WATCH: How functional gummies bring ‘happiness’ across different age groups – Swisse and Power Gummies

A brand under the Health and Happiness (H&H) Group, Swisse started its gummy portfolio with products for kids and launched products for adults just three months ago in Australia.

Probiotic and prebiotic, immune, and bone health gummies are the common offerings for both its kids and adult gummy range. For the adults, there are also products for sleep support, hair, skin, nail, and muscle health.

Power Gummies, a brand by India-based Aesthetics Nutrition, currently has three offerings for adults but is working on launching gummies for children – with the launch expected to take place next year.

Its current SKUs​ address hair, skin, nail needs, weight management, with a product targeted at alleviating premenstrual syndrome (PMS) its latest launch.

Asked the reason for developing gummy nutraceuticals, both brands said it was important to make supplements consumption an enjoyable process that could evoke a feeling of happiness.

“We have [products in] tablets and capsules and ​have been developing effervescent, liquid, powder, more varieties, more choices for consumers to use healthy supplements the way they think is the best [for them].​

“Gummy clearly is a nice additional format, it actually adds happiness to the health in a sense, because it is still [made] based on all the same health principles and the good ingredients, but with this more engaging format, it adds happiness to [the consumption of] health supplements,”​ said Hanno Cappon, Chief Technology Officer, H&H Group.

Power Gummies added that gummies were convenient, since it could be taken on-the-go.

“We did try and explore a lot of other variants, but we felt that gummies have a sentimental value, it brings happiness, and it is easy to have it on-the-go.​

“Today, the consumers love it [gummies] because for them it is the one dosage they look in a day to have and that's the kind of beauty we wanted to create, that people should be looking forward to having their daily dose of nutraceutical,” ​said Divij Bajaj, CEO and Founder, Power Gummies.

Challenges​

There is also a unique set of challenges involved in the making of gummy nutraceuticals, including concerns around product stability, texture, suitability of ingredients used, taste, and sugar content.

In the case of probiotics and prebiotics gummies, Cappon said that it was important to use strains that would remain stable in the gummy format.

“Gummies have a higher water content than tablets and powders, and in the dry form, probiotics are more stable, and it will be more water active in the gummy format, it will become more challenging.​

“But clearly there are strains, like the ones we use, such as ​Bacillus coagulans spores​ which is actually is stable in a gummy format in the right dosage format.”​

Watch the video to find out more.