Take China for example, the market is hungry for newness, and the innovations we see in the nutritional supplement space are often very good. “Only at surface level”Joe Zhou, Chairman of the Board and CEO of TSI Group, said:
he was talking to NutraIngredients-Asia At Vitafoods Asia in Bangkok in September, his company unveiled one of its latest innovations, FZZR technology.
This technology has the potential to develop supplements into formats such as granules, melts, and mints that sizzle in the mouth, providing new sensory experiences.
This technology also allows for the formulation of more active ingredients compared to formats such as gummies or tablets.
Launched this year, the technology is already being used in brand partners’ healthy aging products, which contain probiotics and hydroxymethylbutyrate (HMB) as active ingredients. This product is currently available on the Chinese market.
Another product using this technology to support immunity, mobility and stress has also been launched in Sweden.
Dosage forms are a key competitive area in the health supplement space, and this is no different in China, where probiotics brand Wonderlab has rapidly expanded its market share, partly due to its novel appearance. I am.
“China has grown and changed very rapidly over the past 40 years. People always like to see something new.
“But most of the changes are surface level and not really substantive.
“Chinese packaging can be great and very good, but when you really look deep, it’s still a little too superficial.” Mr. Zhou said.
He said that a good nutritional supplement depends on three criteria: 1) use of scientifically backed and clinically proven ingredients, 2) formulation, and 3) presentation format.
“Many people don’t put a lot of effort into formulating their products, because a good ingredient used alone may not be as effective as a combination of active ingredients. .Formulation is very important.”
The delivery format needs to be effective and consumers will want to use it.
Based on these three key criteria, the company has spent the past few years developing its FZZR technology.
“This is why we developed FZZR. It’s not because it looks good. There’s more to it than that. But clearly, the product format that we’ve developed with FZZR is also very unique in appearance. .” he said.
In APAC, new products manufactured using this technology will also be launched in Malaysia in the first or second quarter of next year. This product addresses healthy aging and active nutrition.
Application areas
Application areas for FZZR technology include 1) sports nutrition, 2) hydration, 3) energy, and 4) child nutrition.
“FZZR’s main value proposition is its high active load and ability to deliver multiple health functions, so sports nutrition, hydration and energy are some of the areas of interest.
“This is because they are within a high useful load range and traditionally come in liquid powder form.” Patrick Antrak, Head of Marketing, Contract Manufacturing Services, said:
For sports nutrition and hydration, formulations that can be created using this technology include a combination of creatine, collagen, and potassium and sodium as electrolytes.
The company is also considering formulations for children, not only because children may be able to relate to these dosage forms.
“Gummy formats are very popular in the child nutrition field. But the question is, ‘Why?’ This is because children can relate to gummies and do not think of them as medicine.
“By adding a fizzing element to our melts and granules, we create a fizzing sensation that people can relate to. For example, there are people in Australia who can associate it with the tingling sensation of Lifesaver fruit. Masu.
“At Vitafoods Europe, we gave these out as samples, and people associated them with pop rock.”he said.
advantage
FZZR technology allows for higher active loading, which is difficult to achieve with gummies and tablets, and also accommodates a variety of raw materials that can interfere with stability.
This technology allows for higher active loads, allowing products to offer more health features to consumers.
“With such a high active load, we can also provide multiple health function loads.
“IImagine having a variety of supplements for immunity, calcium, joints, beauty, hair, skin, and nails. Instead of forcing a consumer to take her five different pills to get these benefits, you can create a product that combines all of these benefits. ” he said.
Powder formats, on the other hand, are better in terms of active loading capacity, but cannot accommodate incompatible ingredients together.
However, FZZR technology can overcome this problem by separating and accommodating different raw materials that interfere with stability.
“This is important when considering raw materials that may interfere with mutual stability. iron and vitamin C. Generally, they come in the form of bilayer tablets or bilayer melts, which are also very expensive.
“These ingredients can be split into two separate mini-tablets and placed in a sachet for immediate consumption.”he said.