Launched in Gdańsk, Poland, just last April and held most recently on October 22-23, the CDMO Conference is the brainchild of Pawel Gruszcynski, CEO and founder of the nutraceuticals consultancy Remedy.
The industry expert teamed up with the exhibition team at NutraFood Poland with the aim to create an event which offers a platform for CDMO success in Eastern Europe.
“I’ve been on the market of health science for about 20 years and been devoted to nutraceuticals for 13 years,” Gruszcynski told NI. “In that time, I’ve been observing the market and trying to understand what is missing.”
“There are much bigger events already taking place where people in this industry can meet but they don’t have the intimacy and people don’t have the time to attend the lectures and presentations.”
The conference brings together local contract manufacturers with market innovators with the aim to foster strategic relationships and inspire innovation.
“Now it is also being attended by a lot of brand owners and even global brand owners who are simply interested in what is happening here, so it is becoming a hub for innovation in the nutraceuticals space,” he added.
A country recently transformed
Speaking at the event, Bartosz Demianiuk, chairman of the The Polish Council for Supplements and Nutritional Foods (KRSiO), informed delegates the country has “undergone a transformation” over the past decade, and is now one of the top five European markets for nutraceuticals, with more than 440 production facilities, 1,000 wholesale distributors, and 30,000 highly skilled workers.
“At the moment, we are the heart of food supplements manufacturing in Europe,” he said.
The domestic market is thriving, with annual sales of dietary supplements valued at more than €2bn and more than 75% of consumers declaring they are using supplements regularly.
Further, with a growing number of ‘ultra-modern’ facilities and around 250 CDMOs, the country is also a major global supplier, distributing to more than 150 countries across the globe.
“The market has changed significantly in the last 10 to 20 years,” said Demianiuk. “It’s no longer just recognized as cheap labor force, but a country delivering the highest level of quality and safety and that’s why customers trust us across the globe.”
Next stops for Remedy Nutrafood CDMO Conference
The first conference in Gdańsk last year was attended by 150 people, followed by a ‘satellite event’ in Riga in June.
With approximately 250 delegates in attendance last month, the event series has organically grown to become “a hub for contract manufacturers” In Eastern Europe, Gruszcynski said.
The conference will continue to take place annually at their anchor location of Gdańsk, with satellite events taking place across the wider region.
Gruszcynski told delegates he already has his sights set on Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania.
The next event will take place in Prague on June 10-11, 2027, with a program focused on clinical scientific substantiation of finished products, IP protection and new tech opportunities, with expert speakers from both the nutra- and the pharma industries sharing knowledge.
To learn more, visit the Remedy Nutrafood CDMO Conference website.
