As consumer interest in wellness, healthy aging, and performance nutrition continues to grow, ingredient suppliers are adjusting their portfolios and development strategies to meet new demands. Addressing this, Ingredients + Specialties from Univar Solutions is innovating around GLP-1-related dietary changes, rising expectations around protein quality and functionality, and increasing attention to sustainability in formulation.
The company also spotlights recent investments in new food kitchens and solution centers around the globe, aimed at expanding technical support and accelerating product development for brand partners.
In conversation with Sarah Gonçalves, senior business development manager for Nutraceuticals at Ingredients + Specialties from Univar Solutions, Nutrition Insight delves into the challenges and opportunities shaping today’s nutrition and health ingredients market, which has driven the company’s “Feeding Healthy Tomorrows” initiatives.
Addressing GLP-1 nutritional gaps
With the advent of GLP-1 products, Univar Solutions is developing tailored product prototypes specifically designed to meet the evolving nutritional needs of users on the medication. Gonçalves highlights that the company’s efforts extend beyond ingredient supply to help nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, food, and beverage manufacturers with formulation support and product development tailored to this rapidly growing and evolving market.
With GLP-1 users consuming less due to increased satiety, the company emphasizes nutrient-dense product concepts to ensure consumers achieve adequate nutrition despite reduced food intake, whether through higher mineral content or enhanced vitamin fortification.
Gonçalves also highlights that many GLP-1 users experience reduced thirst and dehydration, prompting the need for appealing, easy-to-consume products that are fortified with higher mineral and vitamin levels.
Univar Solutions says its nutrient-dense GLP-1 prototypes support hydration, protein, and muscle health.
“What Univar Solutions has done in our solution centers is create a few different prototypes that can support customers launching new products in this space,” she says. We’ve created a hydration product, which we’re seeing quite a bit of in the market — products created with very high nutrient density like magnesium, potassium, as well as calcium for GLP-1 users.”
“To demonstrate the power of these ingredients, we created our own ElectroBerrry Hydration Beverage to showcase at SupplySide Global.”
Additionally, Gonçalves notes that since GLP-1 medications often lead to significant muscle loss alongside fat loss, Univar Solutions is focusing on solutions like high-protein formulations that help mitigate the associated side effects. One example of this is their latest muscle-support protein powder, which combines slow-digesting casein with plant proteins and ingredients such as phosphatidic acid to promote muscle protein synthesis.
“One final area we are exploring is product development for when people are coming off of GLP-1 medications — we look at how we can use unique ingredient combinations to help meet these consumers’ new caloric intake while achieving the required increase in nutrient density,” Gonçalves reveals.
“I think we’re seeing a lot of people who come off GLP-1s and are at risk for regaining a lot of that weight, so creating products for consumers on the drug as well as those coming off of it is essential.”
“Feeding Healthy Tomorrows”
Beyond GLP-1-specific innovation, Univar Solutions is extending its efforts to encompass a wider framework for wellness-focused innovations. Gonçalves explains that Univar Solutions’ “Feeding Healthy Tomorrows” initiative helps customers strengthen their wellness and longevity offerings.
With a comprehensive toolkit of ingredient solutions, the program supports brand reformulation goals, including improving ingredient quality, reducing sugar, and enhancing nutritional value through the addition of protein or other beneficial components.
“Feeding Healthy Tomorrows” advances sustainable, wellness-focused formulation strategies.
Additionally, the initiative emphasizes sustainability by encouraging the use of more renewable ingredient options. Overall, Gonçalves says “Feeding Healthy Tomorrows” provides customers with a comprehensive toolkit of ingredient solutions tailored to developing healthier, more nutritious, and more environmentally responsible products.
“We want to help brands and manufacturers achieve those goals; customers can bring their formulation guidelines to our solution centers for us to help them create a prototype — while simultaneously helping them with their supply chain needs,” Gonçalves outlines.
“Tariffs and supply shortages raise additional challenges, so we can support brands by letting them focus on their growth while we focus on solving their supply chain challenges — especially as a distribution partner that is well positioned to support from a domestic sourcing standpoint.”
Next-gen R&D and sports nutrition
Meanwhile, these wellness-driven principles are shaping product development in adjacent categories, including the rapidly evolving sports and active nutrition segments.
Gonçalves describes sports nutrition as a wide-ranging category, emphasizing the need to distinguish innovations in performance nutrition from those in active nutrition. In the active space, she notes that consumers increasingly seek convenient, easy-to-use products that seamlessly fit into daily routines, driving demand for more accessible nutritional solutions.
The expert reports a growing interest in clear protein as a key area of innovation, highlighting strong consumer appeal for Leprino Nutrition’s Clear PRO 90 in both powder and ready-to-drink formats. Gonçalves explains that this ingredient offers a clean flavor profile without the astringent aftertaste common in whey proteins, resulting in a more enjoyable consumer experience.
Furthermore, she acknowledges that often these types of ingredients can present formulation challenges, including foaming during manufacturing and imperfect dissolution. To address these issues, Univar Solutions works backward through the formulation process, providing ingredients that improve dissolution and manage foaming. These efforts are part of the company’s next generation of performance nutrition innovation.
Recovery ingredients support faster performance rebound for active consumers.
“On the performance nutrition side, unlike your active weekend-warriors, consumers aren’t often as worried about recovery,” Gonçalves states. “In performance nutrition, recovery is very important so athletes can be ready to go again.”
“Whether that’s taking ingredients like curcuminoids in a more effective dose that can help them improve or get back to training more rapidly, we’re seeing a lot more use of recovery products. For example, one more trending ingredient we’re seeing is more incorporation of a slow-digesting protein like micellar casein, and not just at night.”
“We’re seeing [micellar casein] incorporated into everyday products because consumers want to be able to use that protein source throughout the day. I think these are some of the more interesting aspects we’re seeing in performance and active nutrition, all under the umbrella of sports nutrition.”
This growing consumer demand for versatile, easily incorporated protein sources highlights the need for ongoing innovation and tailored solutions. Univar Solutions’ focus on expanding resources, expertise, and infrastructure supports customers in developing next-generation sports nutrition products.
“When it comes to Univar Solutions and investments in the future, innovation, and R&D, we are excited to share that we just opened up an additional food kitchen and recipe development center in Essen, Germany, to add to our network of global innovation centers,” Gonçalves concludes.
“We are always looking to increase our support for our customers in creating their formulations. We will continue to do that through our technical expertise within and beyond our global Solution Centers and in our unique ingredient capabilities.”
