By Bart Spuijbroek, Business Incubation Manager, Tetra Pak
In the evolving landscape of health and wellness, a significant shift is occurring – moving beyond traditional supplements to food and drink with ingredients that deliver targeted health benefits.
The microbiome has gone mainstream. Online searches for “microbiome” have soared, with a 12-fold increase from 2020 to 2023, as consumers become ever more attuned to the importance of digestive health. Research shows that nearly one in four prioritise gut health above all other aspects of their wellbeing, recognising the pivotal role of the 100 trillion microbes in the digestive tract – known as the microbiome – crucial to good metabolic, immune system and digestive health.
This presents a lucrative market opportunity for food and beverage (F&B) companies selling products that can support good gut health. Indeed, these players are well placed to take advantage of the 87% projected growth of the health and wellness market between 2023 and 2030.
Seamless integration
Recognition of a balanced diet’s role in maintaining a healthy gut has led to innovative ways to support the microbiome through supplements, creating a new product category in health and wellness. According to Tetra Pak’s 2023 Index, 56% of global consumers already use nutritional supplements, and this trend is expected to grow with the advent of postbiotic products.
Postbiotics are defined as a preparation of inanimate microorganisms, or their components, that confers a health benefit to consumers. Luckily for F&B manufacturers, expanding product lines to incorporate them is not an enormous undertaking. This is due, in no small part, to the inanimate nature of postbiotics, which provides benefits including high temperature and humidity resistance, without a reduction of the amount of cells during the product life time, leading to an enhanced shelf-life stability. As a result, postbiotics can be easily integrated into various products, including UHT items and ice cream, as well as a range of ambient products.
Diverse applications
While probiotics are already well-known for their health benefits, postbiotics are gaining recognition for offering similar advantages: both postbiotics and probiotics benefit the consumer’s health, while prebiotics act to nourish existing beneficial gut bacteria.
Together with our partners and customers, Tetra Pak’s research and development teams are continuously working on postbiotic blends tailored to different market segments and specific health needs. For instance, a digestive postbiotic yeast blend has been developed to support gastrointestinal health, whereas an immune postbiotics yeast blend contributes to immune function and supports cellular protection against oxidative stress, while a metabolic blend contributes to protein metabolism.
We also offer the L-137 blend, a postbiotic based on Lactobacillus Plantarum. This blend supports digestive health and immune function, which are two of the common benefits that consumers look for in functional products.
Innovative use cases
The potential applications for products containing postbiotics are extensive. At Tetra Pak, we are actively exploring these possibilities with our customers at our Product Development Centres. From innovative concepts like fava bean ice cream and protein tea to health-conscious offerings such as reduced sugar juices and plant-based beverages, the possibilities are vast.
The first product including our postbiotics, a ‘Protein+’ cheese developed by Italian cheesemaker Inalpi, hit shelves at the end of last year. These Protein+ Slices are enriched with immune and metabolic postbiotic blends. As the name suggests, they are also high in protein, offering 25 grams of protein per 100 grams of product. Protein+ is a brilliant showcase of a the broad health benefits that enriched products can provide consumers.
Cost effective integration
A key benefit for manufacturers is the ease of incorporating these new ingredients into existing processes. Developed as a powder, postbiotics can be added during the mixing phase with other ingredients, requiring minimal capital expenditure and no specialised machinery. Postbiotics can follow the normal product heat treatment process, whereas probiotics are alive and need to be dosed after heat treatment in an aseptic process. Since the postbiotic cells are inactive, they do not multiply nor affect the product’s flavour.
Capitalising on the opportunity
Manufacturers keen to explore innovative new ingredients will find a lot to be said for postbiotics: their integration into existing products, stability and health benefits make them an attractive addition to any product line. As consumer awareness and demand for gut health solutions continue to grow, postbiotics are poised to play a pivotal role, offering manufacturers a rare chance to lead in a burgeoning category.
