Nutritional science for mind health products
DSM Nutritional Products
The Danish firm will work with Latvian company Sagitus to bring the supplement Liveo and Liveo Kids to shelves. The move takes advantage of the growing consumer demand for probiotics and takes advantage of the largely untapped market of probiotics aimed at children.
It is now available in Latvia and Lithuania and next year will be coming into Estonia.
Indeed, the probiotic supplement market experienced tremendous growth in Europe, currently being led by the Italians. According to Euromonitor, the already massive market grew from $203m (€143m) to $310m (€219m) in just five years.
The Italian market is already heads and shoulders above Europe, with the closest continent contender coming in as Belgium, with $15m (€10.6m) sales last year. By contrast North America recorded $293m (€206m) sales.
This August Chr Hansen saw its probiotic ingredients used in supplements marketed for children in Italy. Paediatric probiotics is a focus point for Chr Hansen.
A spokesperson for Chr Hansen said the work with Sagitus is to find the perfect dosage form and taste which is acceptable to children. In this case they determined a sachet with powder was the most appropriate.
Liveo will be available in capsule and sachet form and will contain strains BB-12 and LA-5.
BB-12 and LA-5 are two popular Chr Hansen strains which have made their way into yoghurt cultures that it claims can offer yoghurt manufacturers up to 20 per cent more texture. BB-12 is said to boost gastro-intestinal and immune system health.
As in the rest of the world, Baltic consumers are becoming increasingly preoccupied with their health, Sagitus director Dr Peteris Zvaigzne.
"Having analysed the medical market development in the gastro-intestinal segment we found that probiotic products would be an attractive business opportunity," Dr Zvaigzne added.
According to Chr Hansen the global market for probiotic dietary supplements is developing rapidly, in the Baltic double digit growth has been recorded.
Christian Nanni, sales manager for health and nutrition nivision at Chr Hansen, said: "The new high growth markets in Eastern Europe are very important to Chr. Hansen. The partnership with Sagitus gives us an excellent platform for offering the dietary supplement market in this region our range of documented probiotic concepts."