Kaneka’s continuous evolution as ubiquinol category leaders

With an increasing focus on longevity and healthspan, consumers are turning to targeted nutrient delivery to both bolster their endogenous wellbeing, and to address deficiencies.

One category that has seen tremendous interest across the last several decades is coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), which started being recommended by health care practitioners in the late 1990s to patients on statin drugs who may suffer disrupted endogenous production of the lipid-soluble antioxidant.

More recently, there has been research showing the body’s ability to convert CoQ10 to the reduced antioxidant form, ubiquinol, declines precipitously with age, making supplementation with ubiquinol of great interest for its ability to support cellular energy and protect against oxidative stress.

However, as with other ingredient categories, this rise in consumer demand has also seen an increase in fraudulent products coming to market. Kaneka Nutrients has taken a leadership position in this category, part of its broader commitment to ingredient integrity and responsible market stewardship.

In May 2025, Kaneka Nutrients initiated comprehensive efforts to identify and expose misleading claims about ubiquinol products. Products labelled as ubiquinol are randomly selected from the market, and samples sent directly to certified or accredited third-party laboratories to evaluate ingredient identity and label claim accuracy. Through three rounds of testing into late 2026, 24 different products were tested; none met label claims, with the majority coming in below 0.003 mg/serving.

While consumers are the ultimate beneficiaries of this focus on quality, Kaneka’s dedication to the category goes all the way back to the ingredient production. Its legacy dates to the late 1940s, with a focus on fermentation technology, which led it to the release in 1977 of Kaneka Q10®, the first naturally derived, yeast-synthesized, and purified CoQ10.

Thirty years later, it extended its pioneering range by introducing the first stabilized ubiquinol product into the US. As the active antioxidant form of CoQ10, Kaneka Ubiquinol® offers superior bioavailability compared to conventional CoQ10 and requires no conversion in the body to perform its antioxidant actions.¹

More than 100 human clinical studies have been conducted using Kaneka Ubiquinol®, addressing health issues from reproductive health and cardiovascular wellness to mitochondrial health and athletic performance. Kaneka’s teams provide the scientific validation formulators need to deliver efficacious products to consumers and offer defined product categories to serve targeted markets. This allows teams to review how the ingredient format matches the role in the body, as well as verifying the quality, purity, and consistency of the ingredient.

Fortunately, quality is built into Kaneka’s manufacturing, with its ingredients produced in the US at its 47-acre facility near Houston, Texas. From yeast fermentation to final packaging, every stage is closely monitored and tested, with security tightly managed across the process. Kaneka’s fermented yeast is purified and crystallized before it is dried.

The product then passes through a sieving process to screen out any potential cross contaminants. Each step is tightly monitored and testing conducted at every critical point. The ingredients undergo a final round of quality testing before they are packaged in an environment controlled for temperature, humidity, and atmospheric gases to preserve product integrity.

Delivering the goods

This also means innovation without compromise to meet consumer needs. The days of “pill fatigue” have given way to a diverse marketplace dedicated to meeting demands for efficacy and convenience. According to the 2026 NBJ Supplement Business Report, gummies accounted for 24.6% of supplement market share by delivery format in 2025, followed by powders (18.9%), liquids (12.6%), and softgels (12.3%).²

Softgels have been the go-to format in the CoQ10 category, as mixing ubiquinol with oil and then encapsulating it in gelatin reliably protects the active from oxidation. Kaneka Ubiquinol is available as a pure crystalline powder for use in light- and temperature-controlled environments including softgels and liquid capsules, but also can be utilized in gummies, cap-within-cap, and liposomal formulations.

It is also available as Kaneka Q30®, an air-stable form of 30% ubiquinol powder that can be used in stick packs, sachets, powdered beverages, and other dry formats. Kaneka’s team can support in assessing the delivery system format, stability modelling, guidance on processing considerations, and scale-up planning. It also offers guidance to its partners on packaging formats, labelling alignment and use of the Kaneka Quality Seal, helping them ensure product differentiation at point of sale.

Further, to support consumer transparency, Kaneka launched its Ubiquinol Verified program to support industry-wide quality improvement, transparency, and consumer protection in the category. Eligible products containing Kaneka Ubiquinol go through independent third-party verification by Eurofins QKEN K.K.; its testing confirms whether the product contains the stated amount of ubiquinol and whether the compound truly is ubiquinol. Products that pass testing may receive a verification sticker with a unique ID number, allowing users to access detailed results.

Investing in a virtuous circle from ingredient production to manufacturing, testing to consumer education, and back to the ingredient verification, Kaneka has raised the bar for quality in the ubiquinol category, keeping consumer health and ingredient integrity at the core of its commitment.

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