Slovenia-based Vitiva, who specialise in the supply of natural extracts for food applications, have announced an exclusive agreement to manufacture and distribute an “innovative product line” developed by Naturamed Ltd.
The deal will see production of the food supplement ingredients take place at Vitiva's facilities, before the company markets the products to the US and Europe markets via its distribution channels.
Thierry Gay of Vitiva told NutraIngredients that Naturamed would be responsible for the research and development of ingredients and ‘concepts’, whilst Vitiva would be on control of the production and distribution:
“The aim of the collaboration in the future is to develop and produce 100% natural ingredients for the food supplements industry,” said Gay, who added that all of the ingredients produced through the partnership “will be clinically tested and supported by health claims.”
“Naturamed is a biotech company with the aim of developing new ingredient solutions, while Vitiva is able to operate all the operational sides – from sourcing the raw materials, through extraction and production, to distribution,” he explained – adding that the deal will fulfil Vitiva’s plans to become more involved in the food supplement ingredients market.
Ohad Cohen, CEO of Vitiva added that the joint venture will “open new horizons for both companies”, and will add to Vitiva's food supplement portfolio.
“Our goal in this market is to develop innovative, yet traditional supplements for assisting to relief health acute problems,” said Ohad.
Product pipeline
Gay explained that the collaborators already have one product in the pipeline, adding that many more would come as the partnership develops in the future.
“For sure we will be looking at new developments for products, but for the time being we will be focusing on the current project in the pipeline,” he confirmed, adding that the existing development project was a stage where he could not reveal any more details.
“The collaboration is already in place and we are working actively on the development of this product,” he said.