Securing botanical supplies: Navigating sustainability, quality control, and market growth

The botanical supplement market is thriving, driven by consumer demand for natural health benefits. However, nutrition experts highlight several challenges linked to this growth, such as maintaining product quality and securing sustainable future supplies amid rising competition.

Nutrition Insight meets with ACI Group, Finzelberg, Sabinsa, and Giellepi to discuss strategies for navigating this evolving market, tackling sustainability challenges, and ensuring supply chain transparency and quality control. 

Sam Lubbock-Smith, business development manager at ACI Group, says the botanical market is “on the brink of major growth,” driven by rising consumer demand for natural, personalised nutrition. “This surge will push companies to seek new suppliers, expand product lines, and form strategic partnerships.” 

“In this evolving space, consumer and brand loyalty will be the make-or-break factor. Confidence — on both sides — will be fuelled by transparent, efficient supply chains, especially as geopolitical tensions and trade hurdles mount.”  

Success in a competitive market

Martin Felkner, senior expert of Branded Ingredients at Finzelberg, highlights that the highly competitive botanical supplements market is “full of promise” but not without its challenges. 

“With so many brands crowding the shelves and online retail, the market is competitive, not only on price but also in terms of labeling integrity. The patchwork of inconsistent regulations around the world and concerns around sustainability, overharvesting, and unethical sourcing are challenging.” 

“At Finzelberg, we believe that these can only be solved through a coordinated, full-spectrum approach based on better quality control, harmonized global standards, transparent communication, and sustainable and ethical sourcing,” he highlights.  

Lubbock-Smith says that botanical market growth is driven by rising consumer demand for natural health benefits.Lubbock-Smith also notes that navigating the intricate global regulatory landscape requires consistent compliance with diverse standards over different markets. Moreover, he says the competitive market pushes companies to differentiate themselves on innovation, efficacy, and safety, while quality control is a cornerstone of consumer trust. 

“Success hinges on a company’s ability to innovate, maintain transparency, uphold rigorous quality assurance, and stay ahead of environmental and regulatory demands.” 

“Sustainability presents both a challenge and an opportunity,” he continues. “Leading brands supplied by the ACI Group, including DolCas Biotech and Alvinesa, are setting high standards by adopting zero-waste practices and circular economy models, ensuring minimal environmental impact while maintaining product quality. However, maintaining such sustainability can be resource-intensive and complex.” 

Securing future supplies

Felkner says a strong commitment to quality and transparency is a must-have, as sustainability increasingly extends beyond packaging recyclability and energy consumption.

“Our botanicals offer brands full transparency on the supply chain and sustainable practice involved, from growing and sourcing to extracting. Finzelberg, being vertically integrated in the nature network, can deliver strong answers to these questions.” 

“Like our Rhodiola rosea from controlled cultivation, which had been established more than 20 years ago, we are protecting the roots of our business: the botanical habitat.”

Majeed underscores that supply chain transparency and quality control are key to ensuring consumer trust in botanical products.Finzelberg is also expanding its manufacturing capabilities to expand its product offer. “For example, our all-new extraction facility with the most modern extraction technology went online last year and provides additional capacity for our growing range and pipeline of evidence-based branded ingredients,” details Felkner. 

Shaheen Majeed, global CEO and managing director at Sabinsa, believes supply chain transparency will become “non-negotiable” in the botanical market, favoring vertically integrated companies with direct farmer relationships. 

He notes that climate change necessitates cultivation adaptation strategies. “Companies that secure sustainable supply chains now will have significant competitive advantages as certain botanical sources face environmental pressures.” 

Minimizing quality variations

Majeed says that at Sabinsa, training farmers in sustainable agricultural practices is key for botanical quality, in addition to conducting field audits and implementing standard operating procedures throughout its supply chain with fair trade principles. 

He stresses that variations in quality are a critical challenge in botanical supplements. For example, premium, branded ingredients are often “falsely equated to cheaper, lower-quality alternatives.” 

“Mid-tier suppliers with strong reputations offer non-branded but reliable options. Unfortunately, the lower end consists of generic materials with minimal oversight and questionable sourcing.” 

He urges companies to offer true differentiation through consumer education, transparent labeling, and prioritizing quality over cost. 

According to Terruzzi, technology advancements support improved extraction, quality, and efficacy in botanical supplements.“Without these, the industry risks undermining consumer trust by delivering sub-par products that don’t provide the same benefits and limiting the potential of botanical health solutions.” 

Technological support

Fabio Terruzzi, strategic business development manager at Giellepi, says that technology plays a “transformative role” in the botanical industry, helping to enhance extraction, quality, and efficacy. Standardization and quality control advancements are crucial to strengthen supplements’ credibility among consumers.

“Advanced techniques such as supercritical CO₂, ultrasound-assisted, and microwave-assisted extraction enable the precise isolation of bioactive compounds while preserving their integrity and avoiding harsh solvents.”

“On the quality front, analytical tools like high-performance liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy are essential for identifying and quantifying active ingredients, detecting contaminants, and preventing adulteration, while DNA barcoding adds an extra layer of assurance by confirming botanical identity.”

In addition to improving product quality, these enhanced techniques to identify, quantify, and standardize active constituents also improve the reproducibility of formulations.  

“Innovations aimed at improving bioavailability, such as liposomal delivery systems, nanoemulsions, and phytosome complexes, are making poorly soluble plant-based compounds more absorbable and clinically effective,” details Terruzzi. 

However, he cautions that the adoption and scalability of these technologies may be slowed by regulatory uncertainty, which can limit innovation and delay market access.