SupplySide West 2024: Univar Solutions on new nutraceutical formats for holistic health and longevity

Univar Solutions spotlighted innovative B2B nutraceutical products for holistic health and preventative care at this year’s SupplySide West, Las Vegas, Nevada, US.

Speaking to Nutrition Insight, Sarah Gonçalves, the ingredient distributor’s technical business development manager in Nutraceuticals, highlighted microbiome modulation, active aging and healthspan extension among key trends influencing product development.

Prototypes on display at the trade fair included advanced dosage forms such as a pre-sleep recovery powder with turmeric, lutein melt for rapid absorption and a kid-friendly prebiotic chewable. 

Focusing on diverse demographics, from children to older adults, Univar Solutions is planning to expand its functional food offerings and introduce alternative dosage forms to the Americas in 2025 and beyond.

What are Univar Solutions’ main innovations at the show?
Gonçalves: We are very proud of the prototypes that we have here at the booth. Univar Solutions tends to focus on existing market solutions and novel dosage forms. We determine how we can bring these key ingredients in line with market trends to our brand customers but in a novel way. For instance, we are presenting our pre-sleep recovery powder, which includes casein and prebiotics like inulin. We’ve also included our MaxiCuma, which is a recovery turmeric for improvements in joint health. We focus on ingredients that are part of the key trends in that space. 

In addition, we have a Lutein Melt, which is unlike anything else on the market today. It is an orally dissolvable tablet that melts in your mouth to deliver actives very quickly. Next, we have a prebiotic chewable. One of the best ways to get kids to consume products is through a nice chewable format rather than trying to get them to swallow a pill, so we’ve offered that today. 

We’ve also included a curcumin fizz product. Rather than consuming curcuminoids through a capsule or tablet, we’ve developed a formulation to incorporate one of our supplier’s water-soluble turmeric extracts into an effervescent solution, which is very easily ingested.

Is that your own proprietary fizz?
Gonçalves: Univar Solutions designs and produces formulations in our labs, but we’re more than happy to share those formulas with our customers if they’re looking to design their own finished goods or if they want to work with our lab to incorporate their own ingredients to produce their own novel product or proprietary blend.

Can you tell us about the market trends and demographics targeted by these concepts and ingredients? 
Gonçalves: So, in terms of demographics, I would say they target all demographics. As we discussed earlier, prebiotic chews make it simple to provide fiber to your children. Then we have our recovery powder, which works very well for those active adults who are looking to improve their sleep or performance through-out the night. Older adults might be looking at consuming lutein, not in capsule or tablet formats. So you can incorporate that into a gummy or fast melt to save them from having to swallow an uncomfortable tablet or capsule.

One major trend will be lower segregation between food supplements and pharmaceuticals.The products are also aimed at improving gut health by modulating the microbiome, but we are also addressing longevity. The third trend we targeted for product innovations was active nutrition and active aging. So those are three key trends we see this year, which are continuing focuses for the industry. 

What will be Univar Solutions’ main focus in the coming year?
Gonçalves: Next year, we’ll continue to focus on holistic health, particularly how we can address some of these nutrient gaps and continuously improve preventative health.

One of the major trends we are seeing is less segregation between food supplements and pharmaceuticals. So, more food products may include some kind of health benefit on the metabolic side of health, joint recovery or cognitive benefits, which we are already seeing here at the show. It will be the norm.

I believe the functional food and even pharmaceutical industries will follow dietary supplements and take a front seat in terms of preventative health. So, rather than treating issues, there will be a greater focus on preventing them. 

What else can we expect in 2025 and beyond?
Gonçalves: I’ve really felt this show has been phenomenal. I am excited to see what happens in women’s health, especially since there are so many ingredient studies incorporating women seen at this show. So I am really excited to see how that plays out in the coming years and how Univar Solutions can support bringing more ingredients focused toward women, whether it is probiotics for women or focusing on sarcopenia and other issues that are currently challenging.

Continuous innovation is one of Univar Solutions’ distinguishing features and what will drive us forward in the future. We have a unique position in that we have US labs in Chicago and Houston, so we can continuously innovate with our customers, whether it is involving future trends in inclusions and beverages or incorporating novel ingredients into bars or gum. 

We will continue to incorporate ingredients into easier dosage forms for consumers to address nutrition gaps. We will also continue to address some of the key preventative health trends. As we can see, the WHO is addressing the issue of health span, which I believe will continue to grow for the next five to ten years.

With additional reporting by William Bradford Nichols at SupplySide West Las Vegas, US