5 innovative supplement delivery systems to watch

By Adi Menayang

- Last updated on GMT

Activity tracker, wireless scale, and personalized supplements by STYR Labs.
Activity tracker, wireless scale, and personalized supplements by STYR Labs.

Related tags Dietary supplement

As November comes to an end, consumers are starting to look for holiday gift and stocking-stuffer ideas. Gadgets are a popular choice, and these days, even the nutrition space is thriving with apps and gadgets. We rounded up eight innovative supplement industry offerings that aren’t your typical pill or powder.

Tespo: The countertop liquid supplement dispenser

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Tespo dispensers

An estimated 38% of consumers reported to dislike taking pills, and entrepreneurs Mills and Jeff Linton came up with Tespo, a liquid supplement dispenser​ designed to support nutrient intake compliance. “The best delivery is liquid so we looked at Keurig, but instead of focusing on a single serving we developed a 31-day system,”​ said Mills. “We were intrigued by the complete delivery system.”

The company launched Tespo​ in April with five “disks” with 31 individual servings in each to go with the appliance: Women’s Essential (multivitamin and mineral with additional lutein, zeaxanthin and CoQ10); Men’s Essential (multivitamin and mineral with additional lutein, zeaxanthin and CoQ10); Children’s Essential (multivitamin and mineral with additional lutein and zeaxanthin); Energy, and Focus. It retails for $129.

GüdPod: A new open-platform delivery solution to pill aversion

Competing for countertop space against Tespo is GüdPod​, another Keurig-like supplement dispenser. This product’s initial launch focused on the fitness crowd with whey protein as one of its first pods. 

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GüdPod machine.

According to the company’s CEO, Tasso Koken, whose background includes stints at GNC and Best Buy, the format beats a blender because it makes no mess and requires less clean-up, and has a more even distribution than shaker cups.

“Beverages are a better delivery system than pills or capsules,”​ noted founder Gian Carlo Ochoa. “Digestion starts in the mouth, there is communication with the stomach to start producing digestive enzymes. You circumvent that with pills or capsules and you don’t get full absorption. We’re starting the process of absorption in the mouth.”

Lolivita: Cups you can dispose… buy eating them (and they’re nutritious)

Billionaire Mark Cuban invested in the edible cup start-up Loliware​ when its co-founders Chelsea Briganti and Leigh Ann Tucker pitched their product on the TV show Shark Tank. Later, they struck a deal with DSM to start designing edible cups infused with vitamins.

Showcased at IFT this year in Chicago was a tangerine-colored and tangerine-flavored Lolivita cup with a daily servings worth of multivitamins each, which of course is only the first iteration. “The next for the entire functional food line is that we’re prototyping an electrolyte cup, an energy cup, and also a protein cup—we’re working on a bunch of functional food iterations all to be launched next year in a staggered type of launch,”​ she said, adding that there isn’t a specific date yet because it’s still at the concept realm.

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Edible cups by Loliware

Sho Nutrition: The Pez for supplements

Anecdotally, it’s not hard to believe that many consumers stock up on dietary supplements, only to leave them in a kitchen cabinet for weeks. Sho Nutrition founder Joy Wang is also guilty.

In fact, Wang further argued that consumers’ non-compliance to dosage and ingestion schedule is a major contributor to the shroud of doubt surrounding dietary supplements, so she wanted to create a solution that can increase intake compliance. “I was looking for simple packaging ideas, like Pez. Initially I thought, Pez is a candy, but why don’t we have a supplement Pez!”​ Wang said. 

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Sho Nutrition supplement dispensers.

The company is still in its infancy, launching only in October. Its dispenser + supplement combo come with a dial that consumers turn as a day marker, a reminder right there on the container. The dispensers were designed to be attractive enough to leave out.

Current varieties are an energy booster and a probiotic for gut health (Lactobacillus casei K-1​).

STYR Labs: Performance-based personalized nutrition

The Arizona-based start-up is one of many personalized nutrition companies that launched this year. But STYR Labs differentiates itself with an entire suite that involves a sleek scale and Fitbit-like sports tracker.

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STYR Labs activity tracker and starter kit supplement sachets.

By weighing oneself on the scale and exercising with the tracker on, the tedious process of inputting data is removed, and based on the stats these gadgets collect, users get personalized supplements formulated for them, with all the information presented in a mobile phone app.

Users can then decide if they want to order and subscribe to these supplements, choosing between a personalized multivitamin or a personalized whey protein (or both) that get sent in sachets or 1 lbs bags. “Our supplements are tailored to each user based on a number of factors including their biometric, lifestyle and fitness/sensors data,"​ founder Sergio Radovcic told NutraIngredients-USA. "Depending on the product we have varied degrees of customization, for example our Proteins are infinitely customizable in increments of 5% per ingredient whereas our vitamins are personalized based on “bands” of common ingredients."

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2 comments

Natural Enzymes

Posted by Peter,

Green Papaya Powder is a very effective natural aid to digestion. Enzymes are critical in life; they are the body's labor force. Green Papaya contains the enzyme papain a protein –digesting enzyme and is a great addition to a healthy smoothie. See www.royaltropics.com. https://wwGw.amazon.com/Royal-Tropics-Natural-Digestive-Papain/dp/B00A1MQ4K2.

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The most innovative supplements sytem

Posted by Harold,

DYNATABS® is a U.S.A. company, that targets THE HEALTH & WELLNESS INDUSTRY OF THE 40% OF THE POPULATION WHO CANNOT SWALLOW PILLS WHICH IS AN EXTREMELY LARGE PRODUCT DEMAND NICHE WORLDWIDE.

DYNATABS Supplements: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zht3lch461xylk8/AACouOj8wxC3uzQ6Dn1T8pKJa?dl=0

DYNATABS® line features varieties of innovative products that are formulated in a variety of tropical and traditional great tasting flavors that dissolve quickly on the tongue so you do not need any water. The rapid delivery of nutritional components from a product small enough to fit in your pocket or purse offers convenient transportability of a supplement that has never been available before, maintaining nutritional compliance.

email: sales@dynatabs.com
Tel: +1 (718) 376-6084

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