CPHI 2024: Spotlight on natural nutraceuticals for beauty, stress and sports nutrition

Nutraceutical companies showcased their natural solutions for a wide range of health areas, from weight management, sports nutrition and beauty-from-within to stress and mood management at CPHI. On the show floor, we discussed product innovations and applications with representatives from SuanNutra, ADM, Natural Remedies and Angel Yeast. 

“Many pharma companies are opening lines for nutra ingredients and products because they see a synergy between them,” Stephanie Guillén, global sales director at SuanNutra, tells Nutrition Insight. 

She highlights the importance of considering consumer trends and demands in ingredient development. “Even though we’re not a B2C company, we have to pay attention to what consumers are saying, what they are demanding and to follow what they are requesting in a solution.” 

At CPHI, SuanNutra featured Metabolaid as a natural weight management solution. Guillén adds that this product also focuses on healthy cholesterol levels, “and it boosts the GLP-1 hormone to improve satiety and help you reach your goals. But it also has a prebiotic effect to help your gut.” 

Beauty-from-within

Guillén highlights that general well-being and ingestible beauty are the key focus areas for the company. 

“We have two main areas. One is health and wellness, in which we have Metabolaid and RelaxPLX. And we have the beauty-from-within area where we work worldwide, but we’re strong in Asia, the US and Europe.” 

“With Eternalyoung, we are working on delaying the shortening of the telomeres because it’s linked to longevity,” Guillén continues. “Zeropolution works on the skin’s resilience on the scalp because it’s an extension of our skin.” 

“Nutroxsun boosts collagen and is focused on protecting from the sun, but from within. This can work in a holistic approach. If you go to the beach, use sunscreen and consume this kind of supplement, you are helping yourself to avoid any skin redness, damage or oxidation.” 

We discussed SuanNutra’s Metabolaid and nutraceutical market trends with Guillén at CPHI.SuanNutra started its beauty-from-within line in Asia. Guillén explains that consumers in this region are “more conscious about taking care of these factors like skin health, scalp and longevity, but from within. Taking this territory as a benchmark, we brought it to the US and Europe to replicate its success and adapt it to those markets.” 

Although the company offers similar products in Asia, Europe and the US, Guillén notes that consumption patterns are very different in these markets. 

“In Asia, they are taking a beauty-from-within product the whole year. In Europe and the US, it’s more dependent on the time of year. For example, you may have a higher demand for these ingredients in spring or summer.” 

Colorful health benefits

Marie-Bénédicte Charpentier, marketing director in Health & Wellness at ADM, highlights that consumers don’t want to compromise on taste or pleasure for functionality. Therefore, the company recently conducted a survey to determine which colors and flavors consumers associated with specific health benefits, which will help guide ADM’s development process for functional solutions. 

The results were intriguing, she says. “For example, consumers told us that they associate a red or orange color with energy, together with a lemon or orange taste.” 

“When you go for something calming, they prefer blue or purple. And in terms of taste, they would value lavender, which is not obvious; there aren’t many drinks with lavender.” 

These insights are vital for ADM to develop concepts for specific health benefits with ingredients, colors and flavors that consumers value, adds Charpentier. “If they naturally associate a color, flavor and ingredients with having a benefit, of course, they will jump in, and we can develop products that are attractive to them and that they are interested in.” 

At CPHI, Charpentier highlighted ADM’s metabolic and digestive health solutions.The results were consistent across consumer groups at this first level of color associations. However, the research also included a “prospective approach,” the researchers asked consumers, “If you would go one step further, what kind of taste and color would you take for energy, for example? And they would go for kiwi.”

Here, the survey found variations between consumer groups, details Charpentier, which provides directions for the future. 

“The older generations, or Millennials, would probably associate that with something from their childhood like chocolate or nuts, the type of flavors or colors that are coming back. But if you think of the younger ones, like the Gen Z, they will have very different associations. Perhaps it will be a pink color that will evoke something or a taste associated with pomegranate, which is completely different in other consumer groups.” 

She adds that this guides the company’s product development. For example, ADM showcased a gut-muscle product with a grapefruit flavor to evoke a sense of building energy in muscles and muscle mass. “Grapefruit is part of the citrus pallor, but with a more subtle taste than pure citrus, because this one targets women at the menopause period; they would like something more mellow.”

Botanical stress and sleep support

India-based Natural Remedies featured its branded botanical extracts, which are clinically validated for safety and efficacy, details Prashanth D’Souza, the company’s associate VP in R&D. 

The company’s most recent addition is Holixer, a Tulsi or holy basil extract, supported by human clinical research. It demonstrates its effectiveness in stress management and reduction, as well as improved sleep and quality of life. 

Holixer helps manage stress and psychological and physical demands from modern life, which can “impact one’s sleep, mood levels and happiness,” details D’Souza. He adds that the product helps “to reduce the stress levels healthily, by reducing the cortisol levels, the stress hormones.” 

In addition, it is “designed to help you through your sleep cycle, both to fall asleep and to have a good night’s sleep.” 

“This is all clinically validated. We have done a lot of studies, the trials are published in a peer-reviewed journal, done in one of the top Australian universities, and many more trials are on the way.”

Dr. Sun, Angel Yeast’s product manager for the EU division.D’Souza explains that the company bases its product development on market trends and customer preferences. “The first stage is the ideation. Is there an unmet need in the market? Is the idea significant for the customer? If yes, the next step is to determine if it makes business sense. If these two criteria are met, we call that a business case. We convert the crude idea into a concept.” 

“Then we screen our plants; we have about 8,000 medicine plants. We develop a prototype that would be effective against that particular problem. Then we do safety studies, clinical trials, identification of active compounds, standardization and herb sourcing,” he adds. “The whole process can take anywhere from two to three years. We do a selected launch in a few countries, then gradually scale it up.”

Sustainable protein alternatives

China-based Angel Yeast presented its yeast protein solutions at CPHI. Dr. Winston Sun, the company’s product manager for the EU division, highlighted several benefits of yeast protein compared to other sources on the market, such as animal- or plant-based protein. 

“Compared to animal-based protein, yeast protein is a vegan source, and compared to plant-based protein, it has a neutral taste,” he details. “For yeast protein, we have a protein content of over 80% and a PDCAAS (protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score) number equal to one, which is almost equal to whey protein, and it has a branched amino acid content of over 21%.” 

Yeast protein is still a new ingredient in many markets, explains Sun. He underscores the importance of presenting the product to new customers, providing application samples and sharing scientific research. “We have done some clinical studies, for example, on preventing muscle aging and studies on protein quality.” 

Angel Yeast has an R&D staff in China working on formulations and cooperates with parties in Europe to meet market requirements. Among its European clients, yeast protein is used in sports nutrition, such as bars and protein powders. 

The company reached a production capacity of 10,000 tons annually and aims to expand it further to meet the growing demand for alternative proteins. “Our plan and target until the end of 2030 is to reach 30,000 tons,” adds Sun. “We are also trying to use other technologies to apply yeast proteins in many other applications, such as meat analogs, cheese analogs, ice cream and healthy snacks.”