AM Brands have a long standing, trusted relationship built up over 18 years since Benecol was launched in Ireland in 1999. AM Brands has built the brand from our first half pallet order to the market leader within the category. Our partnership with Benecol has brought several new categories and innovations to the market place and the expertise of AM Brands has ensured we have consistently hit distribution and availability targets. We manage all aspects of supply chain from factory to shelf, the retail relationship as well as our in-store field team for Benecol.
AM Brands Recent strategy has seen
Benecol distribution improvements on spreads
Benecol story
One great cholesterol-lowering journey began in Finland in the early 1970s when an exten-sive Public health program called North Karelia Project was started. The goal was to bring about diet and lifestyle changes and improve the heart health of thousands of Finns.
The idea of creating cholesterol-lowering foods emerged, and with it, Benecol®. By then, it was already known that stanols, naturally found in plants, lower cholesterol. However, there were no suitable methods for including plant stanols in food yet. Food manufacturer Raisio in Finland took up the challenge of clearing this roadblock.
The solution was found in 1989, when researcher Ingmar Wester had a groundbreaking idea while playing with his daughter. His innovation was Plant stanol ester, which can be added to various kinds of foods without compromising taste and effectiveness.
In 1995, the very first Benecol® product containing Plant stanol ester was launched in Finland.
Since then, the cholesterol-lowering effect of Plant stanol ester has been proven in more than 70 clinical studies. Benecol products lower cholesterol by an average of 10 percent in two to three weeks and keep it low when used daily. Plant stanol ester has been given the right to make health claims by both the US Food and Drug Administration and the EU Commission. Plant stanol ester, only found in Benecol foods, is also recommended in several international cardiovascular guidelines.
Today, Benecol® is recognized as a global, trusted brand with a number of cholesterol-lowering foods enjoyed by millions of satisfied people in some 30 countries worldwide. They are people we like to think of as our friends and partners in heart health, since we know they are friends of fresh yogurts, delicious yogurt drinks, tasty spreads and many other healthy and effective Benecol food and food supplement products available globally.