Outsourcing Premix Development

In the last ten years, there has been steady growth in the functional food and beverage market, and consumer packaged goods companies are looking to add nutritional and functional value to existing products or launch new ones offering benefits that help address condition-specific conditions such as heart health, beautiful skin or healthy bones. However, delivering efficacious quantities of a synergistic mix of nutritional and functional ingredients for health benefits can be quite challenging. To meet the demand for healthful products, companies have been increasingly turning to premixes, particularly in the functional beverage and nutritional bar product categories,

Nutrient blends offer marketers an exciting array of customized premix solutions, providing nutraceutical and functional ingredients that meet customer and consumer demands. Available for staple foods, beverages, dietary supplements and infant nutrition, premixes can encompass vitamins, minerals, carotenoids, amino acids, nucleotides and an extensive range of novel nutraceuticals, which can be formulated into customized dry and liquid premixes and produced to the strictest standards. Suppliers of premixes can provide customers with the exact ingredients they need in homogenous, customized blends, enabling the reduction of warehousing, processing and quality control (QC) costs along with the assurance of high-quality products and services.

The immediate benefits to outsourcing a premix versus purchasing individual components can be a reduction in time and costs related to the number of ingredients purchased, tested and inventoried. Utilizing a premix also allows a reduction in the number of vendors needed. During the production process, a premix can help to reduce preparation time to weigh, mix and add material to the process.

To ensure a functional food or beverage delivers both the desired nutritional profile and taste attributes, it is essential the marketer and premix supplier work closely to clearly identify the premix requirements, processing and shelf-life criteria to meet nutrient label claims. Typically, this process starts with the selection of the right form of each nutrient for the intended application. The formulation also involves an evaluation of how the various nutrients will act with different processes, packages and shelf-life requirements. Needless to say, formulation experience, blending technology know-how and a strong quality programcoupled with a thorough understanding of a customers needsare all vital components to the mix.

When seeking a premix supplier, manufacturers should partner with a company that offers a comprehensive quality program supported by independent third-party audits. Product quality should be ensured during every aspect of the production process, from certified premix operations and dedicated QC labs to clean and properly controlled warehousing facilities to deliver the highest quality in nutrient blends.

Before selecting the partner to outsource this key component of manufacturing, ask whether the supplier offers:

The right premix supplier should offer a unique blend of quality, innovation and experience thats custom made for success.

Todd Sitkowski is a senior marketing manager at DSM Nutritional Products, a global manufacturer of high-quality premixes.