As a new type of foreign trade service provider driven by technological transformation and foreign trade services, HiSiaddi has established a "1+2+3+4=1" service system and can supply raw materials of bilberry & blueberry complex extract from multiple well-known brand manufacturers. Possessing R&D capabilities, HiSiaddi has collaborated with factories on technological transformation and accurately captured market demands, repeatedly resolving customized production demands for bilberry & blueberry complex extract. Below is a case where HiSiaddi delivered customized solutions for this product.
Should you require further customized service support, please contact HiSiaddi customer service.
The buyer is VisioCare GmbH based in Hamburg, Germany, a leading mid-to-high-end local eye-care dietary supplement enterprise in Germany. Its products are sold in German chain organic pharmacies, ophthalmology clinics and high-end Swiss wellness institutions. Its flagship products include compound eye-care soft capsules and oral liquids, all complying with EU EC396 standard covering 226 pesticide residue items, USP, EP European Pharmacopoeia, REACH and German LFGB food regulations. The brand has long adopted European pharmaceutical-grade native bilberry raw materials, with an annual purchase volume of 18 tons of complex extracts.
For its new product R&D plan, the client required customized compound extract of bilberry (European wild bilberry) and blueberry, with bilberry anthocyanins ≥25%, North American blueberry anthocyanins ≥15%, and a labeled total anthocyanin content of 20% after compounding at a fixed raw material ratio of 62% bilberry to 38% blueberry. Two specifications were developed separately: dry powder for capsules and cold-water-soluble modified powder for oral liquids.
The client originally intended to cooperate with three domestic plant extract manufacturers for customization, yet encountered five major customization obstacles: unstable ratio consistency, thermal degradation of anthocyanins, precipitation at low temperatures for oral liquids, adulterated raw material varieties, and incomplete EU compliance documents. All 7 rounds of samples sent to German laboratories failed testing, delaying the new product launch by 72 days with sample testing and material losses equivalent to 16,000 Euros. Domestic manufacturers could only produce single bilberry or blueberry extracts separately, lacking integrated compound customization technology to address formulation compatibility defects.
Recommended by the European Botanical Raw Materials Association, the client fully entrusted HiSiaddi to coordinate the whole process including raw material traceability, technological R&D, compound customization and compliance document preparation.
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Chaotic raw material supply and adulteration causing excessive batch fluctuation of compound anthocyanins Some manufacturers used artificially cultivated Chinese bilberries to counterfeit Nordic wild European bilberries and mixed low-grade leftover blueberry pulp with premium fruits. The anthocyanin content of both bilberry and blueberry raw materials fluctuated by more than ±4%. After compounding at a fixed 62:38 ratio, the total anthocyanin content varied drastically, failing to stably hit the internal control target of 20% and failing to meet the content labeling requirements of the European Pharmacopoeia.
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Divergent physical and chemical properties of the two berries leading to active ingredient loss during simultaneous extraction European bilberries are photosensitive and intolerant to high temperatures, while blueberries exhibit better heat resistance. Conventional simultaneous high-temperature reflux extraction triggered massive decomposition of bilberry anthocyanins. Separate low-temperature extraction would result in powders with vastly different bulk densities, leading to stratification after mechanical mixing and excessive filling weight deviation during capsule production.
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Lack of water-soluble modification technology causing flocculent precipitation at low storage temperatures for oral liquids Ordinary physically mixed powders displayed poor cold-water solubility and turned turbid. After 72 hours of storage at 4°C, purple-red flocculent precipitates formed, disrupting the colloidal system of oral liquids. Manufacturers lacked cyclodextrin inclusion modification production lines and could only produce crude unmodified powder.
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Loose control of solvents and pesticide residues failing EU access standards Residual ethanol solvent in conventional extracts generally exceeded 550 ppm, while organic phosphorus pesticide residues and heavy metals in some batches surpassed EC396 limits. SGS test reports were also formatted inconsistently with German import filing specifications.
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Absence of complete EU compliance files, missing origin traceability and DNA species identification documents German customs required Nordic origin traceability certificates and DNA authenticity identification reports for bilberries, as well as North American planting records for blueberries. Domestic manufacturers could not provide corresponding notarized documents, making customs clearance impossible even if samples met physical and chemical standards.
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HiSiaddi assembled a team consisting of plant extract process engineers, EU compliance specialists and third-party testing coordinators, selecting two leading plant extract manufacturers with imported berry raw material qualifications and flexible customized refining workshops. The whole process followed the workflow: designated imported raw materials → separate low-temperature extraction → precise proportion sealed compounding → powder modification by specification → full set of EU compliance supporting documents. Verification was conducted in three phases: 100g lab samples, 60kg pilot batches and mass production of 5.2 tons.
1. Bilberries were exclusively sourced from wild compliant European bilberry fresh fruits in Lapland, Finland, accompanied by Finnish Ministry of Agriculture origin certificates, GAP harvesting records and DNA species identification reports. Blueberries were imported from compliant cultivated fresh fruits in Maine, USA, with supporting North American plant protection records and customs declaration documents, completely eliminating raw material adulteration at source.
2. HPLC fractional anthocyanin testing was performed on all incoming raw materials, with unqualified batches rejected directly to fix the baseline anthocyanin content of single raw materials for precise 62:38 compounding.
Co-extraction in one tank was abandoned; bilberries and blueberries were produced on two independent production lines. Bilberries underwent low-temperature percolation extraction at 38°C under light-proof sealed refining, while blueberries adopted gradient ethanol extraction at 45°C. Both materials were concentrated under negative pressure at low temperatures to maximally preserve anthocyanin activity. After drying, the bulk density of each powder was tested separately, and automated loss-in-weight feeding was adopted for precise 62:38 mixing under sealed nitrogen protection to prevent storage stratification. The total anthocyanin content of finished compound products remained stable between 19.8% and 20.3%, fully within the client’s specified range.
1. Special compound dry powder for capsules: Vacuum low-temperature drying + air classification crushing, optimized repose angle of 35°±3°, no added silicon dioxide anti-caking agent, resistant to caking under high-humidity storage, compatible with automatic capsule filling equipment.
2. Water-soluble compound powder for oral liquids: Post-compounding low-temperature β-cyclodextrin inclusion modification, achieving instant full dissolution in cold water with no precipitation after 90 days of storage at 4°C, fully matching the client’s low-temperature production conditions for oral liquids.
Three-stage negative pressure rectification was deployed across all production sections to recover ethanol, with finished product solvent residues controlled between 260 ppm and 370 ppm. Every batch of raw materials and finished products underwent full screening of 226 pesticide residues by SGS in accordance with EC396 standards, with heavy metal levels complying with USP<232> limits. English COA certificates with HPLC anthocyanin monomer chromatograms were issued.
All berry origin notarized documents, DNA identification reports, factory LFGB filing certificates, full SGS test reports and English SDS documents were compiled into CMC process files formatted to German pharmaceutical authority standards, with pre-submission assistance for the client’s German raw material import pre-filing.
After 5 rounds of cross-border sample delivery, full testing by German laboratories and pilot production verification at the client’s workshop, both customized compound extracts passed German LFGB certification and EU import pre-review. The first batch of 5.2 tons was vacuum-packed in moisture-proof aluminum foil bags and shipped to Hamburg with zero customs inspection during clearance.
After raw material commissioning: The capsule production line operated stably for 30 consecutive days with filling weight error below ±2%, and the rejection rate dropped from 23.7% (previous generic raw materials) to 1.6%. All batches of oral liquid remained transparent with no precipitation after long-term cold storage, enabling the delayed 72-day new product to launch in pharmacies across Germany and Switzerland.
The client immediately signed a long-term annual procurement framework of 18 tons (11.2 tons capsule powder + 6.8 tons water-soluble oral liquid powder), scheduled for monthly delivery in 12 batches. Subsequent customized demand for ultra-fine powder for children’s soft candies was also fully entrusted to HiSiaddi for overall coordination. Compared with raw materials sourced locally in Europe, the comprehensive procurement cost of domestically customized extracts decreased by 31.2%, and sea transportation cycle was shortened from 68 days to 23 days.
In the following year, VisioCare expanded its market to Austria and the Netherlands relying on stable customized raw materials, launching new customized raw materials for high-end eye-care skincare products while retaining the original raw material supply chain and customization process. Endorsed by this high-end German brand, partner factories optimized standardized production lines for compound berry extracts and successively signed cooperation agreements with three equivalent mid-to-high-end eye-care brands in Switzerland and Austria, escaping the low-price homogenization competition for single-ingredient extracts.
Most domestic plant extract manufacturers excel in mass production of single-ingredient extracts yet lack customized R&D capabilities for differentiated extraction, precise compounding and specification-specific modification of different berries. They also lack familiarity with EU pharmacopoeias, pesticide residue standards and traceability regulations across multiple European countries. While mid-to-high-end European brands master terminal formulation and local regulations, they have limited understanding of domestic raw material supply chains and customization process drawbacks, leading to frequent customization failures, delayed new product launches and substantial sample losses upon independent direct sourcing. Leveraging technological and compliance resources, HiSiaddi bridges the technical gap between Chinese formula customization and overseas regulatory requirements by establishing a full-service chain covering overseas berry traceability, differentiated extraction & compounding, specification-specific powder modification and EU compliance delivery, enabling domestic compound plant extract raw materials to enter the high-end European dietary supplement supply chain.
Should you require further customized service support, please contact HiSiaddi customer service.
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