RM PhD. Technical and Development Consultancy for the Food, Beverage and Supplement Industries.
Supplements
Supplement development offers a world of opportunity but comes with a vast array of pitfalls and complexities that are not immediately aparent from the beginning of a project.
Using my experience, I can help give your supplement venture the best possible opportunity to succeed.
I have outlined some examples of stages involved in a supplement project below.
Getting supplements right first time.
Legality
Description: Not every ingredient is legal everywhere. It varies considerably country by country. If you let me know your target markets I can double check that everything is allowed to be used in those areas. Or maybe you have a formula that you are looking to futureproof because you are starting in 1 country but would happily expand beyond those borders if the product is successful - it is far easier to get that right the first time than having to reformulate later.
Interraction
Description: likely the most complex area of safety which is why I felt is deserved its own section. Some ingredients work synergystically with others, some would not function at all if they are in a formula together and others could become dangerous. It is also valuable to consider how your supplement might interract with the standard perscribed medication for an issue also as you would not want to make things worse for a customer.
Ingredient sourcing
Description: Even if you know your formula, the variants of each ingredient you need and have someone to put it together, sourcing your ingredients can be a minefield. Managing suitable minimum order quantities (MoQ's), negotiating with manufacturers for samples so that you can verify ingredient quality and checking all of the technical documents to ensure everything is legitimate and good quality can take a long time and requires significant knowledge of the field.
Optimisation
Description: So you have a recipe but need to know just how good it is. Then this is for you. For this I will go back to the research for each ingredient to determine how much of each ingredient is needed to deliver the effect that you are looking for. I can also look at if there are any other ingredients which might be valuable additions to your formula, or if some of what you have is surplus to requirements.
Variants
Description: So your supplement needs magnesium to make it work - ok but there are at least 4 variants out there. they all cost differently, they all deliver different amounts of elemental magnesium (the number that matters functionally), they all have different solubility, stability and risks associated with them. So which do you need? My goal is to provide you with a clear pro's and cons table and my recommendations for each of your ingredient to simplify this process.
Safety
Description: "but is it safe though?" this question means many things to many different people. There are more considerations to that question than can possibly be listed here but I have the expertise to cover all of them.
This could be looking at your suppliers to confirm that they are legitimate and supplying good quality, safe ingredients. It could be looking at allergen risk, or microbial safety. Each individual ingredient has its own considerations for safety too.
Stability
Description: Supplements take many forms. Drinks, gummies, tablets ect. This stage would ask the question if your ingredients would remain stable for the shelf life of the product in that given matrix as a lot of these valuable ingredients loose their potency over time. Simlarly, chemical reactions within the matrix could cause an ingredient to precipitate out of the mix leaving you with a slimy/powdery residue at the bottom of your container which is not appealing at all. While providing feedback, I would also give options for the fix.
Other issues
Description: It is my job here to consider risks or factors that you might not have considered. For example; your product contains sugar but needs a heat treatment to ensure its safe for the duration of its shelf life - is that going to go through the maillard reaction destroying your ingredients and the organoleptics for your product? Or maybe some of your ingredients are light sensetive so I would use this time to consider opaque packaging options for you. These are 2 example of many which could come up depending on your formula.
Organoleptics
Description: I find this to be an undervalued aspect of creating a good supplement brand. Functionality is absolutely key but a nice flavour, smell or texture can be a quick way to differentiate you from competitors as they might not have put value into this.
Supplement ingredients don't typically taste very nice - so flavour masking ingredients could be considered too.
Claims Compliance
Description: This can take a few different paths.
1) what claims can I make with this formulation?
2) I need to be able to make this claim, how do I get there?
3) I want to make this claim, is it legal to say this in this country?
Initial Ideation
Description: Maybe you already have a supplement brand or are looking for this as an entirely new venture. I would provide a broad market overview to highlight where there is potential opportunities, areas which feel saturated and other areas to avoid.
Formula development
Description: So you have an idea but not a formula yet - I can research the field and find which ingredients work best for that aim in order to build that perfect product.
This could include aspects of market research to highlight those ingredients which are popular right now. It could also look at competitors for inspiration and to ensure you would be doing things better than they are.