CONFIXX® inspires breakthroughs in fortified gummy production

By moving away from starch-based towards starchless manufacturing with CONFIXX^®, manufacturers can make considerable efficiency gains in the field of fortified gummies – both in terms of cost and active ingredients. Eliminating the starch preparation and gummy drying steps reduces production time from two days to just a few hours and reduces the overall footprint of the process; Less space is needed and the quicker, more streamlined process is far less energy intensive. CONFIXX^® also enables GMP-compliant production of functional and fortified gummies and rules out the risk of cross-contamination through full separation of batches with different active ingredients.

With CONFIXX^®, manufacturers have greater freedom to innovate too. The simplified process lends itself to production of small batches, with greater flexibility in terms of product changes and tighter control over ingredient dosing. This, coupled with the high tolerance of gelatin to formulation changes and the more gentle treatment of ingredients, makes it easy to accommodate a broader range of active ingredients – including difficult to work with and heat-sensitive ingredients. And all this while delivering the chewy, jelly texture that consumers have come to expect from their gummies.

Dr. Johanna Schmidgall, Global Head of Application Development at GELITA, comments: “The market for functional and fortified fruit gummies offers exciting growth prospects. Until now, product developers in this space have had their creativity curbed by practical manufacturing limitations. With the introduction of CONFIXX^® it is possible to produce gelatin-based gummies with virtually any active ingredient – from collagen peptides to melatonin, vitamins and minerals. We can’t wait to see what new innovations this development will inspire.”

The popularity of fortified gummies has exploded in recent years as consumers eschew conventional pill and capsule-based supplement formats in favour of soft and chewy ‘candyceuticals’. According to data from Innova Market Insights, gummy supplements accounted for 9.4% of global supplement launches in 2021 – an increase of 70% since 2017, and between 2020 to 2021 alone, the number of gummy supplement launches globally rocketed by 81%.^[1]

^[1] Innovadatabase: Innova New Products Launches, last accessed: 05.01.2023.