KEY INTERVIEW: Active and Aging: How Gelita Sees Its Market for Collagen Protein Developing

19 Feb 2016 --- Headquartered in Germany, Gelita is a leading collagen protein manufacturer. Following a 140 year history, it supplies collagen proteins to the food, pharmaceutical and health & nutrition sectors. Oliver Wolf, Global Marketing & Communications executive, spoke to NutritionInsight about how the rise in popularity of protein has affected Gelita’s role in the food and supplement ingredients industry, and what consumers are demanding in this new age of health and wellbeing.

The food and supplements industry accounts for 63% of Gelita’s business, the majority being gelatine for the still growing confectionery sector. Other trends like fortified gummies are changing the landscape, though, says Wolf. “However, the nutritional supplements market is growing rapidly. This market segment increasingly demands our different collagen peptides as they have a clear scientifically approved effect on the body. All of them are specifically optimized to affect dedicated parts of the body, including joints, bones, muscles and skin.”

Gelita has a variety of products targeted specifically to the different parts of the body and related problems: Fortigel stimulates the joint cartilage to regenerate and thus counteract the wear and tear induced by age, increased stress on the joint or osteoarthritis; Fortibone makes the bone stable and elastic as it stimulates the metabolism of the collagen matrix in the bone allowing the minerals such as calcium to incorporate and thus fights the onset of osteoporosis; Bodybalance, together with resistance training, helps to regain muscle mass and reduce fat mass. A recently published study demonstrates this effect and indicates the ability of Bodybalance to fight the onset of sarcopenia. In 3 months one could gain the muscle mass lost in 10 years of natural aging; and Verisol stimulates the cells in the dermis to produce significantly more collagen with the effect of increased moisture, less wrinkles and a considerable improvement of cellulite.

As well as specific functions, a general trend for high protein has led to a demand for high protein foodstuffs. According to Wolf, collagen proteins are ideal to provide a high protein load. As they are neutral in taste and odor they can be easily added to most foodstuffs for protein fortification.

“Collagen peptides are growing strongly as healthy eating is one of the strongest megatrends in the food industry. In particular. supplement demand is increasing as our daily nutrition is more frequently missing important nutrients and also, our population is becoming older,” he said.

The trend for enhanced protein products is also growing as a result of the elderly not consuming enough protein in their regular diet. Therefore supplements must take over and provide the missing parts. They are easy and convenient to consume and counteract not only the lack of protein but also other nutrients and active ingredients to maintain or re-gain a healthy body.

“Older people are often not eating enough protein,” says Wolf. “Their muscle mass is decreasing while fat mass is increasing accompanied with the loss of body strength. This condition, sarcopenia, can in worse case lead to a loss of mobility and independency. Sarcopenia can be successfully counteracted with resistance training to regain muscle mass and strength. So far so good. But if this training is supported with a daily application of 15 g of Bodybalance collagen peptides this effect can be significantly improved. This is the outcome of a double blinded, randomized, placebo controlled study on 60 sarcopenic men aged 65 and older recently published in the British Journal of Nutrition.”

Other demographics that are using increased amounts of protein-enhanced foods include the young and active, and the women. For active people, keeping their body in shape means having a lean body composition, while for women, Wolf finds that they are increasingly interested in collagen-containing skincare to diminish the signs of aging. 

“Verisol stimulates the cells in the deeper layer of the skin to produce more collagen and elastin,” explains Wolf. “This makes the skin elastic more moist and leads finally to a reduction of wrinkles. This is also proven in a series of high level clinical studies. The newest findings of Verisol also show a very positive effect on cellulite. Publication of these results is currently pending.”

In general, Gelita finds that most consumers don’t want to change their eating habits too much to accommodate enhanced nutrition, so fortification with protein is a good option. However, many consumers are quite happy to consume supplements, as long as they have a palatable taste and are backed up by the science to prove their worth.

“The key is that it is no longer enough to put any protein in a foodstuff, but much more to evaluate the right protein for the desired effect within a specific target group,” says Wolf. “And it is not only bodybuilders who consume protein supplements. The area of protein supplementation became much more complex and the target groups are very heterogeneous. Product developers are very much challenged to carefully listen to their target groups and choose the right protein concept to fulfil consumer demands. Collagen peptides here provide an effective and helpful tool kit to develop tailored products for specific target groups.”

Beside the raw product, Gelita provides a range of added values such as product development support, marketing support, regulatory advice and technical assistance for its partners in the food health & nutrition and pharmaceutical partners. A special unit within Gelita also provides ready to market final products (supplements) to be marketed under the customer’s brand.

In terms of the future, Wolf can especially see the market for gelatine and collagen peptides growing.

“As the population is getting older a supply with specific proteins especially collagen peptides will become a crucial factor for human nutrition,” he says. “Conditions like osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, sarcopenia, cellulite etc. will dramatically increase and require health-promoting concepts beside the classical pharmaceuticals. And while getting older the lifestyle of the people will still be active and everybody wants to look and feel younger. This means they will have an increased demand for specific nutrients and active ingredients. Regular diets with an enhanced nutrient load - not only proteins - and even more supplements providing these missing substances will become one of the key focusses for food and supplements developers in future.”

By Kelly Worgan