According to market insights firms SPINS, U.S. cognitive health vitamin, mineral and supplement sales reached approximately $499 million over the latest 52-week period, with unit sales exceeding 19.5 million. While the category remains one of the industry’s largest condition-specific segments, dollar sales declined slightly year over year, underscoring the difficulty of sustaining growth in a mature market.
Within that landscape, CHEMI Nutra says expanded U.S. manufacturing access to its choline-rich Alpha-GPC ingredients is enabling shorter formulation timelines while preserving Italian pharma-level purity and stability. CHEMI Nutra, incorporated in 2001, manufacturers Alphasize at CHEMI S.p.A.’s pharmaceutical-grade facilities in Milan and Patrica, Italy.
Alpha-GPC (Alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine) is used across a wide range of cognitive health products, particularly in blended formulations positioned for focus, memory and mental performance. Its use, however, has largely remained concentrated in powders and capsules.
Accessing the AlphaSizeLiquid-Science Platform
Mike Petteruti, president & general manager of CHEMI Nutra highlighted that delivery format innovation continues to shape future development strategies for choline ingredients.
“Future development will focus on delivery systems that improve bioavailability, format flexibility and consumer compliance, including liquids, softgels and hybrid systems,” he told NutraIngredients. “The biggest opportunity lies in integrating choline solutions into multi-benefit formulations without compromising stability or sensory experience.”
Efforts to expand Alpha-GPC into liquid and softgel formats have historically faced stability challenges, and the “main barriers were limited access to suitable liquid Alpha-GPC and a lack of confidence and know-how around softgel applications,” according to Petteruti.
“Alpha-GPC’s sensitivity to moisture and interaction with lipid systems made long-term stability difficult without system-level expertise,” he noted.
Those issues have limited how quickly brands could pursue alternative delivery formats, but Petteruti said those challenges can now be addressed via CHEMI Nutra’s AlphaSize Liquid-Science Platform.
Introduced in 2025, this platform allows for the use of “Liquid 85L” Alpha-GPC in applications such as shots, ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages, gummies, drops and softgels, while maintaining the stability and efficacy of the ingredient.
Moving forward, Petteruti added, regulatory clarity and scientific substantiation will continue to influence how quickly new formats reach the market.
Added value of U.S. manufacturing and regulatory clarity
As competition heats up, regulatory positioning is also playing a more substantial role in ingredient selection. Alphasize is the only New Dietary Ingredient (NDI)-cleared Alpha-GPC in the U.S. market.
“Expanded U.S. manufacturing access to an NDI-supported Alpha-GPC increases regulatory confidence and commercial clarity for brands,” Petteruti said. “NDI support provides a well-documented safety and quality foundation, while domestic production improves traceability, continuity and alignment with FDA expectations.”
He added that those factors shorten supply chains and allow brands to plan innovation cycles with greater certainty in cognitive health and brain-mood formulations.
US-based manufacturing is also becoming more closely tied to transparency and documentation expectations.
“The AlphaSize Liquid-Science platform combines U.S.-based manufacturing with the same transparency and quality standards applied across CHEMI Nutra’s global operations,” Petteruti said. “Domestic production enables clearer documentation, tighter quality oversight and closer collaboration around formulation, stability and delivery formats.”
On-shoring can also make technical or regulatory decision-making processes less complex, as it “provides more direct access to this know-how and more consistent answers around regulatory confidence and performance expectations,” he added.
