It’s not necessarily the plant-based trend they were trying to tap into, nor were they on the quest to market towards the increasing number of vegetarians and vegans—after all fish oil is made of… fish.
But by encapsulating its fish oil in a plant-based softgel, which NutriGold has trademarked as PlantGels, the company cleared potential barriers in getting the sought-after Non-GMO Project Verified seal on its product.
“PlantGels help address existing barriers to Non-GMO Project verification for products encapsulated using animal gelatin because of inherent challenges in verifying the non-GMO status of a source animal’s feedstock,” according to the company.
"Our success with PlantGels is the culmination of previously unsuccessful attempts to replace animal-sourced gelatin in our omega-3 products with a plant-based alternative that is not only safer than carrageenan but also meets our exacting purity and safety standards," said Osman Khan, COO and co-founder of NutriGold.
In addition to its Non-GMO Project Verified seal, the product also is Marine Stewardship Council Certified Sustainable, and received five stars from the International Fish Oil Standards program. The fish oil comes from wild Alaska Pollack.