Exclusive interview: Pioneering the future of Perimenopause, Wild Nutrition
On World Menopause Day, we talk to Anna Creed, Marketing Director of Wild Nutrition, around the groundbreaking initiatives and campaigns aimed at reshaping the narrative around perimenopause.
Anna discusses the pioneering report, “The Future of Perimenopause,” which uncovers the challenges and solutions faced by women during this often-overlooked life stage. Furthermore, Anna shares their recognition by Gen M with the Leading Social Change for Menopause Award and the role they play in promoting the M-tick, an easily recognisable symbol for menopause-friendly products.
Can you provide an overview of any new initiatives or campaigns your brand has launched in the past 12 months specifically addressing menopause?
Our campaign in October 2022 set out to prepare women for menopause by focusing on perimenopause as a distinct life stage so that it can be better understood. We created ‘The Future of Perimenopause’, a first of its kind future-gazing report into perimenopause. The report presented key findings, surveying over 2,000 people and using in-depth interviews with a panel of global women’s experts. Topics covered included hyper-personalised nutrition, tech empowerment and the re-education of perimenopause as a distinct life stage, set apart from menopause.
The report found some key findings which shone a light on the scale of the issue facing women today as well as solutions to transform the understanding of perimenopause:
- 36% of people don’t know what perimenopause is and 33% don’t know the difference between perimenopause and menopause
- 73% don’t think perimenopause is suitably acknowledged by society
- 31% of people said they would turn to supplements to alleviate symptoms of perimenopause
- 70% said perimenopause should be taught in schools biology lessons and in PHSE / RSE.
This report has led to a range of communications from us to our community as well as the creation of our Menopause Quiz online and new product development.
In addition, most recently we’ve become a partner of Gen M, the menopause partner for 80 brands like QVC, Next, Royal Mail and Co-op, so we are also part of a growing number of brands dedicated to supporting women through menopause lifestages.
Have you introduced any new products or services tailored to menopausal customers in the last year? If so, can you describe them and the rationale behind their development?
We’ve recently launched our new Perimenopause Complex that has been formulated to support women with common concerns during the perimenopausal stage such as hormonal regulation and reduction in fatigue, whilst supporting the immune and cognitive body systems. It contains a unique blend of our signature Food-Grown nutrients, researched botanical Saffron ‘Safr’Inside ™ and the ayurvedic plant Shatavari.
Together they play a key role in stress management, supporting mood changes such as anxiety and immune function and energy for those depleted due to hormonal imbalance.
Our landmark research highlights perimenopause as a life stage distinct from menopause with very different nutritional needs, so this product was created to support mind, body and mood – the whole you.
Are there any success stories or notable outcomes resulting from your menopause-related initiatives or campaigns that you can share with us?
We’ve recently won GenM’s Leading Social Change for Menopause Award for our Future of Perimenopause research at this year’s annual GenM Awards.
GenM recently launched the M-tick, the world’s first recognisable menopause-friendly symbol. Similar to the vegan V or gluten-free labelling, the M-tick aims to make it easy for consumers to find products that support any of the 48 menopause symptoms, providing them with a wealth of choice to take control of their menopause in the way that best suits them.
We also have a ‘from perimenopause to menopause’ quiz to help women identify where they are in their menopause journey.
Last month we launched into 365 Holland & Barrett stores with a range of products including being active in their Menopause bay with educational point of sale focused on Peri to Menopause in 57 stores.
Finally, on International World Menopause Day, is there any message or advice you would like to convey regarding the menopause and your brand’s commitment to addressing this important issue?
Our research highlights perimenopause as the ‘forgotten’ life stage, yet it’s affecting 2.2m women in the UK right now, 36% of whom are unaware how perimenopause differs from menopause and 34% blindsided by the symptoms.
We want to pave the way for the Future of Perimenopause. Our aim is to reclaim and reframe this under-acknowledged life stage so our daughters are as prepared for the end of their periods as they were for the start of them.
Wild Nutrition, founded by women’s nutritional health expert Henrietta Norton BSc Dip NT and her husband Charlie Norton, emerged in 2010 as a natural path to holistic well-being. With Henrietta’s 17 years of experience in women’s health clinics and her personal journey of overcoming Endometriosis, Wild Nutrition has become the go-to authority in women’s nutritional health. Their all-woman team of qualified nutritional therapists takes a holistic approach to empower individuals with expert consultations.
Wild Nutrition’s pioneering Food-Grown® method harnesses the power of naturally-sourced ingredients, bonding whole-plant nutrients into raw, live food with over 50 scientific studies supporting its efficacy. They meticulously source revered ingredients from around the world, creating formulations of uncompromising quality. In 2021, Wild Nutrition proudly joined the B Corp UK movement, emphasizing their commitment to ethical sourcing and responsible business practices.
