What is in this article?:
- What's your ingredient app?
- Fish out of water?
- New dairy solutions
Not long ago, nutritional ingredients were strictly the purview of supplements and a few select foods and drinks, such as cereal and milk. Today, ingredients fill up delivery-system dance cards from soup to nuts.
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It's a crossover success story.
When Cargill launched its Regenasure Glucosamine ingredient in 2003, its original target was the supplements market.
The company did everything right. It earned GRAS status in 2005, becoming the only glucosamine in the world to have submitted itself to FDA rigor. It went on to earn Kosher, Kosher for Passover and Halal certifications. It was and still is the only glucosamine produced in the United States – and from a vegetarian source to boot.
Then, in the eight years since its debut, it pushed far beyond the supplements market into a dizzying array of end products: dry mix beverages, functional waters, ready-to-drink teas, ready-to-eat cereal clusters, frozen yogurt, fruit smoothies and spoonable yogurt.
"Traditionally, glucosamine is found in the supplements aisle in capsules and tablets," said Scott Erickson, marketing director at Cargill Corn Milling. "But we are continuing to grow Regenasure Glucosamine in the beverage and food aisle. There are many prospective combination ingredients used with glucosamine, and this is something Cargill continues to look at."
It's a case study that should give heart to other ingredient suppliers that, in the past year, have pushed their ingredients into new product arenas. These include Ocean Nutrition Canada, Enzymotec, Azantis, Danisco and Chr. Hansen.