurin has helped open an anti-ageing clinic and founded the incredibly successful Slim Secrets snackfood range. The concept for Slim Secrets came from her understanding of the snacking dilemmas many of her clients were confronted with on a daily basis.
“I noticed that many of my clients ate well at meal times, but often struggled with snacks, or alternatively were so busy during the day that they didn’t eat enough and then binged at night,” she said. “As protein, fibre and a low GI are important ingredients to help you feel fuller for longer, I suggested busy clients should try snacking on a convenient protein bar when they were hungry. Unfortunately, the general opinion was they were too high in fat or too high in sugar, too expensive or tasted like cardboard and not to mention – bland to look at.”
To fill this need for satisfying but healthy and appetising snacks, Sharon Thurin developed the Slim Secrets range – which is specifically formulated to suit particular times of the day.
The growth of Slim Secrets has been sensational, having already surpassed the magic million sales figure. The bars are now sold in most leading supermarkets, cafés, gyms, Pulse pharmacies, health practitioners and Boost Juice bars. Slim Secrets also exports to New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, the UK and Canada, and will soon add the US and Japan to the list.
Success is put down to the distinctive packaging and the product promise – which emphasises that taste need not be sacrificed for health. With taste and health as the cornerstones of the product range, Slim Secrets appeals to a diverse range of people, both male and female from 18 to 50 year olds, who want a healthy, guilt-free between meal snack.
Slim Secrets has been making its mark in popular culture with appearances at the Rosemount Spring/Summer Fashion Week, the final of Project Runway, at Lindsay Lohan’s 21st birthday celebrations and was snacked on by Faith Hill, NBC Studios crew and US NFL footballers at the season opening game and telecast.
The product even featured at this year’s Oscars, with an appearance at the famed gift bag marquees, where movie stars were seen snacking on the bars. Slim Secrets now receives orders from Hollywood on a daily basis.
Jai Rodriguez from Queer Eye trials Slim Secrets
This year Slim Secrets was recognised in the Healthy Snack and Weight Management product categories of the Healthy Eating awards – as chosen by over 6,ooo Australian consumers, and were finalists in the Food Magazine awards.
Ms Thurin’s current challenge is to ensure the branding and packaging translates as the company expands into overseas markets, particularly the US, which has the biggest weight loss industry in the world.
When questioned about her plans for continued success, Ms Thurin’s outlines a goal to see Slim Secrets as the number one selling bar of its kind in Australia and overseas. “The business’s success has been totally out of control, but in a great way,” she said. “That is why I love it and I certainly don’t keep that a secret.”
Slim Secrets launched a new range of bars late 2007, sub-branded Nutrient Secrets, which are all gluten free, under 100 calories and packed with a special twist of added nutrients. The company now sells seven different snack bar products, with four in the Slim Secrets range and three in the Nutrient Secrets portfolio.
