The Liposomal Supplement Business
In our last few posts, we introduced you to the world of liposomal food supplements. Being a liposomal supplement manufacturer, we thought it important to introduce you to the commercial aspects of liposomes. We will also explain what you should look for before setting up your own liposomal supplement business.
In our previous post on liposomes, we explained the technical aspects of a liposome. We took a look into their structure, metabolism and some other areas. In this post, we want to impress upon you why liposomal food supplements are a lucrative business opportunity.
What are the key aspects of a high-quality liposomal supplement product?
Most good business plans start with identifying a niche product to sell or invest in. In order to understand if it is a viable product, one first needs to understand the product. In this case, we need to understand what liposomes are and how they work. An in-depth understanding would also include information on their pros and cons and safety aspects. Finally, what is it that sets liposomal food supplements apart from traditional food supplements? Once the technical aspects of the product have you convinced, the next step would be to look at examples of similar high-quality products on the market in order to understand what makes them sell. As a successful liposomal supplement manufacturer, we share our knowledge of the qualities of a high-end liposomal supplement below.
1. High-quality phospholipids
Since the main component of liposomes are phospholipids, it is essential that they are of the highest quality. This ensures the production of stable liposomes.
The lecithins that PlantaCorp uses to produce liposomes is guaranteed oil-free. The lecithins also contain a minimum of 97% phospholipids. Further, they are sourced from GMO-free, European sunflowers using German technology. A re-assurance of the quality of PlantaCorp’s liposomes is hence provided. Finally, our liposomes are also soy-free and gluten-free and are, therefore, suitable for most individuals.
2. High-quality ingredients
The quality of the active ingredients and other possible additives like sweeteners and flavours also dictate the quality of a product. The higher the quality, the more effective the liposomal formulation.
PlantaCorp’s transparent production process ensures that you can always trace the origin of every single component of your liposomal formulation. Further, our ISO 22000 certification means that we use ingredients of the highest quality. We recommend the use of sea buckthorn as a natural preservative [1, 2]. Where possible, we also use nature-derived active ingredients and flavouring agents. The liposomal formulations that we manufacture are, therefore, high-quality and highly effective.
3. High bioavailability
We have previously explained that bioavailability refers to the percentage of an active ingredient measurable in the blood, after consumption of the active ingredient. A stable, effective liposomal formulation should be capable of displaying a high bioavailability, without eliciting adverse physiological reactions in the study participants.
With the help of an external partner laboratory, our in-house R&D team has conducted bioavailability studies with several liposomal formulations that we created for our B2C distribution partner, PMC Labs & Distribution B.V. In every instance, our formulations have been proven to have higher bioavailability compared to competitors’ liposomal and non-liposomal products. This means that our products were able to deliver a higher concentration of the active ingredient. In addition, the active ingredient was detectable in the blood for a much longer duration in participants who consumed our liposomal formulation.
We encourage you to read our previous post to understand how liposomes are absorbed. The post also covers how liposomes can deliver a higher concentration of active ingredients to the body than conventional, non-liposomal food supplements.
Still, need convincing that the liposomal supplement business is the right business to invest in?
So far, we have given you an idea of how to choose a good liposomal product and how PlantaCorp’s products meet every one of those requirements. You are probably asking yourself though, whether you really need to invest in the liposomal supplement business. What would be the returns that you can expect from this industry and how soon can you expect those returns?
The liposomal food supplement market
The food supplement market is less regulated than the pharmaceutical or cosmetics industry. This market is therefore, a good starting point for companies looking to join a market with few entry barriers [6].
In a previous post, we outlined the market trend for the global food supplement market. The liposomal drug delivery market was valued at less than 20 B€ in 2014 with a projected market value of 40 B€ in 2024 [6].
Although liposomal food supplements do not fall under the category of drug delivery, per se, it can be reasonably assumed that a parallel growth of the liposomal supplement market can be expected. Food supplements (also known as dietary supplements) are, in general, sold over-the-counter. Especially since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global food supplement market has seen a meteorical rise. Even more so since people are using food supplementation as a means of prophylaxis. Most people are also staying indoors most of the time, further exaggerating the need to take care of their health through nutritional supplementation.
An internal audit proved this to be true since our annual turnover more than doubled from 2019 to 2020 alone. By the end of 2020, the estimation of liposomes for nutraceutical purposes was around 1.7 M€ worldwide with an estimated market volume of 3.12 B€ [6]. The pay-back time for food supplements is thus, shorter than for pharmaceuticals.
Summary
References
1. Michail N. 2018. https://www.foodnavigator.com/article/2018/02/01/superfruit-sea-buckthorn-is-top-natural-preservative-for-clean-labels-says-superfruiticals. Accessed on 08–02–2021.
2. Popescu C, Popescu C, Popescu B et al. Antimicrobial efficacy of the organic greasy oils combination — Sea buckthorn oil and maize germs oil. Farmacia. (2014). 62: 743–752.
3. Trucillo P, Campardelli R, Iuorio S et al. Economic Analysis of a New Business for Liposome Manufacturing Using a High-Pressure System. Processes (2020). 8; 1604.
