Vitafoods Europe 2024: Kaneka Nutrients dives into women’s health benefits of Ubiquinol
14 Jun 2024 | Kaneka Nutrients Europe
Kaneka Nutrients celebrated 15 years of its flagship ingredient, Kaneka Ubiquinol, at the recent Vitafoods trade show. Filip Van hulle, general manager of Kaneka Nutrients Europe, underlined the ingredient’s achievements in product forms and scientific developments, recently moving into women’s health applications. For example, he highlighted a recent consumer study on 200 women, which found that the supplement alleviates menopausal symptoms, such as improving mood, sleep quality and skin health.
This is Yolande van Gaal from Nutrition Insight.
I'm here at Vita Foods Europe 2024 with Kanea Nutrients Europe and the general manager Philippe van Helle.
Thank you for joining us today.
Thank you very much for invitation.
Can you tell us what is your focus at this year's show?
I think today is actually a very special year, so we will celebrate our 15 year introduction of.
So, I think, we, what we actually want to show is we want to show new applications and new forms of UDPO.
Actually, if we look back to when we introduced UDPO back 15 years ago, I think a lot of things have changed.
So we have developed more scientific evidence and we have developed more applications.
Amazing.
And can you highlight some significant achievements with Ebino over the last 15 years?
I think if you look to achievements, I think then you have to look to more product forms.
I think originally when we introduced.
You know the biological active form of, it was much more targeting cellular energy and maybe heart health, but in the meantime, more applications have been introduced, whether it is fertility or whether it is healthy aging.
Mental health or sports application, so we have seen a lot of new products coming, coming into the market and also combinations.
So I think today, as Kanic we can actually help any company to develop products containing between all and all kinds of different forms.
Awesome.
And can you explain a little bit on new consumer research that I understand has been done on ubiquitous effects on postmenopausal women and the findings of that research?
Yeah, so we we have actually been looking to female health and then I think you have.
Two important issues.
One is the menopausal and the other one can be fertility.
If we look at the menopausal health there we did a consumer study on 200 French postmenopausal women.
The recruitment was done via Instagram.
Using some French influence like, Virginie Floorin and Simon, and, what was actually very interesting is what, in, in this study, so after 2 months taking 200 mg, so the, the complaints that typically postmenopausal women have like more stress, more irritation, more sensitive.
Maybe less good quality of sleep, maybe skin that is not so good.
Most of these factors were actually significantly improved by taking.
In such a, such a way that actually now more than 8 to 10 of the women actually want to continue to take it you know.
So we think this is an important new market, done via this real life consumer study.
This is a bit new.
It's not really a scientific one, but it's really, more under the, under the umbrella tried and tested.
So we, we think this is a great achievement.
So looking to postmenopausal women, but also in the area of fertility.
We did some, very interesting studies already, and I think more results of that is to come in the coming months slash years.
Awesome, I'm looking forward to that.
And can you, of course, you've already talked a little bit about the different applications of the products.
What innovations for the ingredients are you showcasing at this show?
I think, as already indicated before, so is now 15 years.
It has been, so it has been mentioned in scientific publications, I think over 2300 publications already, including more than 90 clinical studies have already been done, so there's a lot of scientific backing already.
And, , if you look to forms then, you can actually look to, to adding viquinol in a, in a chocolate bar or also in powdered sticks you can use it just quickly show something in powdered sticks or also in in soft chola tin capsule or we have also developed some chewable gummies, you know, so I think, many product forms have been developed.
And, yeah, I think if I have to look a little bit longer or further to Ubiquinol then.
For me, ubiquinol should always be part of any multivitamin product, yeah.
I think no multivitamin can be complete if it does not contain any.
Actually at the entrance in the lead product zone, you can already find such product.
One of our customers has developed a product called Daily sanctions.
It contains a bit.
Second one is fertility.
If you look to fertility, I think many people know folic acid.
So women that want to become pregnant, they, they need to take folic acid, but I think ubiquinol is as important.
I think, so, so after conception, there's a lot of energy needed for the, for the cell to duplicate, and there's a very high demand for ubiquinol.
That's why I think.
All fertility products should contain ubiquinol, and not only female health, but also male health.
So there has been found a direct link between the swimming of the sperm cells and the free radical damage and the content of ubiquinol.
So a lot of, a lot of ubiquinol is needed to have good sperm cells.
This one, what else?
Yeah, I think, yeah, and, you can also find a product on the new product zone, especially for fertility.
It's a combination with the, folic acid of losses by, so the, the folic acid, so the special folic acid with our.
You can find it in the blue zone and this product, so the chocolate part you can find in the tasting zone because I think this is a little bit more about how to consume liquinol, not in in a soft gel or a powder, but more in a food form and this is also available these days.
OK, and then the final question, more in a general terms, where do you see the nutraceutical industry heading?
And how does Kanaka Nutrients anticipate and respond to those trends?
I think, , I think, during COVID, more and more consumers have been taking supplements.
I think there has been an uprise in taking supplement.
Probably this is something good.
But I don't know whether this is sustainable.
I think so many consumers have been taking certain vitamins or herbal products, and they were actually not really satisfied of the of the result.
And also some there were disturbances in the supply chain and maybe sometimes products did not really meet the label.
So where I think the supplement industry has to go, I think it has to go to quality products, Quality products which are made in a sustainable way and that you can have like a full traceability.
That's so in the case of our, it is made by G of Japan.
It's made in Japan.
We have a big factory.
So we know where it goes, where it comes from.
We also recommend all the customers to use our logo because it's the kind of qualities you have.
So I think, so the supplement industry, I think it has a great future, but it has to be done in the correct way.
So you need to have premium products.
You need to have product marketing.
So we know that ubiquinol has an action on all the organs, but it has more vitamin-like action, so it is not like a quick acting thing, so it will go gradually step by step.
On the other hand, if you are 50+ and you take 100 mg ubiquinol a day, then most people will feel some cellular energizing effect.
So this is also.
Actually for us as salespeople, relatively easy because we, we, we see that when we make new customers and they continue to buy our product because the end consumer is really happy of taking this ingredients.
