Dusty’s goal kicking helps power Voost buyout…..

Simon Evans

Apr 12, 2021  Australian Financial Review.

Voost can probably thank Richmond footballer Dustin “Dusty” Martin for the stellar sales growth that helped make it a buyout target for United States giant Procter & Gamble.

A co-founder and managing director of the effervescent vitamins company said a decision two years ago to use the Australian Football League star and Brownlow medallist as the marketing figurehead for the brand helped accelerate sales for the Melbourne-based group that was established in 2013.

“He’s just gold. Dusty’s delivered for us. He’s a really good reflection of the brand,” Tom Siebel said on Monday.

AFL star Dustin Martin is the front man for effervescent vitamins company Voost, which has been sold to Procter & Gamble. 

Voost took the unusual route of launching its products in Woolworths and Coles first, before arriving in big pharmacy chains such as Chemist Warehouse.

Voost was co-founded by Mr Siebel, a former managing director of Sakata rice crackers in Australia, and had five shareholders.

“You roll the dice. We wanted to go in and disrupt the category,” he said.

He declined to comment on the price, citing confidentiality agreements with Procter & Gamble. The US company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and has a sharemarket capitalisation of $335 billion ($441 billion).

Industry scan data shows Voost generated year-on-year sales growth of 50 per cent and is the industry leader in the effervescent vitamins sub-category, which is valued at about $72 million annually in Australia.

Mr Siebel said the effervescent vitamins were all manufactured in Germany, recognised as the world leader in the sector. “Nobody manufactures effervescents in Australia,” he said.

Effervescent vitamins are very popular in Germany, and Mr Siebel said they made up about 15 per cent of the total market in that country.

Procter & Gamble said the acquisition would add to its portfolio in Australia which is led by Vicks Vaporub and associated products, and the Metamucil range.

Paul Gama, president of P&G Personal Health Care, said vitamins was one of the largest and fastest-growing categories in the over-the-counter health care industry.

‘High affinity’ with Millennials

Kumar Venkatasubramanian, senior vice-president of P&G Australia and New Zealand said the Voost brand had a “high affinity” among Millennials.

The company intended to invest in the brand to accelerate the strong growth momentum in Australia.

Voost employs 10 people and has its headquarters in Melbourne. It has also expanded into Singapore, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong.

Mr Siebel said the company had wanted to compete heavily against the Berocca brand and had pitched heavily towards customers in the 18-to-35 age group.

“We really focused on the Millennials,” he said. “We made it price-accessible to people,” Mr Siebel said.

Signing Martin as the face of the brand had been very important in the company’s development, he said.

Mr Siebel said Martin was two years into a three-year contract with Voost and he and his manager Ralph Carr had been very professional to deal with.

Mr Siebel said the five shareholders had decided to pursue a sale process late last year and Procter & Gamble had emerged as the buyer.