Fruit d'Or to highlight cranberry probiotic in confection prototype at Healthy & Natural Show

27-Apr-2016 - Last updated on 28-Apr-2016 at 15:48 GMT

Fruit d’Or is following the lead of some other probiotics suppliers by pushing its LactoCran cranberry seed powder/probiotic combination into the confectionary category.

The company will be showcasing an organic chocolate covered peanut butter cup prototype whose filling with be infused with the ingredient, which is a combination of Fruit d’Or’s organic cranberry seed protein powder and Sabinsa’s LactoSpore stable probiotic strain, at their booth No. 344 at the upcoming Healthy & Natural Show at Chicago’s Navy Pier. The show, which debuts this year, is an offering by William Reed, that brings together exhbitors and buyers in the food, beverage, supplements, pet products, household products and personal care categories in an intimate setting in the important Chicago market. The show runs Fri., May 6 and Sat., May 7, with education sessions scheduled for Thurs., May 5.

The LactoCran ingredient is part of Villeroy, Quebec-based Fruit d’Or’s mission to broaden cranberry’s dietary ingredient value proposition beyond the proanthocyanidins (PACs) in the fruit, which have been associated with the ingredient’s benefit, which is a demonstrated ability to inhibit bacterial adhesion within the urinary tract and thus ameliorate urinary tract infections (UTIs). The LactoCran ingredient debuted last year, and has a unique value proposition, said Fruit d’Or sales director Stephen Lukawski in that it combines protein, a proven probiotic, and a prebiotic effect into one ingredient.

Demonstrated prebiotic activity

Lukawski said testing done by Sabinsa during LactoCran’s development phase demonstrates the prebiotic potential of the combination. The tests ranked Fruit d’Or’s cranberry seed powder against fructooliggosaccharide (FOS), another common prebiotic ingredient, as a food source for Bacillus coagulans MTCC 5856 (LactoSpore). “Results show that Bacillus coagulans MTCC 5856 probiotic strain from Sabinsa has 200% more activity growth when combined with the cranberry than FOS,” Lukawski told NutraIngredients-USA.

Cranberries and cranberry ingredients have been growing in popularity in recent years, leading to an increase in acreage in North America devoted to the crop. A recent report from the University of California Davis showed that cranberry production has been rising by an average of 4.3% a year in recent years. The Cranberry Institute put the 2015 overall crop at 1.1 billion pounds, with 805 million coming from the US, 327 million pounds from Canada, and 43 million pounds from Chile. The harvest has grown modestly in the US, where Wisconsin is by far the biggest producer, and has grown far more rapidly in Canada, where Quebec is king.

As with some other nutraceutical ingredients, cranberry seed powder is a waste stream ingredient, meaning supply constraints are unlikely to become an issue. Lukawski said bringing new cranberry acreage online is more capital intensive than some other crops, as new bogs have to be precisely leveled and a system to manage large amounts of water installed (the fields are flooded for harvest), and that serves to demonstrate the growing market for the botanical, as investors can foresee a payoff for this outlay in a reasonable amount of time. The real limiting factor is climate and geography, he said.

“It will always be a struggle to keep up with the demand for organic,” Lukawski said. “About 20% of our production is organic.”

“It is capital intensive. It takes many years to grow a bog. You need the right climate and plenty of water, and you find that in places like Wisconsin, Massachusetts and Quebec. You need a consistently cold climate with plenty of water and the right amount of sunshine in summer. We see a strong future for cranberry as goes from just a fruit to a ‘super berry’ and we are gearing up for that,” Lukawski said.