Functional Beverages Case Study

Consumers Are Pill-Fatigued and Looking For New Supplement Formats Including Gummies

In the U.S., the gummy format grew a whopping 44% in 2020, making it the fastest-growing format in vitamins, minerals, and supplements according to SPINS data*.

The gummy supplement market is innovating in flavors, ingredients, and functional benefits to address consumers’ top health and wellness needs. Given consumers’ strong interest in digestive health, there is ample opportunity for prebiotic gummy innovation.

 

CHALLENGE:

As inflationary prices continue to eat into consumers’ grocery budgets, the functional beverages’ premium
price tag may become too high for customers. Many products have shelf stability limitations that drive uptheir price and require storing them in the refrigerated section of stores.

While they can be stored at room temperature for a few days during shipment, they cannot be exposed to
hot temperatures for extended periods. Many popular prebiotic dietary fibers including inulin, can break downinto simple sugar and become less effective at higher temperatures. pH stability is also an issue for many prebiotic dietary fibers, which can degrade in more acidic environments.

Prebiotic dietary fibers’ limited heat and pH stability also represent a problem during the pasteurization andretort parts of the beverage manufacturing process. Brands can mitigate this issue by overdosing prebioticdietary fiber in formulations assuming that a certain percentage will degrade. Additional ingredient cost isone of the chief drawbacks of this practice.

SOLUTION:

Arrabina® prebiotic dietary fibers can survive shelf-life limitations and the demanding beverage
manufacturing processes that often involve high heat, high pressure, and acidic environments.

Arrabina’s® innate arabinoxylan structure provides clinically proven health benefits and formulation flexibility.

COMET calls arabinoxylan “nature’s best dietary fiber” and says it has “perfected” the FDA-recognized fiber in its Arrabina®. The ingredients’ multiple product grades “fit every formulation need,” including not only carbonated beverages but also gummies, confectionery and baked goods.