Gelita’s starch-free gelatin set to shake up fortified gummy supplements market

24 Mar 2023 --- Gelita has released a fast-setting gelatin, Confixx, which allows for starch-free production of gummies with a sensory profile that was previously only attainable with a starch-based manufacturing process, according to the company.

“Confixx allows gummy producers and brand owners to offer their supplements in the popular gelatin gummy format while at the same time using a new, starch-free gummy production process,” Natalie Leuwer, category management food specialties at Gelita, tells NutritionInsight.

“Up to now, traditional gelatin could not be used in a starch-free production process and thus, the desired texture was not given. With Confixx, a new generation of gelatin specially designed for starch-free production has been developed to achieve the typical characteristics of a fruit gummy.” 

Using the new gelatin, gummy supplement manufacturers can work with different active ingredients, simplify their production process and make cost savings through increased efficiency. 

Gummy market springs forward
Innova Market Insights reported a 54% average annual growth in supplement launches in gummy formats between October 2017 and September 2022.

The newly launched gelatin allows supplement manufacturers to add active ingredients and simplify production, says Leuwer (Image credit: Gelita).“Fortified gummies experienced substantial growth during the past years,” adds Leuwer. “The reasons are that consumers are looking for pleasant, well tasting and easy ways to get their daily dose of supplements like vitamins, minerals, collagen and so on.” 

“The market for functional and fortified fruit gummies offers exciting growth prospects,” adds Johanna Schmidgall, global head of application development at Gelita. “Until now, product developers in this space have had their creativity curbed by practical manufacturing limitations.”

“With the introduction of Confixx, it is possible to produce gelatin-based gummies with virtually any active ingredient – from collagen peptides to melatonin, vitamins and minerals. We can’t wait to see what innovations this development will inspire.” 

Efficiency gains and texture modulation 
The company explains that eliminating starch preparation and gummy drying steps reduces production time, requires less space and is less energy intensive. 

The company enables GMP-compliant production of functional and fortified gummies and reduces cross-contamination risk by separating batches with different active ingredients. 

“This reduces the production time from two days to just a few hours and eliminates any cross-contamination via the starch,” adds Leuwer. 

“Confixx has a high-speed setting behavior but still delivers fruit gummies’ delicious and most preferred gelatin texture. It is the solution for starch-less gummy production and performs very well in industrial equipment.”

The simplified production process allows manufacturers to produce small batches, with greater flexibility in product changes and more control over ingredient dosing, according to Gelita. 

According to Innova Market Insights, Gummy supplement launches increased by 54% annually from 2017-2022 (Image credit: Gelita). Active ingredients  
Leuwer explains that a starch-based fruit gummy process has various disadvantages in handling active ingredients. 

“On the one side, there is the risk of cross-contamination via the starch. Conversely, the active ingredients are treated in a very hot environment. That’s why a starch-less production process has been established.” 

“Here, the process has been designed to treat active ingredients gently and the gummies are dried in silicone or plastic molds. For this process, standard gelatins are not suitable.” 

“The high tolerance of Confixx to formulation changes and the more gentle treatment of ingredients via the starch-free process makes it also easy to accommodate a broader range of active ingredients – including difficult-to-work-with and heat-sensitive ingredients. This gives manufacturers greater freedom to innovate, too,” adds Leuwer. 

Gummy manufacturers have previously reported on the phenomenon of ingredients losing potency during high-heat gummy production, pushing up demand for heat-stable ingredients like astaxanthin that are effective at low doses.

By Jolanda van Hal