Essential oils, kombucha and hemp to take center stage at Vitafoods Europe 2018

10 May 2018 --- Emerging ingredients for health and nutrition will be a key focus at the 2018 edition of Vitafoods Europe which takes place in Palexpo, Geneva next week. A new R&D stream entitled Up and Coming featuring in the event’s Education Program will cater for this revised focus. Notably, essential oils, kombucha and industrial hemp will be in the spotlight.

“Vitafoods Europe has always been the place to discover hotly tipped ingredients for the future. This year we’re building on that by devoting an entire stream of R&D forums to them,” Marion Schumacher, Senior Conference Producer for Vitafoods Europe, tells NutritionInsight.

Vitafoods Europe is the global nutraceutical event, featuring exhibitors from all over the world in four key market areas: Ingredients & raw materials; branded finished products; contract manufacturing & private label; and services & equipment. 

Three key categories will feature in the Up and Coming stream, devoted to the emerging ingredients: essential oils, industrial hemp and kombucha.

“The three categories we’ve chosen to focus on all stand out as having potential that perhaps isn’t being fully met at the moment. So, for example, essential oils could be huge with the growth in popularity of health therapy and spas, but the food and nutrition industry is yet to embrace them as much as it could. Hemp is unique as an underexploited source of edible oil and proteins, and the big challenge there is achieving regulatory harmonization. With kombucha and other ingredients from fungi, the question is how to best incorporate them into food products,” adds Schumacher.

The keynote speaker will be Dr. Astrid Stuckelberger, lecturer at the University of Geneva and author of the new e-book, The Science of Smell. “There are many reasons to see essential oils as the new hip ingredient,” she says.

“Growing urbanization means consumers are looking for scents that have disappeared from their environment while ‘perfuming’ their lives with feel-good healing ambiance. And with increasing distrust in pharmaceuticals, they want natural, pure products that appeal to the senses and are effective. From scent to oral or topical applications, essential oils offer numerous preventive health benefits and can be therapeutic on many levels – physical, mental and emotional. With the current boom in the global wellness industry, in particular spas and massage, demand is only going to rise.”

Regarding industrial hemp and kombucha, Professor Rimantas Venskutonis of the Kaunas University of Technology will share studies about industrial hemp, described as an “old-new” source of functional ingredients, while Professor Miomir Niksic of the University of Belgrade will offer insights into the potential of kombucha and other ingredients from fungi.

The main show floor should hold hundreds more opportunities to discover emerging new ingredients. One example is ashwagandha, an Ayurvedic herb which has been used for centuries but is now seeing worldwide growth thanks to a growing body of clinical evidence.

“Ashwagandha has an impressively wide range of health benefits,” says Karikeya Baldwa, Director of Ixoreal, which will be showcasing its KSM-66 ashwagandha.

“It is one of the few herbs with significant effects on both psychological and physiological function. It has been shown to help decrease stress and anxiety, to improve cognitive ability, and to increase endurance, strength and muscle recovery rate. Ashwagandha meets a number of consumer trends, including the move away from the synthetic to the natural.”

“Perhaps its greatest strength is that it combines solid scientific evidence with a long history going back thousands of years, both of which instill confidence and allow marketers to tell interesting stories.”

Ixoreal is working with American author and explorer Chris Kilham, also known as Medicine Hunter. He will be at the company’s booth to educate people about the clinically proven benefits of KSM-66 ashwagandha,” she adds.

“Put simply, Vitafoods Europe is the place where the whole industry comes together. It offers something for everyone, whether they’re interested in the latest science, learning more about consumer trends, or simply buying and selling.  The opportunities for both networking and learning are unrivaled,” Schumaker concludes.

Vitafoods Europe takes place between the 15th and 17th of May in Palexpo, Geneva. For more further coverage, see NutritionInsights preview here.

NutritionInsight has previously reported on a range of ingredients that will be showcased at the show: Lipofer, an orosoluble iron stick, Anlit's omega 3 chewable supplements and Arjuna's polybotanical extract blend; Herbagut.

By Laxmi Haigh