After several years development, Omegatri has inked its first deal with Icelandic supplements manufacturer, Lysi, with products set for launch there in September and other countries Lysi sells into.
That product will offer 125mg of omega-3 forms DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) per tablet – half daily recommended EU levels of 250mg per day.
Omegatri chief marketing and sales officer Ludo van de Wiel, who previously worked at DSM-owned Ocean Nutrition Canada, told us the offering targeted the premium end of the market, and would sell above regular fish oil-derived omega-3 capsules, of which he said there were about 15 offered by different parties.
Compression technology
But most of them could not be compressed into a tablet without losing their structural integrity, losing EPA-DHA content and releasing odours, he said.
“We have found a way to convert any oil into powder and make it compressible,” he said.
“Otherwise you need an excipient. This technology is quite different and attractive to those in the tablet industry.”
The company exhibited its ingredient and technology for the first time at the recent Vitafoods trade show in Geneva, Switzerland, where interested parties included US and Asian supplement manufacturers, along with contract manufacturers and other omega-3 suppliers including fish and krill oil players.
He said vegetarians that may avoid animal gelatine found in many capsules was another niche market, especially in countries where there are many vegetarians like India and Indonesia.
Van de Wiel, CMSO added: “The omega-3 tablets are well documented through clinical studies at the University Hospital in Oslo. The bioavailability is at least as good as soft gel capsules, the oxidative stability is very robust and no animal gelatine is used. The tablet does not give any fishy burps or after ingestion.”
The company had also received interest from manufacturers of vitamin and multivitamin supplements that saw an opportunity to add marine-sourced omega-3s to their products.
Earlier this year South African firm Dynamic Extractions and Formulations (DEF) said it had developed omega-3 powders that could be used in tablets using an 18-step Dynamic Cellular Disruption (DCD) process.
“With our stablised highly nutritious oil powders the options are greater for producers and manufacturers as the powders can be used in hard gels, tablets or sprinkled over products used in bars, included in shakes and smoothies,” the company said at the time.
Omegatri is owned by PHS based in the Netherlands, GC Rieber and Såkorn Investments in Norway.