Proactive health consumer approach drives functional ingredient innovation

09 Jul 2024 --- Based on our in-depth conversation with functional ingredients experts, we understand that the segment is growing in value, which is mainly based on the consumer’s perception of health and the best way to maintain it. Kemin, ADM, Kappa Bioscience and AB-Biotics demonstrate how the modern consumer embraces a proactive approach to health to prevent illness later in life.

“Consumers are looking at their health and wellness from a more holistic perspective. In doing so they are looking at their diet, exercise, sleep and various other aspects of their lives to find their optimal solutions. Consumers recognize it’s hard to keep our bodies in top health all of the time, so they look at supplements as a way to help fill in the gaps,” Tyler Holstein, global product manager at Kemin, tells Nutrition Insight.

Holstein notes that the company is always trying to identify the gaps in the market to fill with new ingredients through a new product or new form to make a product more straightforward to use. “We take the naturalness of the product into consideration and the environmental impacts it has when evaluating if we bring the product to market,” he says.

Prolonging well-being
With consumers recognizing the need to support their health and wellness in the short term to prolong well-being later in life, ADM’s research shows that 63% of consumers are taking a proactive approach to health, focusing on prevention.

“This is a key factor driving the demand and use of functional ingredients. As such, consumers are seeking products that claim support for their gut health, immune function, metabolic health, cognitive function, energy and overall physical performance,” says Vaughn DuBow, senior director, product portfolio marketing, health and wellness at ADM.

Kappa Bioscience has also seen health take center stage in recent years with a clear move toward a more proactive and holistic approach to wellness. 

“This shift is primarily driven by a desire to boost performance and enjoy an active lifestyle throughout our lifespan. And as individuals take greater responsibility for their health, paying more attention to the role of nutrition, the buzz around functional ingredients that offer additional benefits has grown,” Lindsay Cole, sales and business development manager, North America, Kappa Bioscience.There is a trend in the functional ingredient segment toward formulating for overall wellness.

Consumers are looking for tailored solutions that help them meet their health objectives and maintain a high quality of life. The company’s research shows that 59% of global individuals express interest in food and drink products customized to their needs.

Cole notes: “This presents a promising avenue for brands to provide personalized health solutions that resonate with people and foster loyalty. Our innovation strategy focuses on developing products that maximize health span and power performance.” 

“As part of this, we collaborate and innovate with brands to create solutions that are efficacious, high-quality and support holistic health. With this overarching goal in mind, we’re striving to enhance the effectiveness and consumer relevance of our products.”

One of the company’s primary focus areas is identifying the synergies within its portfolio, such as the new Vital Trio. 

The gift of dietary fiber
ADM/Matsutani’s Fibersol is a prebiotic dietary fiber that provides added fiber and elevates health-forward products such as sugar-reduced formulations. It builds back integrity through structural and binding qualities that are often lost in the process.

“Dietary fiber is also a crucial functional ingredient during a time when GLP-1 agonists and satiety is top-of-mind for many consumers. Fibersol may delay hunger and stimulate appetite-regulating hormones and may increase satiety perception,” DuBow explains.

“A study’s results demonstrated that Fibersol may increase appetite-regulating hormone GLP-1 when consumed at 10 g with a meal in healthy individuals. Formulating with Fibersol is helping support these on-trend wellness attributes.”

The company leverages botanical extracts featuring guarana and yerba mate, which are natural sources of caffeine. Consumers associate these with reducing occasional fatigue and improving mental focus. 

DuBow underscores: “Combining our functional extracts (guarana, green tea and carob extracts) in our WKUP formulation delivers a solution that may perform comparably to caffeine while mitigating concerns around increased heart rate and temporary impact on blood pressure.”

ADM is examining the effects of rooibos tea extract on stress and anxiety through an ongoing study in collaboration with the University of Canberra, Australia. They have taken this avenue because of the high interest in wellness areas related to skin health, such as stress and sleep.

Sound formulation techniques
Miquel Bonachera, co-founder at AB-Biotics, highlights the importance of appropriate storage conditions to handle and preserve delicate ingredients. These conditions are essential to keeping strains functioning. The company uses cryoprotectants to help maintain bacteria stability. 

“In addition to ensuring robust scientific documentation and clinical trials support our product development, we stay informed on market trends and prioritize academic research to ensure our probiotic strains address industry needs and support manufacturing partners to produce stand-out products,” Bonachera underscores.

AB Biotics conducts laboratory assays to screen for beneficial probiotic phenotypes and in vitro and in vivo screening to test probiotic interactions with host cells. 

“Then strains are isolated and screened for their beneficial properties and safety, before in silico screening is conducted where whole-genomes are sequenced to identify promising strains,” says Bonachera.

The company prioritizes the continued advancement of functional ingredients through robust R&D and innovation, investing more than 25% of its revenue.Formulation experts stress the value of technological precision when creating formulas that include more than one kind of functional ingredient. 

Tyler Holstein, global product manager at Kemin, concurs that adding new ingredients to a product or application often presents many challenges. For example, taste and color can impact consumer acceptance of a product, and the inclusion of ingredients can impact the size and dosage of the end product. 

“Other technical challenges such as water activity levels and particle size can also cause issues with certain ingredients. This is where Kemin can help. Our team of experts can work with you to overcome these challenges and help you meet your product goals,” says Holstein.

“Neumentix and DailyZz contain our patented spearmint extract that is rich in polyphenols. These products are available in a powder form and can be formulated into capsules, tablets, stick packs and effervescent tablets that are ready-to-drink and dissolve in water, as well as conventional foods and beverages.”

DailyZz stands out from other sleep ingredients because it also maintains cognitive performance in the daytime. Sleep ingredients are usually focused on helping the consumer fall asleep and not supporting those benefits during waking hours.

ADM’s DuBow adds that multi-functional foods, beverages and dietary supplements, such as bars, snack clusters, RTD beverages, gummies and stick packs, often contain different functional ingredients to reach various wellness targets.

“However, these formulations may face hurdles when combining ingredients, including ingredient interactions that can cause degradation or separation, as well as potential off-notes or textures,” he says.

Weak label claims
Kappa Bioscience’s Cole raises the issue of quality in the vitamin K2 market. The company recently discovered that more than two-thirds of vitamin K2 supplements purchased on Amazon in the US fail to meet the label claims due to low quality or purity. A good-quality K2 source that is not microencapsulated will also not meet the label claim.  

“To tackle this issue, as part of our TruQuality campaign, we’re working with Alkemist Labs, one of the leading ISO-accredited natural product testing laboratories, to develop an accurate picture of the K2 products on the market.” 

“We’re using this information to raise awareness of the issue within the market, emphasizing the importance of using all-trans vitamin K2 menaquinone-7 for optimal stability, efficacy and bioavailability,” she adds. 

“Formulating products with recognizable, branded functional ingredients boasting superior bioavailability and tangible health benefits further strengthens consumer confidence.” 

Cole notes that manufacturers must reassure consumers that their products are credible, transparent and effective so that they can take the lead in the supplement space. 

By Inga de Jong