Coating Vitamins & Minerals to Make a Yummy (Healthy) Gummy
Research from Transparency Market Research estimates that the market for gummy vitamins will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5.2% between 2017 and 2025 to reach around $4.17 billion. The growth and popularity of gummies can be attributed to their taste and convenience, motivating children and adults alike to take their vitamins. Continued demand for gummies creates challenges for manufacturers who have to find solutions for on-trend ingredients and other consumer demands.
The trends in gummy vitamins and similar ones are focused on healthier products touting reduced sugars, clean label, organic, and non-GMO. These supplements pose some challenges for manufacturers but offer strong value to brands that can give their consumers a more convenient way to get their essential daily nutrients. The more common application issues involve masking off tastes and overcoming gritty textures. The most difficult problems have to do with balancing supplement load with each piece of gummy since there’s only so much space to accommodate the correct amount of nutrients.
Gummies are most effective when they taste great and carry a reasonable supplement load when compared to a pill or capsule. Typically, manufacturers use taste modifiers and extra flavors to mask off-tasting components, but these only add bulk and cost to the equation.
Taste-masking made even tastier for contract manufacturers
Maxx microencapsulation technology, however, has been helping gummy manufacturers effectively mask the taste of vitamins, minerals, botanicals and other compounds for years. The very fine particle sizes are such that there is no grittiness. Additionally, the coating around each particle of nutrient remains intact when subjected to temperatures greater than 87°C.
The challenge for gummy manufacturers has always been finding a food- grade, vegan, and non-GMO coating that can survive high-temperature processing conditions, mask the taste of certain ingredients without grittiness, and deliver actives that are high enough to create the perfect balance. That solution is available—and it reduces cost and improves quality!