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 Some of the first herbs and botanicals to catch mainstream attention were Gingko biloba, garlic, ginseng and echinacea. Those ingredients are still popular today because they are proven to work for their intended purposes, said Brian McNally, president of Stryka Botanicals (Hillsborough, NJ). But the industry and, in turn, mainstream America have come to embrace a world of other ingredients.
"The obscurity of herbs and botanicals in the western world has been diminished," said Vinod Khanjow, vice president of HerbaKraft, Inc. (Piscataway, NJ). "The growing popularity and legitimization of herbs can best be exemplified by the complex legal battle over a patent on Ashwagandha that took place nearly 10 years ago. Materials that were sneered at and ignored in the past now have many institutions scrambling to research, patent and trademark.
ABC's Herbal Gram reported, "Sales of herbal dietary supplements demonstrated steady growth in multiple market channels during 2006 and 2007. Such growth occurred even within the mainstream market channel (i.e., food, drug, and mass market retailers, referred to as FDM) in 2007, which marks the first time that sales have increased within this particular channel in several years. The Nutrition Business Journal (NBJ) has arrived at a total estimated figure for all US herbal dietary supplement sales in 2006 of $4.59 billion and a figure of $4.791 billion for 2007."'
Ingredient Trends:
Cranberry
Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon, Ericaceae) dietary supplement sales have experienced significant steady growth over the past few years, according to HerbalGram. Sales of cranberry, which was ranked as the No. 5 top-selling single herb dietary supplement in the FDM channel in 2005, increased by 21.5 percent from 20052006. Cranberry supplement sales have since increased by nearly 23.6 percent from 2006-2007, and cranberry has become the second highest selling single-herb dietary supplement in the FDM channel. "As positive data continues to be released on the health benefits of cranberry, this supplement's steady growth in sales may be poised to continue. In January 2008, the Cochrane Collaboration released a systematic review of 10 randomized controlled trials, which concluded that cranberry products may prevent recurrent urinary tract infections in women," the publication reported .2
Decas Botanicals (Carver, MA) knows quite a bit about the demand for cranberry. Science has shown that the active ingredient in cranberries, Proathocyanidins (PACs) are responsible for many of its health benefits. "That discovery has led Decas to provide an entire line of PAC standardized and clinically supported cranberry powders" said Dan Souza, director of sales and marketing for Decas.
Souza referred to the 2004 AFFSA health claim, which has lead to increased demand for cranberries, and more importantly, standardization of cranberry ingredients. "The claim states that products containing 36mg North American Cranberry PACs can 'help reduce the adhesion of certain E. coli bacteria to the urinary tract walls.' Formulators need a standardized product in order to consistently deliver the 36mg. Both formulators and consumers are becoming more and more aware of the various health benefits of cranberry which is leading to increased sales," he added.
 Superfruits
While cranberry is gaining a lot of buzz, superfruit products have experienced some of the greatest recent sales growth within the herbal supplement sector. HerbalGram reported that sales of alai (Euterpe oleracea, Arecaceae) products, for instance, increased by 86 percent in 2007 compared to 2006. The total 2007 sales figure for acai is estimated at $30 million—two-thirds of which is attributed to sales within the natural and health food channel, according to data from NBJ. Sales of noni juice (Morinda citrifolia, Rubiaceae), another popular superfruit liquid botanical product, rose eight percent in 2007, earning an estimated sales total of $278 million, according to HerbalGram.
"The exponential growth of the fruits and vegetables category to supplement the herbs section is an interesting advance," said Matt Phillips, president of Cyvex Nutrition (Irvine, CA). "From our point of view, fruit-based antioxidants continue to grow in consumer interest and use. Generally, consumers know they don't eat enough vegetables and fruits to attain viable antioxidant protection."
Mangoni is a new proprietary super-antioxidant (high-DRAG) compound that combines the best of the tropical fruits noni, acai, mangosteen and pomegranate, which is abundant in unique polyphenolic antioxidants. It provides a superior defense against oxidative stress and thus promotes healthy cardiovascular, immune and digestive function.
Our platform of antioxidant ingredients in dietary supplements and functional foods can help give consumers the extraordinary antioxidant benefits their bodies need to remain healthy.
Coping With Main Health Concerns
HerbaKraft feels that ingredients addressing Americans' top health concerns—cardiovascular health, diabetes prevention, weight loss, energy, stress and combating the physical signs of aging—carry a high demand.
Our best-sellers such as Replenne (litchi seed), turmeric, kiwi seed, pomegranate and grape seed extract, are right in line with what consumers are demanding: cosmeceuticals for younger looking and healthier skin, and addressing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Point of Delivery Changing
While pills and tablets are still in high demand, the trend is moving quickly into alternative delivery methods, such as cosmeceuticals and functional beverages.
"The best delivery methods are the ones that enter the bloodstream in the fastest method, but at the same time bring the desired result," said Stryka's McNally. "However, these methods have to be balanced with tastes, appearance, cost, appeal to the consumer and more. The current trend is placing more herbs and botanicals in liquid drinks and cosmetics, so they address the body externally as well as from the inside out."
HerbaKraft has a wide variety of herbs and botanicals that are both potent and safe for consumption and application. "Our new line of water soluble and water extracted products has now brought convenience and safety to new levels. We can provide compounds such as turmeric, pomegranate extract and ginger extract in water–soluble forms that can easily be incorporated into healthy beverages; a favorable alternative to other forms. In addition, water extracted compounds are safer to consume compared with compounds extracted with acetone or alcohol," said Khanjow.
Challenges
George Pontiakos, president and CEO of BI Nutraceuticals (BI, Long Beach, CA) feels there are two areas that pose the biggest challenges to the herbs and botanicals category. The first is sourcing.
"There are 26 species of echinacea and only a handful have literature in terms of efficacy. You need to make sure your supplier has the investment in lab facilities to get down to the DNA, so that what you're specking is what you're getting. There are a lot of opportunities for adulteration if specs are not clear. If you don't specifically quantify, you won't get what you expect," said Pontiakos, whose company puts every plant that comes into its facility through a stringent process to marker compounds called Identiloc.
Some of the trade barriers have been reduced with the Free Trade Agreements such as the US-Chile agreement, the US-Korea agreement and the China-New Zealand agreement that have all been singed within the last five years, making many rare, natural exports more accessible. BI Nutraceuticals sources from 35 different countries and is the only ingredient supplier with its own facility in China.
HerbaKraft also considers sourcing one of its specialties. In Khanjow's eyes, it all comes down to strong relationships.
"The idea behind successful sourcing is striking mutually beneficial agreements with growers and direct manufacturers and processors of native botanicals world-wide, and ensuring the material undergoes a rigorous quality assurance program on the spot prior to further commercial activity of the material," he said.
The other challenge for the industry comes from a high demand on organic ingredients. BI Nutraceuticals prides itself on its expansive organic ingredient offering and the limits it goes to insure quality.
"The second challenge is providing pesticide, lead-free ingredients where the microbial count is within safe limits," said Pontiakos. "A strong sterilization process is key here." Six years ago, BI examined all the processes on the market and finally settled on Protexx for its operation.
There are only three machines in the world that can offer this sterilization process, and BI owns two of them. "It's as effective as ethylene oxide but it's organic and safe. We inject a small amount of water to accelerate growth and hit the whole form with short blast of heat, which takes down microbials and cleans. The system is unique that it produces ingredients that are organically certified and safe to ingest," said Pontiakos.
BI has also developed long relationships with its suppliers in India, China, Norway and Scandinavia. It has trained these suppliers in its quality assurance measures. It's been so thorough that the FDA and customs brings non-competing companies to BI Nutraceutical's facilities to help them reduce microbials in ingredients, said Pontiakos.
Standards in Place
The last five years have seen a great deal of movement in the herbs and botanicals category, encouraged greatly by the implementation of standardization.
"The category has expanded as more herbs and botanicals are found that can help people," said Stryka's McNally. "Of course, most recently, the quality of those products has been assured with the long-awaited FDA release of GMPs."
The US Food and Drug Administration's Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) requires manufacturers to evaluate the identity, purity, quality, strength and composition of their dietary ingredients and dietary supplements, according to the Natural Products Association (NPA). "GMPs are crucial to the supplement industry's ability to deliver safe, accurately labeled products to the consumer and in achieving the public health benefits noted by Congress in the preamble to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA)," the NPA stated on its website.
"Guaranteeing the purest ingredients is different than the research into the use of those ingredients," McNally added. "The GMPs of the industry are the guiding light to insure the purest, highest—quality products are being used."
"Clearly the biggest change in the last five years has been the move toward clinical support and standardization to key actives. Clinical support lends instant credibility to ingredients. It shows that ingredient manufacturers are committed to delivering a product that is effective," said Decas' Souza. "The move toward standardization has helped to cull out inferior products, which in turn, has led to more potent and effective products making their ways onto the store shelves."
Technology to the Forefront
In order to adhere to strict standardization guidelines, ingredient companies have made large investments in technology that assuage any doubts manufacturers might have.
Avesthagen, Inc. (Chatsworth, CA) conducts a pharma-grade testing process on all of its raw material. This proprietary molecular profiling technology method, MetaGrid TM is conducted at the company's corporate facility in Bangalore, India.
"MetaGrid is based on the use of sophisticated high-throughput instrumental analysis, and is a proprietary comparative metabolite analysis tool for fingerprinting of phytoextracts," said Lauren Clardy, chief marketing officer for Avesthagen. "It enables us to track up to 250 metabolites across different varieties, batches and extracts of a particular botanical. The result is better reproducibility of extracts and a more exacting tool for quality control at the manufacturing level than is currently available anywhere else."
BI Nutraceuticals' Identilok approved powders have also passed all applicable tests including: Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC), Fourier Tranform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Microscopic Image Analysis, Organoleptic Testing and Macroscopic Taxonomy. Additionally, BI conducts High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Gas Liquic Chromatography (GC), and all Identilok approved shipments are accompanied by a Certificate of Analysis (C of A) to verify the identification testing process.
Quality Comes At A Price
This necessity and demand for quality has led to an increase in price that raw material suppliers advise not be a factor when it comes to buying decisions.
"In the long run, paying a little more for a company's Quality Management Systems and Supply Ability is worth the peace of mind of knowing that you are buying the best quality product," said Khanjow. "We feel that one of the most important steps that the US herbal products industry can take is to fully evaluate and standardize the most accurate testing method for each botanical extract.
Too often, we encounter customers who are confused by the number of tests being promoted for the same herb extract that still yield significant variation in the quantification of active constituents. We therefore encourage companies to reconsider their purchasing policies and move away from just purchasing the cheapest extract available at the time."
BI Nutraceuticals' Pontiakos couldn't agree more. "Buying based on purchase price variance is like trying to outrun a bullet," he said. "The main concern should be the safety of the product and that's not something to risk. GMPs have mandated this change and it's a good thing.
"Few companies out there can afford the sterilization process like the one we have in place. It costs money to test and verify species, and the C of A we offer is solid. I stake my company's reputation on it," added Pontiakos.
Going Forward
The consensus of this article's participants is that research is an integral part for the success of the herb and botanical category going forward.
"In order for consumers to keep coming back to the category, companies are going to have to demonstrate the efficacy of their products. Otherwise, consumers may not come back to the product," said Cyvex's Phillips. HerbaKraft's Khanjow expressed that everyone bears the responsibility of maintaining and expecting those standards.
"Manufacturers and suppliers should understand that supplying ingredients is as important as buying them. A buyer should have strong faith in their supplier as well as their product. Suppliers should be able to offer complete documentation including assay testing, methods, reference conditions, standards and production facility audits.
Manufacturers should uphold quality and be unwilling to compromise due solely to price," said Khanjow. "The two sides of the industry need to work as a team; constantly checking and balancing one another. Both suppliers and manufacturers play an integral role in the consumer supply chain system and need the cooperation of one another in order to achieve success."
Clardy has a unique point of view when it comes to the future of the category. Not only is she Avesthagen's chief marketing officer, but she is also the president and CEO of NUTRIMARKETING, a full service consultancy firm specializing in marketing and business development for the nutraceutical industry.
"Trends and research have a symbiotic relationship; one supports the other. In some cases modern medicine, having exhausted the capabilities of synthetic compounds, turns to nature for new medicines to developed into effective therapeutic aids.
Research that produces empirical evidence of a particular herb's benefits will set off buying frenzies when the results are published in mass media," said Clardy. "In the reverse fashion, popular trends lead consumers to invest in alternative therapies such as herbal and holistic medicine. It makes sense for some sponsors or research institutes to invest in scientific investigation of a particularly hot or new botanical supplement to erase any mystification and provide the foundation of science to support what would hopefully be a long-term cycle of sales." NIE
References:
1. HerbalGram. 2008;78;60-63 American Botanical Council
2. Jepson RG, Craig JC. Cranberries for preventing urinary tract infections, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2008:lssue 1.
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