Taking medicine is not easy for some children, especially if the medicine is bitter or unpleasant to taste. To counter this, many companies in the Healthcare market have long developed childrens products, mostly liquid formats, which feature sweet flavours to make them more palatable.Now, in Japan, a baby food manufacturer, Wakodo, has entered the arena and is attempting to solve the problem of administering medicine to children, and in particular more difficult to swallow formats such as tablets and capsules (as opposed to sweet tasting syrups).New from the company is a reformulated apple flavoured jelly beverage which primarily stands out due to its positioning: it is not just any refreshing beverage, but one designed to reduce the bitter taste, odour, and texture of medicine as much as possible. Moreover, it appears to be specifically aimed at enabling children to better swallow capsule/tablet format medicine with an on-pack image showing how a capsule/tablet can be blended with the jelly drink on a spoon before swallowing. This is a positioning not previously seen in the drinks market, although many parents may instinctively try to hide a tablet/capsule of medicine for their children in sweet foods such as jam or chocolate spread. But the novelty of this product still warrants a Positioning and Originality score of four.In all other areas, the product seems to be just a standard jelly beverage in a pouch - with these features somewhat established in Japan - with an added healthy element since it is free from sugar, colorants and preservatives. The pouch is also on promotion with an attached sachet storing a small cloth to clean babies/children for added value for money.

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