Preferred delivery formats, trending ingredients
Jörg Büttinghaus, vice president sales at Kappa Bioscience, notes that, recently, droppers and tinctures triumphed compared to capsules and tablets. “With the decline in growth figures for fruit gum products, this dosage form is now enjoying increasing popularity in the United States,” he says.
When considering manufacturing advantages and challenges, he further highlights: “Production is simple and requires few additives, which keeps production costs low and supports clean labels. Consumers appreciate the easy dosage and convenient ingestion. However, droppers can only cover parts of the market because non-soluble ingredients and nutrients that require a high charge in the milligram range cannot be included. In particular, the fat-soluble vitamins E, D, K, A are readily offered and purchased in this dosage form.”
Interestingly, Reguant sees a wider range of delivery formats gaining traction, including powders, shots, coffee-based drinks, and snacks. This increased variety of delivery formats allows for easier accessibility, convenience, and adaptability for consumers, ensuring older consumers can easily implement and obtain all their required nutrients as part of their routines. As elderly consumers might have reduced appetite and can find it challenging to take tablets and pills due to impaired swallowing ability, for example, fun and creative delivery formats could positively influence consumers to ingest appropriate nutrient levels for healthy ageing. “Nutrients that can be ingested as coated tablets, which are easier to swallow, capsules, soft gels, time-released capsules, powders, liquids, chewable tablets, gummies, shakes, beverages, and nutritional bars are great alternatives to the chunky pill,” McNamara adds. “The key is to provide a more pleasurable experience for the consumer, which has been a problem for supplement companies to overcome in the past.”
LISTEN: Unique delivery systems and personalised nutrition connections are among the differentiators supporting growth of the healthy ageing segment in APAC
However, Reguant says, “Capsules are still favoured amongst manufacturers because they enable the safe containment of a wide range of ingredients, making them ideal for comprehensive solutions that provide multiple benefits—an area that can be difficult in functional foods due to formulation challenges. Ingredients that are efficacious at low doses, such as native type II collagen (versus hydrolysed collagen), make it easier for manufacturers to create combined supplement solutions in small, convenient formats that can easily be added to consumers' daily routines."
When it comes to trending ingredients, collagen remains a star ingredient
When it comes to trending ingredients, collagen remains a star ingredient. Reguant reinforces: “Having broken out of its niche, collagen has become an established ingredient across multiple health areas, including skin, beauty and joint health, thanks to growing consumer understanding of its multifunctional and nutritious benefits." Future exploratory opportunities for next-generation collagen products include native (undenatured) type II collagen. "With a different mechanism of action to its hydrolysed counterpart, it offers enhanced efficacy at lower doses (40mg/day) and is therefore opening up innovation opportunities for dietary supplement manufacturers," he concludes.
Vitamin C, vitamin D, protein, omega-3, and probiotics are all trending ingredients among consumers because, according to Hughes, consumers associate these ingredients with stronger immunity. Interestingly, Mattern highlights the newly found synergy of vitamin D and K2 in immunity.1 Further, the gut microbiome changes as consumers age, and microbiota diversity is associated with healthy ageing and decreased mortality rates.2
With new and innovative ingredients in mind, Hughes predicts the ingredient lactoferrin will increase in popularity. “This is an ingredient that is well known across Asia-Pacific and to a lesser extent North America, but less so in Europe. However, consumer awareness of the ingredient is expected to grow over the next five years,” he says. Nitrate is also an interesting ingredient for older consumers as it promotes muscle strength3 and running stamina over time.4
Ingredients that offer multiple health benefits such as curcumin are also trending in the healthy ageing space, especially when combined other active ingredients. McNamara explains: “Curcumin combined with iron, recently clinically proven to help BDNF levels, which increases the growth of new neurons and may help fight various degenerative processes in your brain.5 Curcumin has beneficial effects on several factors known to play a role in heart disease. Plus, it is an anti-inflammatory agent and antioxidant.”
References 1. Bergeland, T., 2021. The overlooked benefits of vitamin K for the immune system. [online] Vitafoods Insights. Available at: https://www.vitafoodsinsights.com/vitamins-and-minerals/overlooked-benefits-vitamin-k-immune-system-0 2. Wilmanski, T., Diener, C., Rappaport, N., Patwardhan, S., Wiedrick, J., Lapidus, J., Earls, J., Zimmer, A., Glusman, G., Robinson, M., Yurkovich, J., Kado, D., Cauley, J., Zmuda, J., Lane, N., Magis, A., Lovejoy, J., Hood, L., Gibbons, S., Orwoll, E. and Price, N., 2021. Gut microbiome pattern reflects healthy ageing and predicts survival in humans. Nature Metabolism, 3(2), pp.274-286. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-021-00348-0 3. Sim, M., Blekkenhorst, L., Bondonno, N., Radavelli-Bagatini, S., Peeling, P., Bondonno, C., Magliano, D., Shaw, J., Woodman, R., Murray, K., Lewis, J., Daly, R. and Hodgson, J., 2021. Dietary Nitrate Intake Is Positively Associated with Muscle Function in Men and Women Independent of Physical Activity Levels. The Journal of Nutrition, 151(5), pp.1222-1230. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxaa415