First half sales at Algry Quimica, the Spanish company which claims to be a world leader in the production of choline derivatives for use in nutraceutical applications, increased by 35 per cent compared to the same period a year earlier, largely due to the company's US launch.
Algry entered the US market in April this year with its USP choline bitartrate and USP choline chloride products after the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved a health claim for products containing choline. Foods and supplements meeting the FDA's guidelines are able to claim they are a 'good source' or 'excellent source of choline', and Algry saw this as major opportunity for growth.
Choline has been shown to play a key role in the structural integrity of cell membranes, processing dietary fat, reproductive development and neural functions.
Guillermo Rodriguez, worldwide sales manager at Algry Quimica, said that the improvement in sales had not only been boosted by the company's entry into the US market but also by increasing exports of its products to nutritional and nutraceutical companies in Europe and South America. The company has sales representatives in 25 countries worldwide, and is continually looking to increase this figure.
Algry Quimica manufactures several types of choline for a variety of applications, including choline dihydrogen citrate, mainly used for drinks and choline chloride and choline bitartrate which are mainly used in tableting, capsules and solid nutritional applications.