Sandra Link, The Head of Product Management at Makat Candy Technology, talks nutraceuticals and functional ingredients
Let’s talk about the nutraceutical candy market. What is driving growth in this area and how do you see the market developing in the future?
First of all, gummies are an attractive form of oral dosage, so it’s much easier to take than a pill. You don’t need water. Gummies are connected to positive emotions as well. Consumers are increasingly concerned about health and beauty benefits. They have less time, so they prefer taking nutraceuticals to achieve these benefits. I think they are more open and curious about new products, ingredients and benefits.
On the other hand, innovative gummy and nutraceutical manufacturers are coming up with new ideas, applications and ingredients that are driving this trend. The product lifecycle is becoming faster, with many startups releasing new product ideas. It’s easier nowadays to get close to consumers through marketing and selling new products and ideas.
What are some of the more experimental formats you’ve seen for gummies and jellies in the nutraceutical market?
Well, quite often you’ll see pectin products with simple shapes like L-shapes. More importantly, it’s the application itself that stands out. We see products designed for immune or energy support, sleep support, or benefits for hair, skin and nails. The versatility of these formats is remarkable, as there is not really a limit to what can be achieved. Consequently, the range of ingredients used in this field is quite large, catering to various health needs and preferences.
What are some of the functional ingredients that you’re seeing these nutraceuticals being fortified with, and how is it affecting the rheology of the candy?
Just to name a few example, you see a lot of multi-vitamins, calcium, omega three and melanin to name just a few examples and it’s always depending on how the ingredients are coming. So if it’s a liquid ingredient or powder and so it could happen that they tend to find water so that they are increasing the viscosity of the gummies and jellies, which brings challenges in depositing for example and especially in depositing with a high accuracy. This has to be taken into account when you’re thinking about the production technology for example. Or another example that you have to take in mind is if you have an asset ingredient, then this changing the pH value. It’s nothing that you can’t handle but you have to take it into account when you are thinking about the recipe that it is affecting the PH value. And also then later on the production process, it depends on what time of the production process you are adding the ingredient.
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