Nutritional Powders: Key Considerations

Since the early days of simply packaging protein powders in cans, the market for nutritional powders has offered great market potential and particular challenges in formulation and marketing. Perhaps the most important one is the issue of taste. While originally a secondary concern for a target market of hard-line physical fitness gurus looking for maximized protein delivery, it has become increasingly important. Sweetener and flavoring systems were added as formulators looked to increase the products overall acceptability, opening the door to a wider market. Today, the choices for such systems are limited only by the imagination of the manufacturers product development team.

Another early issue in formulation was addressing dispersion and solubility. Products needed to be easy to mix and stay in solution, at least long enough for consumption. Through the years, scientists worked to develop technologies that would result in a more consumer-friendly end product. Ultimately, manufacturers were able to turn to agglomeration to produce free-flowing, easily mixed formulas that were winners in the sales and marketing arenas.

While formulation challenges may be under control, there are other considerations that marketers of powdered products must consider. Regulatory oversight and sourcing issues are primary among them. Companies are currently reviewing federal regulations and GMP (good manufacturing practice) requirements to delineate their areas of responsibility related to sourcing materials, manufacturing, testing and labeling. This is not an easy task, given the complexity of FDA regulations. Fully complying with the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) requires a total investment by the manufacturer for testing procedures, equipment for testing, highly skilled personnel to perform and interpret these tests, and to advise a sometimes confused customer base on compliant labeling.

Another factor impacting industry growth and development is the state of our economy. This economic state often stifles the creative juices at marketing and manufacturing firms from fear of failure. Companies are afraid they cannot afford mistakes or do not have the monies necessary to aggressively market products.

Where does this leave the powder business? First, expect to see better overall quality of the industrys powder products because of the necessary move toward regulatory compliance. There will be fewer unscrupulous manufacturers like those in the past that drew unflattering attention to the industry with products not made to specification or with quotes to media that are either untrue or blatantly egotistical. Secondand less ideal given the economic situationis that products will cost more at every level. Implementation with the extensive regulations under DSHEA and the GMPs mean greater ingredient, manufacturing and production costs.

While its kind of the good news/bad news scenario, a large consumer base is still looking for high-quality products that perform as advertised. Responsible leadership must be taken by all companies to exhibit a history of high-quality, efficacious products backed by real science, marketing and good judgment. In order to meet those needs, a company must:

John Allison is the vice president with Lawrenceville, GA-based Valentine Enterprises Inc . VEI operates more than 150,000 square feet of state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, equipped for contract blending, filling, fluid bed agglomeration, bulk fills and flexible packaging solutions.