Ingredion plans global Benicaros prebiotic expansion across gut and immune health applications

Ingredion highlights that its recent acquisition of the Benicaros prebiotic is a strong strategic addition to its Healthful Solutions portfolio, supporting the company’s formulation versatility alongside expansion of health-forward and clean label ingredients. 

The company purchased the patented prebiotic fiber, made from upcycled carrot pomace, from NutriLeads earlier this month. With the deal, Ingredion obtained full ownership of all intellectual property, trademarks, human clinical trials, and know-how related to manufacturing Benicaros. 

Nutrition Insight discusses the acquisition and Ingredion’s future plans for the prebiotic with Sebastian Smith, director of Fiber Fortification at Ingredion. 

He tells us that the Benicaros prebiotic represents an important addition to Ingredion’s portfolio as the industry continues to evolve toward more targeted, science-backed nutrition solutions. 

“Its combination of clinical support, low inclusion levels, and formulation ease enables customers to develop products that align with growing consumer expectations for health benefits and great taste.”

“With the Benicaros prebiotic, we’re enabling customers to help deliver gut and immune health benefits in everyday foods and beverages — without compromising taste, texture, or label simplicity.” 

What made Benicaros a strategic acquisition target for Ingredion? 
Smith: Benicaros strengthens Ingredion’s capabilities in gut microbiome and immune health — two areas that remain key consumer priorities and important drivers of long-term growth. 

Smith says Ingredion aims to maximize the market potential of Benicaros prebiotic and support its growth across global markets.Supporting gut microbiome health is particularly relevant as the gut microbiome is increasingly seen as foundational to overall well-being, including immune function. In fact, in the US, eight out of 10 consumers say fiber, prebiotics, and probiotics are highly relevant to their diet, according to a proprietary Ingredion digestive health study. 

The Benicaros prebiotic adds meaningful differentiation by combining carrot-based, microbiome-supporting, prebiotic functionality with immune benefits, expanding the breadth and depth of Ingredion’s healthful solutions in select geographies.

What are your next priorities for scaling, customer adoption, and further global expansion? 
Smith: With the acquisition, our focus is on helping the Benicaros prebiotic reach its full potential. Ingredion is bringing its global reach, customer relationships, and technical and commercial expertise to expand access to the ingredient and support customers as they incorporate it into new and existing products. 

Ingredion and the previous owner of the Benicaros prebiotic, NutriLeads, have established the foundations for a smooth transition, including continued collaboration with key European supply partners, strong relationships with carrot growers, and secured inventory to support both existing and future customers. These efforts ensure continuity of supply while supporting future production scaling beginning in 2027. 

Through this approach, Ingredion aims to maximize the market potential of the Benicaros prebiotic and support its growth across global markets. 

How significant is Benicaros’ efficacy for formulators compared with traditional prebiotic fibers? 
Smith: Benicaros prebiotics’ efficacy at a low daily intake is a key differentiator. This is particularly important because it allows brands to incorporate meaningful health benefits into almost any application, with little to no impact on taste, texture, odor, and overall taste experience of a finished product. As consumer expectations shift, products must deliver functionality and sensory appeal, making low inclusion levels a meaningful advantage. 

This also provides greater flexibility for innovation, as it enables products to deliver health benefits without increasing formulation complexity, which can be a limitation with higher-use-level prebiotic ingredients. As the industry continues to move toward products that combine health benefits with great eating experiences, this balance between functionality and sensory appeal is increasingly important. 

What role can clinically backed prebiotic fibers play in the gut-immune health market? 
Smith: The connection between gut health and immune health continues to grow as scientific understanding and consumer awareness evolve. Research shows the gut microbiome plays a key role in overall health, including immune function. 

According to Smith, Benicaros prebiotic delivers gut and immune health benefits at low daily intake levels.At the same time, consumers increasingly view digestive wellness as part of a broader, more holistic approach to health and seek products that deliver multiple benefits in a single format. This is reflected in the fact that 71% of US consumers see digestive health as closely linked to immune health, according to a proprietary Ingredion digestive health study. 

Prebiotic fibers play an important role in this space by feeding the gut microbiome, and the Benicaros prebiotic builds on this by offering benefits that help brands address these overlapping needs in a way that is grounded in science and easily formulated into everyday foods, beverages, and dietary supplements. 

Which applications do you see as the most promising for near-term innovation with Benicaros?
Smith: The Benicaros prebiotic performs well across a broad range of applications due to its water solubility, pH, and heat stability. This makes it well-suited for use in categories where maintaining the original sensory profile is critical. 

In the near term, there are strong opportunities in areas such as carbonated soft drinks, juices, sports drinks, dairy and dairy alternatives, nutritional bars and snacks, and dietary supplements. These categories are already seeing increased interest in prebiotic fibers and functional nutrition, and Benicaros’ prebiotics’ ease of use allows developers to incorporate health benefits while maintaining product quality and consumer appeal. 

The ability to add prebiotics into categories not traditionally associated with it, such as beverages, expands opportunities for innovation. 

How do you balance sustainability claims with functionality and clinical substantiation? 
Smith: Sustainability is increasingly important to customers and consumers, and Benicaros’ prebiotics’ upcycled origin aligns with these expectations. At the same time, adoption is driven by a combination of factors, including functionality, clinical substantiation, and product performance. 

Ingredion’s approach is to ensure these elements are addressed together, helping customers meet sustainability goals while also delivering products that support environmental, social, and governance priorities, consumer expectations, and sensory quality.