Probiotical is helping U.S. companies gear up to meet the next big probiotic trends with more than 60 strains and more than 300 custom blends currently in production, 2000 strains in its portfolio and 80 families of patents.
With 70-plus years of experience in bacteria, Probiotical is tremendously successful in Europe. Now, this Italian company is turning its focus on identifying and filling the US market’s most lucrative probiotic gaps by creating safe, high-quality, science-backed strains and blends.
Probiotical offers unique capabilities and a shocking number of strains
In addition to a thriving bulk business, Probiotical stands apart from the competition for its ability to customise innovative probiotic products to a specific market and company, starting from concept and isolation of the bacteria to the finished product or blend. Theirs was the first plant specifically designed and built for the research, development and production of probiotic micro-organisms.
Each Probiotical product is backed by a huge amount of science – generally clinical trials or in vitro data – demonstrating efficacy as well as quality and stability. The company also routinely combines probiotics with other ingredients such as prebiotics, botanicals and minerals, while maintaining viability and confirming stability.
“Our extreme number of strains, as well as our full-spectrum expertise in strain development, testing and research, give Probiotical a greater understanding of both the highest growth categories such as gut health, and up-and-coming categories including the skin microbiome,” comments CEO Vera Mogna. “We are extremely well positioned to focus on specific markets with specific applications.”
Mogna observes: “One of our industry’s biggest challenges is understanding which strains will work well together for a specific application. Probiotical builds formulas based on our portfolio and our primary research. We create proprietary blends and stand-alone products that work.”
What’s here and what’s around the corner for the U.S. probiotics market
The Probiotical team is energised to impact the US market, coming off a successful face-to-face participation at Vitafoods Europe 2022. The company’s presentations on acne management (the role of the skin microbiota and the gut-skin axis); probiotics’ role in asthma management as well as a cutting-edge take on the gut-eye axis were well received by attendees, comprising international nutraceutical suppliers and experts from more than 110 countries.
Based on the company’s global first-hand experience, Mogna says these are the trends to watch in 2022/2023:
- Gut health: While probiotics for general gut health continue to be strong, Mogna says research-supported probiotics to support the gut/brain axis offer tremendous consumer appeal. “Another strong area is the use of probiotics for weight management to help support specific metabolic health goals.”
- Women’s health: “This is a tremendous area of innovation in Europe, where there is a growing interest in oral probiotics for vaginal health; the demand is also strong for strains or blends that can also support calcium absorption for bone health. Probiotical is receiving many requests in this area with applications for different stages of life.”
- Skin health: “The market understands the concept of the skin microbiome. The use of probiotics for acne and dermatitis, as well as to support healthy aging, is already a big market in Southern Europe as well as Asia. This year, we’re seeing a change from oral/nutritional to topical probiotic applications. We’re also seeing cosmetics companies entering the nutraceutical markets instead of vice versa. These changes validate that probiotics for skin health is an established category with a lot of growth potential.”
- Paediatric health: “There is increased interest in integrative health for infants. Probiotical is receiving more requests than ever for microencapsulated suspensions for pediatric use. Based on the success in Europe, we envision this market becoming much bigger in the US”
What more is being explored
Probiotical is comfortable in its leadership position as a company that routinely explores the frontiers of using microbiota for human health. “We are committed to exploring new probiotic applications not yet on the market,” confirms Mogna. “For example, we are among the first to explore the gut/eye axis.”
She concludes: “Probiotical is in the enviable position of being able to assess the trends, then develop and test the strains to demonstrate the scope of our innovation and technology. It’s an exciting time to be broadening our presence in the US. There is always something new in our pipeline.”
