Innovation Drives Encapsulation Market

Sales of capsules are on the rise, in large part because of consumer preference. Research reveals dietary supplement users prefer two-piece capsules because they are easier to swallow, leave no aftertaste and mask unpleasant odors. In addition, 49 percent of supplement users indicate a willingness to pay more for supplements in a capsule.

Capsules have also enjoyed an increase in market share with the addition of alternative polymers and liquid offerings. Each innovation appeals to unique needs of new niche markets.

Capsule Options

To meet the needs of the vegetarian-aware market and consumers with specific religious and dietary customs, dietary supplement companies have options such as capsules composed of fish gelatin, or capsules made with plant-based polymers such as hydroxpropyl methylcellulose (HPMC).

In addition to being a non-animal alternative, HPMC-based capsules have the added benefit of helping maintain stability and extend shelf-life for moisture-sensitive formulas. The low-water content of HPMC capsules, for example, can help prevent premature activation of a probiotic’s beneficial culture during storage.

Targeting Pets

People aren’t the only ones that prefer capsules—they have pet appeal too. Outer fragrances on capsules are whetting appetites in the companion animal market, inducing animals to ingest them like treats! Capsules can already hide the unpleasant tastes and odors of fish oil supplements for animals’ joint and bone health, for example. Capsugel is developing a Licaps® liquid-filled capsule that will be covered with flavorful appealing scents such as pork. Taste tests with dogs proved an 85-percent acceptance—better than with treats! Combining a pet-friendly fragrance with a taste-tested formulation provides the best of both worlds in creating a preferred and effective companion animal supplement.

New Technologies

With encapsulation technology, a hot new trend is for multi-release products—putting multiple components in one convenient package. A consumer can now take one capsule that offers preferred timing and delivery of individual elements of the formulation.

One new product format places beads within a liquid-filled capsule. The liquid dose is designed to offer quick release of an ingredient. The beads provide for a controlled or delayed time release. The thickness of the bead’s coating can be changed so that some beads dissolve as soon as the capsule ruptures, while other beads dissolve later.

The “beads-in-a-capsule” product is also visually attractive—an added boost for product differentiation and instant consumer appeal. This novel design allows companies to design a multitude of looks using colorful beads, as well as colored and printed capsule combinations.

Another design is a liquid capsule within a capsule. Like the “beads-in-a-capsule", this design can combine multiple ingredients with different release profiles in a single dosage, including incompatible ingredients that must be delivered at different times and places in the body for optimum impact. The difference is all the ingredients are in liquid form.

One specific product category that can benefit from a “capsule-in-a-capsule” approach is probiotics. Capsugel, for example, developed a prototype with a liquid prebiotic outer layer surrounding a probiotic contained in the inner capsule. The design enhances product stability by protecting the probiotic inner capsule in an HPMC capsule suspended in a glycerin formula. This creates an effective barrier to moisture, which helps the probiotic remain inactive until it is ready to go to work in your system.

In the market pie for supplement delivery, it is clear that new pieces will continue to be sliced out for capsules with new thinking and cutting-edge technology that meet the ever-growing needs and interests of consumers.

Dan Healy is the business development manager at Capsugel, a Greenwood, S.C.-based producer of capsules, including Licaps® and other branded offerings.