07 Jun 2016 --- Vitamin K2 as menaquinone-7 (MK-7) may be the fastest growing health ingredient in the world today. NutritionInsight talked with Jörg Büttinghaus of PPM about how using his new Formulations LookBook can bring more K2 MK-7 supplement products to market.
Jörg Büttinghaus has spent nearly two decades in the mineral pharm business, and has been Managing Partner of Hamburg-based ppm.Ingredients (PPM) for six years.
PPM has a prime focus on osteoporosis and osteoarthritis prevention, as well as support of cardiovascular health. In fact, the company supplies over a 100 different grades of just four nutrients: calcium, magnesium, vitamin D3 – and vitamin K2 as MK7.
But what is so special about this form of Vitamin K? “Vitamin K2 is an underdeveloped vitamin,” explains Büttinghaus. “Vitamin K2 was discovered in the 1930s, but was soon forgotten as science followed vitamin K1.”
The two forms of vitamin K are “totally different” according to Büttinghaus: “Vitamin K2 was ‘rediscovered’ in the last 15 years as an important factor in bone and cardiovascular health. The population-based Rotterdam Study revealed that dietary vitamin K2 (long-chain) is more beneficial for prevention of heart disease than vitamin K1.”
“After being absorbed from the digestive tract, vitamin K1 quickly disappears from circulation (half-life = 1-2 hours). By contrast, K2 MK-7 has a very long half-life (in the range of 2-3 days).”
“MK-7 is the superior form of K2 because it stays in the bloodstream longer is more bio-efficient, and has additional health functions not demonstrated by vitamin K1 due to presence of a different molecular side chain.”
MK-7 is also safe, even in high doses. Therefore, together with Norwegian company Kappa Biosciences, Büttinghaus created and published the ‘Vitamin K2 MK-7 Formulations LookBook’ for 2016.
According to Büttinghaus, there is an urgent need for a K2 MK-7 LookBook. Put simply: “Vitamin K2 MK-7 is ready for mass market commercialization.”
“It was created to generate marketing and provide guidance in picking the right product.”
However, K2 is a very expensive ingredient. Currently it averages US$28 per 1000 doses (90µg label claim). This made initial promotion of K2 MK-7 difficult: “Also, as nobody knew much about it, demand was low. Therefore, the question was: How do we roll it out into the market?”
LookBook consumers
Büttinghaus wants the dietary supplements industry to use this new LookBook. He explains: “It took two years for us to contact contract manufacturers and brands who had no information about promotion of K2 into the market.”
“There were three groups to convince in order to decrease price of K2: sales and marketing directors are the decision makers, then the product developers, and finally quality management.”
“The key is to target new consumer groups, add novel ingredients to deliver health benefits, tailor more meaningful benefits for the target consumers, and choose appealing product formats.” Supplement dosage forms for different markets (men, women, children and the elderly) are also described.
Superhero promotion
Büttinghaus has also designed a comic strip to publicize the importance of K2 in bone and heart health: “Our mission is to use The League of Superheroes to explain The Bone Health Triangle.” Characters include “Kid K2, the Newcomer to the Planet Supplement in his ‘microencapsulation’ spaceship” who, with vitamin D3, ensures that calcium is absorbed easily and reaches the bone mass while also preventing arteries from calcification. The comic is included in the LookBook and is also advertised on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bADEmyr4No
Looking to the future
Awareness is already improving for ‘The Next Vitamin Now’: “Since attending Vitafoods Europe 2016 in May, interest in K2VITAL formulations has tripled,“ says Büttinghaus.
“The first new formulations from the LookBook are due to be launched in several countries in the next months. This has never been done before in the industry.” These include instant nutrition products such as fortified and functional foods, as well as pharma preparations. Further generations of K2VITAL are also planned in the next 12-24 months, as Büttinghaus informs: “Vitamin K2 will take its place alongside other fat-soluble vitamins A, D and E, and be one of the top five supplement categories on the market.”
“By increasing intakes of vitamin K2 in the general population, we may reduce worldwide healthcare spending on osteoporosis and offer substantial benefits to individuals in terms of bone and cardiovascular health.”
Early indicators also point to a wider role of K2 in overall health, ensuring a continuation in the story of K2 development for years to come: “The K2 market is expected to have a 100% year on year growth in upcoming years.”
And a final prediction from Büttinghaus: “This ‘K2 Bible’ is just the beginning. In the next years we will see more LookBooks!”
by Kerina Tul
Source: Nutrition Horizon |
