The rise of functional health gummies

The holding of the Paris Olympic Games has made the world focus on the field of sports. As the sports nutrition market continues to rise, nutritional gummies have gradually emerged and become a popular dosage form in this field.

Functional gummies have become a new favorite in the market. These candies not only satisfy the desire for sweets, but also have specific health functions, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and blood sugar regulation.

In a space conventionally dominated by bulk powders, drinks and bars, opportunities abound for novel, exciting nutritional supplement formats. And lately, a promising crowd-pleaser has gotten into the game: gummies.

With its convenient, interesting and diversified characteristics, nutrition gummies have become one of the fastest growing formulations in the field of nutrition and health food. According to the data, between October 2017 and September 2022, the number of new nutritional gummy supplements showed a 54% increase. According to the research, in 2021 alone, the sales of nutritional gummies increased by 74.9% year-on-year, leading the market in the non-tablet dosage form, occupying up to 21.3% of the market share, demonstrating its market influence and potential.

Nutritional gummies show very attractive market opportunities with their unique charm. However, the process of getting to market comes with a special set of challenges. Specifically, how to balance consumers' demand for a healthy diet with low sugar while pursuing a delicious taste is crucial. At the same time, brands need to ensure the bioavailability of nutritional gummies throughout their shelf life. In addition, as consumer preferences continue to change, brands need to be keen to capture and respond to the needs of environmentally conscious, flexitarian consumers and reduce the use of animal-derived ingredients in their products.

Next, we'll clarify some common misconceptions about nutritional gummies and explore the path to getting into the sports nutrition gummies space.

Myth 1: All gummies are unhealthy or full of sugar. This may have been true in the past, and it is especially true of confectionery gummies. However, with the progress of the production process in recent years, this "one-bite" small dosage form has shown a completely different health appearance. Recent research has shown that the ability of nutritional gummies to slowly release carbohydrates helps regulate blood sugar levels after meals, that is, to slow down the blood sugar response. When alternative sweeteners such as maltitol or erythritol are used in the formulation of the product, the effect on hypoglycemic response is more significant.

Nutritional health food manufacturers and ingredient suppliers are driving innovation in nutritional gummies, offering a rich variety of formulations and flavor solutions aimed at creating a balanced nutritional mix. Taking the use of natural prebiotic fiber to sweeten sugar-free nutritional gummies as an example, this innovation illustrates how brands can avoid the use of artificial sweeteners in response to the market's demand for "clear, clean" labels to bring consumers a healthier, delicious experience.

Myth 2: All gummies contain animal products. Traditional nutritional gummies are mostly made of gelatin, a gelling agent derived from animal bones and skin, which makes them considered "products of animal origin." However, with the introduction of plant-based ingredients into nutritional gummy production, this stereotype began to change. Among them, pectin, as a natural gelling agent carefully extracted from the skin and pulp of fruits, has become a mature and alternative gelatin solution for the large-scale production of plant-based nutritional gummy.

Myth 3: Gummies bring an outsized risk of overconsumption. As with any nutritious health food, there is also the possibility of excessive consumption of nutritional gummies, which can cause a range of health problems, including stomach upset, diarrhea and vomiting. But the packaging comes with clear dosing instructions and thoughtful advice for parents on how to properly store nutritious and healthy food to ensure that children (who may mistake it for "just candy") avoid overconsumption.

Myth 4: The active ingredients in gummies have too short a lifespan. Like most consumer products, nutritional gummies have an expiration date. In order to maximize the life of the product and maximize consumer satisfaction, the manufacturer must closely monitor and manage the entire manufacturing process, and the entire nutritional fudge production line should be thoroughly tested, including but not limited to temperature control and product handling system optimization, to ensure that the active ingredients of nutritional fudge remain intact and effective throughout the production cycle.

Myth 5: Gummies are rarely as effective as powders or tablets. This concept mainly stems from the misunderstanding of the stability of nutritional gummies. Admittedly, nutritional gummies are different in form from tablets and powders, but they can provide the same nutritional value, and the key is that we must face the stability challenges that nutritional gummies may face.

Gummy stability can be impacted by various factors – from the form of the nutrients to the combination of active ingredients – and poor stability can lead to nutrients losing their potency over time. Here, a manufacturing partner with technical know-how and experience is crucial to ensure quality isn’t compromised during shelf life.

The Finish Line

The continuous innovation and development of the nutritional gummies industry has also brought many business opportunities and innovations to the global soft candy machine manufacturers. Ningbo Huadong Machinery constantly committed to the research and development of soft candy equipment, update, create, we will follow the trend of The Times, close to customer needs, in the world's soft candy industry more professional service to our customers, in order to achieve the goal of providing customers with more cost-effective equipment on the road, courage!