good strains, highly active bacteria and true efficacy are the moats of probiotic products.
By Carol he
Source: foodaily daily food (id:foodaily)
How hot is the probiotic market?
During the first four hours of the “double 11” period in 2021, the turnover of probiotics increased by 310% year-on-year. In the first level category of health food / dietary nutrition supplement food on tmall Taobao platform, the sales of Q1 probiotics related products reached 1.86 billion yuan in 2021 alone, with a year-on-year growth rate of 200%.
From the most well-known function of improving intestinal health to the use of probiotics to promote weight management and enhance immunity, the functional demands of probiotics have become more and more diverse, and the application combinations of brands in strains, dosage and form of taking have also emerged one after another. However, as consumers pay more and more attention to probiotics, disputes about probiotics such as “IQ tax” and “little effect” also follow. How does the brand dispel consumers’ doubts? How can probiotic products jump out of the “IQ tax” cycle?
Bacteriorhodopsin: the often misunderstood probiotics
Mordorintellgence predicts that the global probiotic market is expected to reach US $76.85 billion in 2024, with an average annual growth rate of about 7.5% from 2019 to 2024, while the scale of the domestic probiotic market continues to expand. According to the data of Tianfeng securities, China’s market share exceeded 80billion yuan in 2020 and is expected to be close to 100 billion yuan by 2022, with an average annual growth rate of about 14%.
Probiotic yogurt, probiotic cereal, probiotic drink, probiotic cake, probiotic bread, etc. photo source: Changqing, Western wheat, Changyi, photosynthetic planet, Haoshi
As a functional raw material closely related to intestinal health, probiotics have long been widely used in daily food and functional food. In addition to the most common probiotic yogurt, probiotics have gradually appeared in grains, baked goods, beverages and other products. Food and beverages containing probiotics are also more popular among the public.
However, with the function of probiotics becoming the focus of consumers’ attention, “IQ tax”, “false propaganda” and other questions and disputes also follow.
On the one hand, although there are enough studies to prove the functionality of probiotics, whether probiotics can achieve the same functional effect in the food field remains to be verified. The food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization clearly define “probiotics” as “active microorganisms beneficial to the health of the host when ingested in sufficient quantities”. It can be seen from the definition that a “sufficient number” of “living” bacteria is the key to the realization of efficacy. However, from the production and processing of raw materials to the safe arrival of the functional part of the human body, probiotics need to go through multiple life and death thresholds.
The realization of efficacy requires many hurdles
First of all, it is necessary to control a certain temperature and humidity range and keep it clean during the production of probiotic raw materials. Different raw material formula, processing technology and production environment will affect the survival rate of probiotics. During transportation and storage, changes in temperature and environment will also have extremely adverse effects on probiotics.
The complex human digestive system is the last but most difficult step for probiotics. After probiotics enter the gastrointestinal tract, they need to pass through the gastric acid and bile salt environment of the digestive tract to reach the intestinal tract smoothly and colonize the intestinal tract to play its role. The efficacy of probiotics often depends on whether a sufficient number of living bacteria can reach the gut through the gastrointestinal environment, colonize in the gut and exert their efficacy.
Photo source: probiotic gastrointestinal transit and colonization after oral administration: a long Journal
After colonization in human body, probiotics will compete with harmful bacteria for living space, so as to regulate and restore intestinal environment and immune function. Therefore, we also need to maintain a long administration cycle to allow sufficient time for probiotics to defeat harmful bacteria and become stable.
Effective stability + efficacy verification is the key
Many probiotic products will be labeled with the addition amount of probiotics, but rarely with the effective amount of live bacteria. Considering the losses in the actual production process, the content of active probiotics in the probiotic products after leaving the factory must be less than the quantity before leaving the factory. As the number of bacteria actually working decreases, the declared efficacy will naturally fall behind the product experience of consumers.
At the same time, the public lacks awareness of the efficacy of probiotics and the safety of probiotic products. It is also important for brands to scientifically verify the efficacy and safety of probiotic products through human trials, national health food approvals, etc.
Selecting effective and stable probiotic strains as raw materials and protecting probiotics through the process to make them work in the human body is the basis for probiotics to achieve efficacy, while verifying the efficacy through human experiments and obtaining the national health food certification is the proof for evaluating the efficacy of probiotics.
Deeply familiar with the health science of probiotics, xianle health, with its profound technical experience, has made early layout and continued deep cultivation in the aspects of strain selection, viable bacteria count control, product endorsement, etc. As a technology-based enterprise deeply involved in the field of probiotics for many years, how does xianle health cope with the strange circle of “intelligence tax”?
Proof of blue hat: build a brand moat
with good strains, highly viable bacteria and true efficacy
It is reported that xianle health, a contract manufacturing giant in the domestic nutrition and health care products industry, has made new moves in the field of probiotics. It has not only reached strategic cooperation with global probiotic raw material suppliers again, but also successively launched velovi brand probiotic powder, probiotic 2.0 tablet candy and ganeden bc30 ® A series of probiotic products, such as elderberry jelly and other probiotic products, have been published in core journals. So how does xianle health improve the consumption experience of weilevi brand probiotic powder from the aspects of core formula, cell protection and efficacy verification?
Probiotics with prebiotics + embedding technology = more advantages of living bacteria
In terms of formula design, velovi brand probiotic powder adopts the raw material combination of 3 kinds of probiotics and 2 kinds of prebiotics.
The combination of three bacteria can ensure the diversity of strains and colonize different parts of the intestinal tract. Lactobacillus reuteri lr-168 has strong adhesion to intestinal mucosa and can secrete antibacterial substances that can inhibit a variety of harmful bacteria in the intestinal tract; Lactobacillus acidophilus la-99 can supplement intestinal beneficial bacteria, inhibit pathogenic bacteria, and help establish intestinal flora balance; In addition to supplementing intestinal bifidobacteria, animal Bifidobacterium bb-115 can also produce a variety of essential nutrients such as short chain fatty acids and synthetic vitamins in the intestinal tract. The combination of fructooligosaccharides and resistant dextrin double prebiotics is used to provide rich food sources for the triple bacteria, better promote the function of the bacteria in the intestinal tract, proliferate Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium in the intestinal tract, and regulate the microecological balance of intestinal health.
At the same time, the strain used special embedding technology to protect the activity of probiotics with three-layer coat during the freeze-drying process. In the innermost layer, special molecules of non reducing sugars are used to maintain the cell structure core material. In the second layer, casein with special structure is used to package the nutrient source and stabilize the activity. In the outermost layer, complex oligosaccharides and polysaccharides with fine proportion are used to block the environmental pressure such as temperature, humidity and oxygen.
Photo source: xianle health
Each bag of 1.5g probiotic powder is added with 9.6 billion live bacteria, and the number of live bacteria within the validity period is ≥ 300million / bag. Domestic probiotic approved products with the number of viable bacteria far exceeding 90% within the validity period.
Human experiment + approval document of Jian Zi brand = more convincing efficacy verification
In addition to developing unique activity protection technology, xianle health also verified the efficacy of intestinal health through CDC animal test and human feeding test. During the human feeding trial, the original eating habits of the subjects will not be changed and the normal diet will be maintained. At the beginning and end of the trial, the feces of the subjects were collected for the detection of intestinal flora and safety indicators. After taking the product for 14 days, the number of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium in the test group increased significantly compared with that before the test (P
CDC human trial eating experiment of weilovi brand probiotic powder
In 2020, wellaway brand probiotic products won the national health food approval, becoming a strong endorsement of xianle health hard core products. At present, xianle health has the largest number of probiotic health food approvals in the industry.
Building platform advantages, more diversified probiotics innovation
From the screening of raw materials to the application of patented technologies, to the fact that more and more products have been approved by the state, and the role of probiotics has been implemented from basic theory to clinical data and literature certification, these excellent product competitiveness are closely related to the foundation of xianle’s deep cultivation in the probiotic industry to build a technical platform.
Foodaily learned that as early as 2014, xianle designed and built an independent probiotic production workshop, which was strictly implemented in line with international standards. An independent air-conditioning system that can prevent cross infection is set in the clean workshop with a cleanliness of 100000 (medical grade), and the temperature and humidity of the probiotic workshop are strictly controlled to ensure the activity of product strains. It is reported that xianle health also filed and passed the new enterprise standard for probiotic solid drinks last year. The index of viable bacteria of products produced under this standard is 100 times higher than the lower limit of the national standard (GB 7101), and the number of viable bacteria within the validity period reaches 108cfu/g.
Xianle’s Probiotic product development, with product value as the core, pursues the “four only” principle. Only international leading probiotic suppliers, only clinically proven probiotic strains, only experimentally proven and stable probiotic formulas and materials with high barrier oxygen and moisture and suitable for stable probiotic activity are selected as product packaging materials.
Nowadays, xianle has reached strategic cooperation with Lallemand, kohansen, Kerry and other global suppliers of probiotic raw materials. Based on a large number of experimental data and continuous process innovation, it has launched probiotic products with more detailed function and dosage form selection.
On the issue of intestinal tract, xianle health focuses on different specific demands of intestinal tract health to “suit the remedy to the case”. Velovi brand probiotic powder focuses on the need to regulate the balance of intestinal flora; For infants and children, xianle health has reached an exclusive strategic cooperation in China with the global leading brand of probiotics, kohansen. Strains LGG and Bb-12 endorsed by the FAO and supported by 450+ clinical literature are selected. At the same time, raw materials such as milk fat globule membrane, a new star raw material in infant formula milk powder, and prebiotics independently researched by xianle health to promote BG probiotic solid beverage; In view of the gastrointestinal discomfort of Chinese people and the increasing concern for HP, xianle, considering the poor experience of hard capsule products, combined with the dosage form preference of Chinese people for functional foods, launched a Lactobacillus reuteri solid beverage to quickly alleviate the discomfort.
Elderberry probiotic soft candy (low sugar), picture source: xianle health
With more and more understanding of probiotic products, consumers begin to realize that the value of probiotics is far beyond the intestines, and the functional demands of probiotics are becoming more and more comprehensive. In addition to digestive health, improving immunity and women’s health have gradually become the functional demands that consumers pay more attention to. With the trend of snack of nutrition and health products becoming more and more obvious, interesting and small soft candy and other forms are more popular with young people.
Probiotic tablet candy, picture source: xianle health
Xianle health also closely follows the market demand, breaks through the technical challenge of enabling probiotics to survive in soft candy, and introduces a low sugar elderberry soft candy with ganeden bc30 which can regulate the intestines and stomach and enhance immunity ® Probiotics (*ganeden bc30 ® It is a trademark of Kerry Group) to ensure the number of strains within the validity period and ensure the effectiveness of the product. This probiotic soft candy can be sugar free. While supplementing probiotics, young women and mothers do not have to worry about the “sweet burden” the product brings to themselves and their children. In addition, for the care of women’s private parts, the cranberry triple probiotic tablet candy formula uses triple probiotics in combination with cranberry fruit powder and flaxseed extract to clean the formula, regulate the endogenous environment of private parts and improve resistance.
According to Ipsos’ social media research data, the growth rate of online volume of probiotics has been outstanding in the last half year, reaching 29.2%. Among them, appeals, brands, strains and scenes are the most concerned topics of the public. With the increase of the breadth and depth of the application of probiotics, consumers’ cognition and expectation of probiotics are also gradually rising.
When consumers clearly recognize the necessary conditions for probiotics to achieve efficacy, the brand also needs to implement the functionality and safety of probiotics application, and increase the product experience, so that probiotics products can truly gain the heartfelt recognition and re purchase of the public. From improving the activity of probiotics to patent and approving the endorsement of health food, xianle’s deep cultivation in probiotic products has undoubtedly brought more reliable experience to consumers. Foodaily believes that when more brands begin to realize the category pain points of the probiotics industry and gain insight into the health demands of consumers, they can also successfully break through and give a satisfactory answer in this window period of rapid development.
1. insight into probiotics trends Ipsos
2. 100 billion high activity, self redemption of probiotic Market
3. insight into probiotics in intestinal health Ipsos
Cover source: probiotics: hype and hope
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