US-based children’s supplement startup Hiya has apologised to rival Tonic Health after publishing misleading data about its product range.
The mea culpa comes after Tonic Health founder Sunna van Kampen took to LinkedIn last week to share a screenshot of a competitor comparison chart on Hiya’s website he alleged was “incorrect”.
The chart claimed Tonic Health’s children’s gummies contained 5g of sugar per serving and had a recommended dose of four per day.
However, van Kampen pointed out the gummies actually contained “0.3g of naturally occurring sugar” and had a recommended dose of two per day.
Approached by The Grocer, van Kampen said brands making misleading claims about rivals online to boost sales was “fundamentally wrong”.
“Parents are time-poor and are likely to take comparision charts at face value,” he said.
The LinkedIn post followed a month of unsuccessful attempts to resolve the issue privately, van Kampen claimed. “They stonewalled us for a month and didn’t say a word, while continuing to run ads to the page.”
“We didn’t want to go down the expensive legal route. We have a big social presence, so we decided to call them out on LinkedIn and see if we could get their attention.”
Hiya founder responds publicly
The LinkedIn post attracted a string of negative comments, prompting Hiya founder Darren Litt to respond directly.
Litt acknowledged the issue and apologised: “You’re right to call this out. Our team used inaccurate data for Tonic Health, and that isn’t fair to your brand. Very sorry for the error.
“I’ve asked our team to remove Tonic from our comparison charts entirely so there’s no further issue. We appreciate you holding us accountable and wish you the best.”
Hiya has since removed the comparison chart from its website.
Van Kampen described the response as “very good”, but added it was “a shame they didn’t do that when we messaged them privately”.
Hiya launched in the UK last month via with a DTC subscription model. Its range includes a Daily Multivitamin, Daily Biotic+ and Daily Greens + Superfoods.
A Hiya spokesperson said: “We have real respect for the team at Tonic Health and the work they’re doing for parents and kids. Ultimately, we’re both working toward the same goal of giving families better nutrition options, and we wish them the very best moving forward.”
It comes after Tonic Health expanded its kids’ and adult ranges in Sainsbury’s last month.
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