TopGum adds liquid honey gummy delivery tech

The company's latest "gummification" innovation is HoneyGum, a line of all-natural, honey-based functional gummies with high-dose liquid honey instead of the standard powdered honey. HoneyGum also does not use fillers such as cornstarch or stabilizers.

“The powdered honey is easier to ship, it's easier to store, it's easier to work with but you sacrifice the natural pureness of the honey in that process,” said Jennifer Toomey, the company’s head of new product development USA. “We really wanted to look at this and do it better.”

One product where honey serves as a delivery method is for TopGum’s Honey Sleep Relaxation, which includes chamomile extract, GABA, L-theanine and valerian with a calming, lemon-chamomile taste. It is formulated to help promote restful sleep.

Another supplement is Honey Energy, which delivers 500 mg honey-infused energy via B-vitamins and caffeine in a brightly colored, tangerine flavored gummy. 

“We take things that are difficult or more challenging for other people, and we use our technology and our expertise to do them in a much more healthy, clean label way,” Toomey said. “And [honey] was also one of the places we saw an opportunity to bring something better and healthier to the market.”

Microencapsulation​

TopGum began as a small confectionary firm in 2004 but pivoted its business model in 2016 to target the emerging gummy trend. Building on its expertise in confectionary science, it developed a patented, proprietary technology to microencapsulate ingredients within a protective coating or shell.

This helps control the release, stability and bioavailability of the encapsulated bioactive ingredients inside the gummy and enhances the effectiveness of the formulation while extending the gummy's shelf life. The benefits also include controlled release and targeted delivery.

Toomey explained that this technology is particularly useful in masking the flavor and improving the delivery of a mineral supplement like iron, which is known for its metallic taste and for causing stomach upset.

She noted that ensuring compliance by addressing these factors is particularly important given that 30% of the global population suffers from iron deficiency anemia. TopGum said that masking that poor iron ‘flavor’ involves a complex process that it applies to the mineral as well as to vitamins and nutrients.

“It's a big space, it's growing,” Toomey said. “However, we saw that there were shortcomings in the gummies that were available out there. We really looked to bring our technology forward to solve problems or fill gaps.”

Microencapsulation also makes it possible to include a more efficient dose of the ingredient.

“We don’t claim to be a medicine, but we can go as high as 40 mg of iron in the gummy,” Eyal Shohat, CEO at TopGum, said.

Taste and convenience​

To ensure consumer compliance, TopGum's gummy formulation targets two buckets: taste and convenience.

"This is why gummies became the most popular delivery format in the vitamin and mineral category in the United States,” Shohat said.

If taste and convenience are aligned, consumers will likely remain committed to a supplement regimen, according to TopGum, which also highlights that flavor preferences vary across geographies and formulations.

“When we develop a flavor, a gummy story for the U.S. market, we know that market likes sweeter gummies,” Shohat said. “They like a more prominent taste and sweeter taste. We take this into consideration, so we will put more flavor versus for Europe or elsewhere.”

Ido Kretchmer, VP of strategy and corporate development at TopGum, noted that this attention to flavor becomes more important as consumers demand combination gummies.

“We see this trend of converging ingredients into a single delivery form," he said. “We need to provide the capability of introducing a variety of active ingredients that will work together. This is something that manufacturers and brands need to look for.”