Evonik on omega 3 trends and vegan offerings
14 Nov 2019 | Evonik
Omega 3s are on a clear path forward and will continue to trend in the nutraceutical space, according to Christopher Studte, Director New Health Ingredients, Business Line Health Care at Evonik. Studte highlights how Evonik’s omega 3 offering, AvailOm, is suitable for a wide range of solutions, as well as being three to four times more bioavailable than standard soft gel capsules. He also notes that the company is looking into supplying a vegan option, which will hopefully hit the market later this year.
This is Lakshmi Hay CPHI CPHI worldwide in Frankfurt.
I'm here at the Ionic stand with Chris Duer.
Chris, could you introduce your omega ingredient of elong?
Sure, thanks.
So what we developed a few years back is a more bioavailable directly compressible omega 3 powder that is very stable, oxidative resistance, and it's very flexible in the way you can use it.
You can use it in a combination tablet.
You can put it in a hard capsule, but there's a lot of know-how around how we can formulate it for you.
So there's a lot of opportunity and new ingredient new solutions that you can develop with our omega 3.
And of course omega 3 is quite a busy market right now.
So what differentiates your offering from other ones on the market?
I think we're the first ones who have really managed to develop a high load omega 3 powder.
This is what differentiates us from other powders that have been on the market before.
So, we're talking about a minimum 45% of DHA, usually it's around 50% in the powder, and it's really pure, it's a very clean label.
Nothing else to it.
It's a combination of an amino acid with the omega 3, and it gives you a really good solid powder that is directly compressible, very versatile in its use.
And with the powders that were previously on the market, you weren't able to make any tablets in a high load or high concentration tablets because they were just not suitable for being used in a tablet form.
And when was this ingredient launched to the market and which market is it available in now?
We launched it about 2 years back at Supply Side West in the US and it's available basically it has all the regulatory requirements that are necessary for the US, for Europe, and many other countries around the world.
So we're really starting to develop that ingredient country by country, and it's been a big success.
There's a lot of interest because it gives you that new opportunity to develop something new in a market that is, I would say, already a bit saturated, so they're looking for new solutions.
They're looking for something innovative.
Yeah, and what is the source of the omega.
Currently we're using a fish oil, but this is something we're also working on algae-based omega 3 oils as a solution.
It's very versatile, you can basically use any omega 3 oil you want.
And using our technology as a platform, you'll be able to have a powder, a direct compressible powder.
Yes, OK, so it really seems like you're ticking a lot of the boxes of customer and consumer demand in terms of bioavailability and also now you mentioned the vegan platform as in from algae, but what are the potential time frame for that?
When might you launch something in this line?
We're looking about.
We actually we're currently producing it, so we're looking at the end of the year, beginning of next year, we'll be able to offer it to our customers.
Yes.
OK.
Do you know what that will be called or we're still looking at some of the names, but we're probably something pretty straightforward that is making a reference to the Amiga nature of the product.
Yes.
Yes.
And do you think that's the key driver for the Amiga market as a whole, is that where you think we'll go in 2020?
I think one of the key drivers really is, first of all, you need to educate the consumers.
There's a lot of articles pro and contra omega 3s, but the bottom line is the omega 3s have been around for a long time and their benefits have really been clinically proven.
So what we're now trying to do is we're trying to look for more effective solutions, and this is where our solution comes into play because it is more bioavailable, 3 to 4 times more bioavailable than your standard.
Than your standard soft gel capsule.
So this is where the consumer can actually take less and have a better benefit.
He can use it in a fasting state, so in the morning on an empty stomach, or even if he's on a low fat diet.
It will still be as effective, and this is where we really see the advantage.
The consumer is more flexible in the way he can use his.
Nutraceuticals you can combine it with vitamins and minerals.
You can all do it in one tablet.
It's very easy to swallow.
It's small in size, so we really think convenience and education are big topics for consumers.
I think especially now consumers are more aware of absorption levels of different nutrients and what to combine them with, it can also get a bit.
Confusing or overwhelming, so if something can kind of take that stress away, it's really interesting, and I have one last question for you, looking back at 2019 as we come to the end of the year, what do you think were the biggest trends in the supplement area?
I think you can't, you cannot overlook the CBD, the CBD topic that was all over the media and it's very now there's a lot of regulatory hurdles to overcome for the neutral market.
But this was definitely a big topic.
In the omega omega 3 space, there was a lot of discussion, there was a big studies that came out, a very, a very strong debate on the benefits or where there are benefits, but I think that overall there has been a consensus that omega 3s are on a good path forward.
So I think here this is a clear trend we'll see in the future.
So I think this is definitely some of the topics we've seen in 2019.
Brilliant.
Thank you, Chris.
You're welcome, thank you.
