HiSiaddi is an innovative foreign trade service provider driven by both technology transformation and cross-border trading. We have established a "1+2+3+4=1" integrated service system and can supply beta-carotene sourced directly from multiple well-known original manufacturers. Equipped with independent R&D capabilities as a tech-driven foreign trade enterprise, HiSiaddi has repeatedly proposed beta-carotene product formulation optimization plans and application improvement suggestions through manufacturer technology transformation cooperation and precise market insight. Below is a consultation case of beta-carotene formulation optimization delivered by HiSiaddi.
For inquiries about formulation optimization consulting services, please contact HiSiaddi customer service.
The cooperating purchasing party in this project is ALPINE NUTRITION AG, headquartered in Vienna, Austria. For over 27 years, it has specialized in high-end eye-protecting special medical preparations and hospital oral nutritional products across the Alpine region. Its products are available in ophthalmology nutrition kits of Austrian federal public hospitals, century-old high-end national pharmacy chains and premium health sections of German-speaking organic supermarkets. Its products comply with EU Regulation EC1333/2008 on food additives, European Pharmacopoeia (EP), Austrian Food Hygiene Act, KOSHER certification and NOP non-GMO certification. As a mid-to-high-end brand, it rejects cheap synthetic beta-carotene and exclusively adopts raw materials naturally fermented by Blakeslea trispora. Its core product lines cover eye-protecting soft capsules, sustained-release tablet dietary supplements and ready-to-drink ambient nutrient solutions, with a stable annual procurement volume of various specifications of natural beta-carotene totaling 32 tons, distinguishing it from low-end buyers purchasing bulk feed-grade and low-cost food-grade raw materials.
Previously, the enterprise sourced customized beta-carotene raw materials from a Swiss pharmaceutical manufacturer. Plagued by tightening domestic fermentation raw material supply in Europe, a 33% year-on-year rise in raw material prices and extended formula optimization cycles up to 80 days, it launched a China-based raw material localization substitution project in 2025. The client independently contacted three leading domestic manufacturers of fermented beta-carotene: Dalian InnoBio, Wuhan Jiahua and Xi’an Haisifu, purchasing off-the-shelf raw materials matching its original European formulas. Pilot mass production trials using the samples on the client’s Austrian production line successively exposed three typical technical failures: oil leakage of soft capsules under high-temperature storage, discoloration and delamination of sustained-release tablets under accelerated testing, and precipitation of oral liquids during low-temperature ambient storage. Beta-carotene storage degradation exceeded limits, and finished product yield plummeted from the target 96% to 68%, incurring over EUR 83,000 in losses from auxiliary material waste and production line downtime, delaying the new product launch plan by 55 days. Domestic manufacturers only control physical and chemical indicators of finished raw materials and excel at standardized mass production, lacking downstream terminal preparation formulation R&D capabilities. They can only produce per their mature off-the-shelf formulas and fail to conduct targeted rectification from carrier, encapsulation wall material, antioxidant system and particle size distribution dimensions matching the client’s terminal production processes. After unfruitful multi-party adjustments, the client entrusted HiSiaddi to lead end-to-end work including full-process technical diagnosis, formulation optimization, process delivery and sample iteration.
Mandatory internal control technical standards for the client’s finished products: No leakage of soft capsules after 60 days of accelerated storage at 40°C with ≥94% retained effective beta-carotene content; uniform color without delamination and less than 5% degradation of active ingredients for sustained-release tablets after 2 months of light accelerated testing at 60°C; fully dissolved liquid without visible precipitation after 90 days of refrigeration at 4°C for oral liquids with ≥92% all-trans beta-carotene proportion.
HiSiaddi collaborated with its in-house food ingredient formulation engineers, partner manufacturer process technicians and the client’s Austrian formulation R&D specialists to conduct full-chain testing of incoming raw materials and finished products, replicating failures on simulated production lines. It accurately identified that the three production issues stemmed from mismatches between raw material formulation systems and the client’s terminal processing technology, rather than substandard basic raw material content. The specific root causes of the three failures are detailed below:
The 30% beta-carotene oil suspension purchased by the client adopted a standard mass production formula from manufacturers, using refined soybean oil as the carrier and synthetic artificial antioxidant BHT. The oil featured excessive saturated fat, leading to poor compatibility with the client’s proprietary soft capsule gelatin shell formula; oil gradually penetrated the capsule wall under high temperature causing oil leakage. Meanwhile, the artificial antioxidant underwent trace complexation with fish oil and zinc elements added in the client’s formulation, damaging the antioxidant barrier. Conjugated double bonds of beta-carotene were destroyed by oxygen and light, resulting in over 11% loss of active ingredients after two months of storage, far exceeding the client’s internal control cap of ≤6%. Manufacturers maintained fixed mass production formulas and refused to switch to high-cost natural oils and natural antioxidant systems, merely suggesting the client revise its terminal capsule shell formula – a modification prohibited as the client’s finished product formulas were filed with Austrian food regulatory authorities and could not be arbitrarily altered.
Mass-produced off-the-shelf microcapsules adopted single maltodextrin as the encapsulation wall material with fixed spray drying process parameters, resulting in a wide particle size range (mixed 50~160 mesh powder) and a powder angle of repose of 35.8° with poor flowability. The client’s high-speed rotary tablet press produced coarse-fine powder stratification during tableting, creating uneven internal pores in tablets that accelerated beta-carotene oxidation via oxygen infiltration, leading to localized yellowing and inconsistent color shades. Single maltodextrin provides weak oxygen barrier performance, resulting in excessive pigment degradation during accelerated testing that failed to meet shelf-life requirements for high-end sustained-release tablets. Manufacturers could only fine-tune product content and lacked compound wall material R&D experience to adjust spray drying processes for optimized particle size distribution.
Standard off-the-shelf micropowder adopted conventional single-layer emulsification encapsulation with emulsifier ratios formulated for ambient beverages. Under low-temperature conditions, reduced viscosity of the aqueous phase damaged the encapsulation membrane structure, breaking beta-carotene oil droplets into agglomerates that precipitated. Additionally, trace residual medium-chain triglycerides in raw materials reacted with the citric acid system in the client’s oral liquid, further aggravating precipitation, with orange sediment forming at the bottom of bottles after only 30 days of storage at 4°C, failing to meet the full-cycle clarity requirements of high-end oral liquids. Conventional production lines of manufacturers lacked secondary nano homogenization equipment, and tight mass production schedules discouraged independent activation of pilot lines to optimize emulsification parameters.
HiSiaddi established a special technical team consisting of application formulation engineers, fermented raw material specialists, production process coordinators and EU compliance engineers. Based on the technical parameters of the client’s three terminal preparation processes, the team followed the optimization principle of "raw material formulas adapt to terminal processes, rather than clients accommodating off-the-shelf raw materials" to carry out targeted formula and production process optimization for the three product categories, coordinating technical departments of the three manufacturers to deliver small trials and iterative pilot testing throughout the process:
1. Carrier oil replacement: Coordinated Dalian InnoBio to eliminate standard refined soybean oil and switch to EU-certified non-GMO high-oleic sunflower oil, whose iodine value and saturated fatty acid indicators match the compatibility parameters of the client’s gelatin capsule shells, fundamentally reducing the risk of oil seepage under high temperature.
2. Antioxidant system upgrade: Removed artificial antioxidant additives BHT and BHA, adopting a compound natural antioxidant solution of rosemary extract + natural d-α-tocopherol to leverage synergistic antioxidant effects of natural extracts and avoid complexation reactions with fish oil and minerals.
3. Minor adjustment of suspension aids: Added food-grade hydrogenated sunflower oil as a suspension stabilizer to reduce sedimentation of beta-carotene microcrystals. After four rounds of accelerated storage testing at 40°C, soft capsules produced with the optimized oil suspension showed no oil leakage after 60 days with a retained active ingredient rate of 94.7%, meeting the client’s internal control standards.
Wuhan Jiahua delivered formula rectification by abandoning single maltodextrin full encapsulation and adopting a compound wall material of whey protein isolate + sodium octenyl succinate starch. Maillard reaction was utilized to enhance wall material density and oxygen barrier capacity. Spray drying inlet and outlet air temperatures were fine-tuned alongside high-pressure homogenization rotational speed to precisely concentrate powder particle size at 90~120 mesh, lowering the angle of repose to 29.1° for powder flowability compatible with the client’s high-speed tablet press. After 60 days of light accelerated testing at 60°C, tablets produced from optimized samples maintained uniform color without delamination, with a beta-carotene degradation rate of 4.2% meeting shelf-life standards for high-end sustained-release tablets.
Coordinated Xi’an Haisifu to activate idle nano homogenization pilot production lines, adopting double-layer Pickering emulsion encapsulation technology to enhance wall material membrane density and prevent demulsification under low temperature. Emulsifier compound ratios were optimized, removing medium-chain oils prone to reacting with citric acid and switching to plant-based modified oils as carriers. After five rounds of low-temperature refrigeration verification, the optimized product remained fully clear without stratification or orange precipitation after 90 days of sealed storage at 4°C, with measured all-trans beta-carotene of 93.5%, exceeding the client’s mandatory ≥92% threshold.
HiSiaddi formulated exclusive factory delivery COA testing items for the three manufacturers, adding four customized testing items beyond national standard and USP conventional indicators: oil compatibility testing, powder angle of repose, low-temperature stability and all-trans isomer ratio. Terminal small-scale simulation testing of the client’s production process was completed for each batch of raw materials prior to delivery to eliminate formulation adaptation risks at the factory source.
The initial trial batch of the three optimized specifications totaled 4.2 tons, shipped from Shanghai and Qingdao Ports to Vienna, Austria. Upon arrival, full physical, chemical and stability re-testing of raw materials by the client’s laboratory yielded fully compliant results, allowing mass production on the client’s production line. The finished product yield of soft capsules, tablets and oral liquids rebounded to 95.8%, and the new product line delayed by 55 days was successfully launched on high-end pharmacies and organic supermarket channels across Austria.
In accordance with the client’s quarterly sales plans, the full 32-ton annual order was split as follows: 15 tons of 30% oil suspension, 11 tons of 20% tableting microcapsules and 6 tons of 5% nano cold-soluble micropowder, scheduled for staggered production across 10 batches. Compared with the original Swiss-sourced raw materials, overall procurement costs decreased by 27.9%, and raw material delivery lead times were cut from the original 80 days to 33 days, significantly optimizing the client’s global supply chain costs and turnover efficiency. When the client later fine-tuned trace auxiliary materials for autumn and winter eye-protection product formulas, HiSiaddi coordinated manufacturers to rapidly adjust raw material formulas and deliver revised samples within three working days without charging excessive additional sample modification fees.
1. ALPINE NUTRITION of Austria fully terminated beta-carotene procurement from Swiss manufacturers and switched 100% of its 32-ton annual raw material supply to optimized customized Chinese raw materials coordinated by HiSiaddi. In the following year, the client added customized demand for low-irritant 1% micropowder for children’s drops, with a new annual procurement order of 8.7 tons delivered using the mature formula optimization system.
2. Drawing on this full-category technical optimization project, HiSiaddi built a raw material formulation adaptation database for European and American high-end clients with Dalian InnoBio, Wuhan Jiahua and Xi’an Haisifu, forming standardized formula optimization templates for three dosage forms (soft capsules, tablets and oral liquids). This enabled the manufacturers to secure additional customized orders from two equivalent mid-to-high-end nutrition brands in Germany and the Czech Republic.
3. The client designated HiSiaddi as its exclusive raw material technical service provider in China, entrusting all procurement and formulation optimization of carotenoid series raw materials including lutein and zeaxanthin to HiSiaddi to eliminate terminal production technical failures at the source.
Leading domestic manufacturers of naturally fermented beta-carotene possess mature technology in raw material purification and mass fermentation production, yet their production formulas are designed primarily for bulk off-the-shelf output, with R&D focus limited to intrinsic physical and chemical indicators of raw materials. They generally lack research on downstream terminal preparation applications, making it difficult to match the differentiated formulas, stringent shelf-life standards of mid-to-high-end European and American brands. Finished product formulas of mid-to-high-end European special medical dietary enterprises are filed with local food regulatory authorities and cannot be arbitrarily modified, imposing extremely high requirements on compatibility between raw materials and terminal formulations. Independent procurement of off-the-shelf raw materials from manufacturers by overseas buyers frequently leads to mass production technical failures, incurring high production line losses and delayed new product launches.
Breaking the traditional foreign trade model limited to supply sourcing and quotation transactions, HiSiaddi leverages professional formulation technical capabilities to act as a technical bridge between supply and demand parties. As a third-party technical service provider, it delivers end-to-end services including raw material formula improvement, production process adjustment and factory delivery quality control upgrade. This not only helps mid-to-high-end overseas clients resolve terminal production technical bottlenecks, cut procurement costs and smoothly complete localized substitution of imported raw materials from China, but also drives premium domestic raw material enterprises to escape low-end homogeneous off-the-shelf price competition and enter high-value high-end European dietary raw material supply chains, delivering long-term win-win results for both buyers and manufacturers.
For inquiries about formulation optimization consulting services, please contact HiSiaddi customer service.
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info@hisiaddi.com 
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