Balchem, a leading global manufacturer of specialty ingredients for human nutrition and health, has announced the launch of StabiliPro™, its new excipient portfolio designed to stabilise probiotic formulations and extend shelf life. The new product range is set to be unveiled for the first time at SupplySide Global 2025, from 27-30 October in Las Vegas. At the show the Balchem team will present a new study demonstrating how StabiliPro™ can help to maintain probiotic integrity, resulting in a longer shelf life and reducing the need for probiotic overuse in finished product formulations. For dietary supplements, functional food and beverage manufacturers, StabiliPro™ presents an exciting opportunity to develop new and improved probiotic innovations – with a longer shelf-life and clean label packaging.
The probiotic industry is rapidly growing – currently worth $ 73 billion, it is expected to reach $ 110 billion by 2030.1 This rising interest in probiotics is fueled by consumer desire for products that support gut health and digestive support, as well as other health and wellness issues – such as immunity and mental and emotional wellbeing. As today’s consumers take a more proactive approach to wellness, many are using probiotics preventively to maintain general health and resilience. Despite this growing demand, manufacturers looking to innovate in this space still face significant formulation challenges – from regulatory hurdles and shelf-life stability to the need for further research to expand understanding on the overall benefits of probiotics. The viability of probiotics is one of the most significant challenges, as these microorganisms are particularly sensitive to harsh processing and high-moisture environments. To address this issue, excipients can play a vital role in maintaining a probiotic’s integrity over its shelf life.
Stabilising probiotic innovation
Enter StabiliPro™. Balchem’s new clean-label multifunctional excipient portfolio has been developed to enhance probiotic stability in a range of formulations, extending shelf life by ensuring maintenance of probiotic stability and reducing the need for probiotic overages. Many manufacturers currently use more probiotics than needed in their formulations to counter the amount that is lost through deterioration during the product development process.
“The probiotics market is growing rapidly and shows no signs of slowing down, so solutions like StabiliPro™ are essential in ensuring that functional food, beverage and dietary supplement innovators can achieve effective, cost-efficient formulations to meet the demands of today’s health-conscious consumers,” comments Josephine Nakhla, Strategic Marketing & Business Development Manager at Balchem, Powders & Cereal. “Building on decades of particle engineering expertise, StabiliPro™ is an exciting addition to our already extensive portfolio of food and beverage ingredient solutions. This launch marks another key milestone in our mission to deliver trusted, innovative and science-based solutions to our customers.”
1Statista and Grandview Research
UNESDA Soft Drinks Europe has announced the launch of a tailored LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) online tool for the soft drinks industry.
This LCA tool, built in collaboration with technology services company Pilario, enables soft drinks companies to measure, compare and improve the environmental performance of their products, taking into account the ingredients they source, the packaging they use and how their beverages are transported and distributed. It can also contribute to sustainability reporting, and be used to assess performance against industry standards.
The tool integrates all the key elements of the “shadow” soft drinks Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR) that UNESDA co-developed with Mérieux NutriSciences | Blonk.
Nicholas Hodac, Director General of UNESDA, commented: “We are excited to have the first LCA tool tailored specifically for our sector, thanks to our great collaboration with Pilario and Mérieux NutriSciences | Blonk. We can now use a practical and user-friendly LCA solution to step up our environmental efforts. This tool is an important service UNESDA offers to its members to help them drive their transition toward packaging sustainability, reinforcing our sector’s ongoing commitment to reducing the environmental footprint of our packaging.”
Alycia Purcell, CEO of Pilario, stated: “Pilario is pleased to have provided the soft drinks sector with an innovative LCA tool that members can use for eco-design and sustainability reporting. Using a software reduces costs and allows scalability across sustainability operations and reporting. Our clients see considerable cost reductions for consultants, and a decrease in the time spent measuring and improving their product’s impact. We are happy to bring this innovation to the soft drinks sector and see progress in the industry toward environmentally friendly practices.”
Elisabeth Keijzer, Senior Consultant and Project Manager at Mérieux NutriSciences | Blonk, said: “Mérieux NutriSciences | Blonk is thrilled to have co-developed a “shadow” soft drinks Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR) with the soft drinks sector. This PEFCR is essential for offering soft drinks companies a clear, harmonised methodology to assess the environmental impact of their products, ensuring that LCA results are reliable and comparable.”
Döhler, a global provider of natural ingredients, ingredient systems and integrated solutions, and Vertosa, the market-leading infusion technology company for cannabis and hemp products, announce a strategic research and development partnership for the food, beverage and nutrition industries. This partnership is set to spark a new wave of innovative life science products in the beverage sector.
While Vertosa will continue to handle its category leading Cannabis and Hemp infusions, Döhler will develop natural ingredients and ingredient blends to complement Vertosa’s offering. Those blends can contain everything from natural flavours, natural colours, juices, botanical extracts to sweetening solutions. Under the terms of the partnership, Vertosa will benefit from Döhler’s research, development and application expertise and its vast experience in the beverage space. This partnership will give Vertosa access to Döhler’s prime product portfolio and technologies to co-develop innovative beverage formulations and proprietary infusion technologies for successful lifestyle beverages.
Benjamin Larson, CEO of Vertosa, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership: “Through Döhler’s partnership, we’re not only gaining a treasury of knowledge but also the capabilities to co-create intellectual property that brings success for customers with a new range of life science beverages. This union is about more than innovation; it’s about setting the gold standard for what cannabis beverages can and should be.”
The collaboration includes an investment from Döhler Ventures, the company’s entrepreneurial investor, focused on startups within the global Nutrition & Technology ecosystem. Dr. Sebastian Dreher from Döhler Ventures adds, “We’re thrilled to support this collaboration. The investment reflects the long-term commitment to both the relationship and product categories, being driven by Vertosa’s professional management, thought leadership and market momentum.”
Both companies envision this partnership as a pioneering step toward a robust future for a new generation of life science beverages and beyond, combining Döhler’s global reach and natural ingredient and application expertise with Vertosa’s leading infusion technologies.
Paul Graham, CEO Döhler North America, emphasises, “Teaming up with Vertosa is a game-changer, propelling the market trend to new heights. By combining our expertise in natural ingredients with Vertosa’s infusion technology, we’re not just innovating, we’re leading the way together. It’s real, it’s authentic and it’s a step into a future where we explore the possibilities for enhanced and better drinks. We can’t wait for what is coming and we know it will be successful both ways.”
This collaboration is expected to elevate product development to new standards, offering consumers enhanced sensory experiences and supporting the rapid expansion of the cannabis and hemp ingredients in the beverage industry.
Elopak is rolling out a new filling machine with exceptional hygiene levels that gives fresh products a shelf life of up to 60 days. This machine is supported by a HEPA air management system, which is the result of extensive research and testing.
The next-generation filling machine is designed by Elopak and produced by the company’s long-term partner Shikoku. The HEPA filter system, stainless steel components and dual-step heating and sealing processes ensure the highest levels of hygiene, helping to extend the shelf-life of fresh products.
The machine’s self-cleaning and sterilisation features allow efficient switches between products, reducing food waste. The machine is versatile and fills gable top cartons from 250 ml up to 1.136 ml in Pure-Pak® carton formats.
In addition to improving hygiene standards, the machine has an upgraded safety design for operators. Hands-free cleaning and magnetic doors further ensure the operator’s safety and reduce the margin for human error.
The machine is designed to fill cartons with fresh and extended shelf-life dairy products, fresh and extended shelf-life juices, water, and plant-based drinks. All products with or without particles.
Patrick Verhelst, Elopak’s Chief Marketing Officer said: “Our new filling machine is manufactured to meet the highest quality and hygiene standards. It sets a new standard for fresh products by extending the shelf life to 60 days. A longer shelf life means less food waste in addition to making it easier for the consumer to choose environmentally friendly containers for their fresh milk or juice products.”
Xampla research among the UK public found that two in five consumers (39 %)1 are concerned about their vitamin D intake, rising to half of those aged 18 – 341. Particularly in the UK as we go into shorter days and longer nights, the importance of Vitamin D for bone health and a healthy immune system is pulled into sharp focus.
With nearly three in five consumers (57 %)1 preferring to boost their vitamin intake through food and drink products rather than tablets, a solution for transporting and storing vitamins – at their full efficacy – within consumer’s favourite products, is critical.
However, preserving essential vitamins, such as Vitamin D has been a significant challenge for brands to overcome. Though vitamin D is vital for our overall health, it is very easily degraded by sunlight, pasteurisation and low pH when it is added to products.
As a result, vitamin D added to, say, orange juice is significantly less potent when it reaches supermarket shelves than it was in the factory, and less potent again by the time it is poured into a glass.
Xampla and Britvic’s partnership is therefore a game-changer for the food and beverage industry. A groundbreaking collaboration will bring to market their micropackaging technology, which protects vitamins and nutrients in liquid from UV light, external pH and heat shock by encasing them in an edible layer of plant-protein material.
This incredible 100 % vegan and gluten free technology isn’t limited to just vitamin D; it can be deployed for micropackaging any oil-based vitamin or flavouring, including vitamin A, D, E, or K. Best of all, drinks using this technology can be transported in clear plastic bottles because the nutrients are already protected from UV light.
This is particularly important, as Britvic’s research has shown that consumers are 40 % more likely to recycle clear bottles over coloured ones.
The exciting part of this partnership lies in its ability to bridge the gap between consumer needs and the limitations of traditionally unstable added ingredients. Britvic is proud to have been supported by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK, in recognition of the opportunity this presents for the industry.
Now an additional Better Food For All government grant, which recognises innovation in nutrition, will enable Britvic to increase the roll out of these microcapsules on an even larger scale.
In the future, consumers will find an array of drinks fortified with vitamins, housed in clear recyclable plastic bottles, on local supermarket shelves. Together Britvic and Xampla are empowering consumers to make healthier choices without compromise.
1Polling commissioned by Xampla. Fieldwork completed by Yonder from 12 August to 16 August 2022 of 4,000 UK adults.
