The Next Big Thing in Supplements

The gummy supplements market is expanding rapidly, fuelled by consumer demand for convenient, easy-to-consume health products. With the global dietary supplement market projected to hit $185.1 billion by 2025, gummy supplements are taking an ever-larger share year on year.

Gummies have gained massive popularity, particularly in healthcare markets. In general, gummy supplements are increasingly used to deliver a variety of functional ingredients including vitamins, CBD, minerals, enzymes, Omega 3, digestive aids and probiotics. They appeal to consumers looking for a more enjoyable alternative to traditional pills and capsules. 

Gummy supplements appeal to a wide market array of young and old consumers.  They are capable of being produced in a variety of colors, shapes and most importantly, flavors.  Since flavors enable the task masking of the active ingredient, gummies work particularly well in the child supplement markets.  For those consumers who are elderly or have difficulty swallowing pills and tablets, gummies offer a much safer alternative. 

Unlike pharmaceuticals, which require rigorous clinical trials and precise claims, healthcare supplements typically focus on general wellness benefits. This creates an opportunity for pharmaceutical companies to leverage their clinical expertise and enter not only the supplements market with a gummy production line but also OTC and potentially prescription pharmaceuticals as well. 

Traditional gummy production relies on complicated starch mogul systems^[1]. A starch mogul is a machine that makes shaped candies or candy centers from syrups or gels, such as gummi candy. These softer candies and centers are made by filling a tray with cornstarch, stamping the desired shape into the starch, and then pouring the filling or gel into the holes made by the stamp. When the candies have set, they are removed from the trays and the starch is recycled.  These machines typically have high outputs starting at 2,500kg/h [5,512 lb/h], have a high investment value and take up a large floor space. By using starch and its properties, these systems are typically harder to clean fully, require an ongoing investment in replacement starch, and can lead to challenges with product changeovers or cross contamination.

The significant cleaning effort results in extended downtimes, leading to a comparative in efficiency and pose challenges in maintaining hygiene and avoiding cross contamination. Small production runs required for supplements and pharmaceuticals cannot be covered.

Another growing trend in the nutraceutical gummy market is using plant-based alternatives like pectin instead of traditional gel ingredients. The choice of one over the other is often also product and process dependent. Although the development can create some challenges in the formulation stages, pectin can also help to enhance a sweeter taste profile as well as improve final product stability.  Pectin has a higher melting point than gelatin, thus preventing sticking/clumping of the final product during packaging/storage.
 
Another important trend for consumers as usage continues to grow is the availability of viable nutraceutical gummies with lower sugar contents. This can also present some challenges to manufacturers, as they must still continue to be able to develop the taste masking capabilities while maintaining the same texture in the final product. It is important when formulating new recipes to meet these trends that manufacturers work with experienced equipment and systems producers such as Baker Perkins to ensure the best combination of ingredients. The ability and knowledge to substitute certain ingredients, both in liquid and powder form, such a Stevia, enhanced polyols, or more exotic natural flavors is important when choosing an equipment solution provider. The material handling and cooking/depositing systems as provided by Coperion and, whether the ingredients are in liquid or powder form, offer a wide variety of options to ensure the utmost in product quality and process efficiency.

As stated above, in addition to Baker Perkins cooking and depositing lines, Coperion can supply ingredient automation to provide a complete in-house production system for gummy production. Investing in your own production system gives you full control over the manufacturing process. This results in higher quality products and significantly better profit margins. Our starch-free systems are fully scalable and customizable, allowing you to optimize your processes for different formulations and production sizes.

Whether you're expanding into new markets or enhancing existing lines, we have the technology and expertise to help you. We partner with manufacturers, giving them ongoing support, from development and testing to full-scale production, ensuring that their products meet market demand both now and in the future. 

If you want to discover how Coperion and Baker Perkins can help you capitalize on this growing market with precision, speed, and scalability, then please do not hesitate to contact us.