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GELITA Expert Interview – Natalie Leuwer, Category Manager, Nutrition and Health Ingredients

How long have you been at GELITA, and what does your role entail?

I’ve learned everything about GELITA from scratch. After joining as an apprentice in 2008, I completed my bachelor’s and master’s degrees with the company as a partner. I then worked in the Marketing & Communications department, handling digital communications, communications material such as videos, and market intelligence. These experiences were all excellent preparation for my role as Category Manager, where I’m now responsible for developing the product portfolio for food specialties. I ensure all new products are market-oriented and serve specific consumer requirements. The other key parts of my role are helping these new products grow and making already established products more successful.

Did you know that GELITA Health is a subsidiary of GELITA and produces finished products based on Bioactive Collagen Peptides (BCP®️)? They market their own brands internationally through distribution partners. Furthermore, GELITA Health produces customized products for private label customers. Whether it’s adding functional ingredients or tailoring shape, size and packaging to our customers’ requirements, the creative possibilities are endless. For example, GELITA Health’s brand QYRA® is a portfolio of different applications based on the beauty-from-within collagen peptides VERISOL®, and one which is rapidly expanding with the addition of QYRA® gummies.

Let’s get straight to the point: The market for gummy supplements is booming! Between 2018 and 2022, the fortified gummy category experienced an exponential compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of a whopping 37 per cent. But despite such growing demand, manufacturers have found it challenging to deliver a desirable texture using an efficient, starch-free process. Until now, that is. At GELITA, we have developed CONFIXX^® - a gelatin that can be processed starch-free yet still gives gummies their anticipated chewy texture.

Since 2018, GELITA’s Young Professionals Network has been cultivating the next generation of experts in gelatin and collagen peptide production. It’s all about ensuring that our customers continue to benefit from world-leading expertise now and in the future.

“If you're sad, if you are disappointed in love, put on your makeup, give yourself some beauty care, put on lipstick, and attack.” Coco Chanel

There are some great quotes about how outward appearance affects how we feel. Many are frivolous and fun but there is a serious underlying message: self-care is important for self-confidence.

Stiffness, lameness, painful joints, limited range of motion and a reluctance to exercise, jump or climb are all symptoms of canine osteoarthritis (OA) ^[1]. Much like the progression of the disease in humans, canine OA is characterized by progressive destruction of articular cartilage with loss of proteoglycan and collagen, subchondral sclerosis and chronic inflammation of the synovial membranes ^[2].