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 proposing formulation optimization plans and application improvement suggestions for bilberry & blueberry complex extract. Below is a consultation case of formulation optimization for this product by HiSiaddi.
Should you require further formulation optimization consultation services, please contact HiSiaddi customer service.
The buyer is OptiVital AG based in Zurich, Switzerland, a premium local ophthalmic dietary supplement brand in Switzerland. Its products are sold in Swiss chain ophthalmology clinics, organic supermarkets and high-end German wellness channels, with flagship products including eye-care soft capsules and children’s eye-care oral liquids. All products comply with Swiss FOODS regulations, EU EC396 standard covering 226 pesticide residue items, EP European Pharmacopoeia and REACH control. The brand has long purchased single-ingredient Nordic bilberry raw materials and launched a new product project in 2025 for customized bilberry & blueberry compound extract at a fixed ratio of 65% wild European bilberry to 35% North American blueberry, with stabilized total anthocyanin content of 20%. Two customized specifications were developed: dry powder for capsules and cold-water-soluble modified powder for oral liquids, with an estimated annual procurement volume of 15 tons.
The client independently cooperated with three domestic plant extract manufacturers for sampling, sending 8 batches of samples to its Swiss R&D center for testing. Mass production encountered five major technical problems: large batch fluctuation of anthocyanins, powder stratification and equipment blockage during capsule filling, cold precipitation in oral liquids, severe thermal degradation of active ingredients during high-temperature processing, and oxidative discoloration when mixed with formula auxiliary materials. The new product launch was delayed by 80 days, with sample testing and auxiliary material losses equivalent to 19,000 Swiss Francs. Domestic manufacturers only specialized in single-berry extraction, lacking R&D capacity for compound compatibility and terminal application optimization, and could only adjust raw material content without comprehensive rectification covering both raw material technology and terminal formulations. Recommended by the Swiss Natural Raw Materials Association, the client fully entrusted HiSiaddi to coordinate the full-chain technical delivery including upstream raw material process optimization, mid-stream compound ratio finalization, downstream terminal finished product formulation fine-tuning and on-site workshop production guidance.
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Mixed raw material sources leading to excessive batch fluctuation of compound anthocyanins Some manufacturers replaced Nordic wild bilberries with artificially cultivated Chinese bilberries and mixed low-grade leftover blueberry fruits with premium raw materials. The anthocyanin content of bilberries fluctuated by ±3.8% and blueberries by ±3.2%. After simple mechanical mixing at a fixed 65:35 ratio, the total anthocyanin content of finished products varied wildly from 16.5% to 23.2%, failing to lock the labeled value of 20% and violating European Pharmacopoeia labeling standards.
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Divergent physical and chemical properties of the two berries causing stratification and feeding blockage after simple powder mixing European bilberry extracts feature dense texture and high bulk density, while blueberry extracts are loose with low bulk density. Simple physical mixing after co-extraction led to rapid stratification during storage and mixing, causing arching and blockage of feeding equipment during automatic capsule filling, requiring 3–4 shutdowns per hour for cleaning. Single-capsule content deviation exceeded 7%, resulting in a finished product rejection rate above 25%.
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Unmodified conventional powder causing flocculent precipitation in oral liquids under cold storage Ordinary crude mixed powder exhibited poor cold-water solubility, and purple-red flocculent precipitates formed after 7 days of storage at 4°C in the client’s oral liquid formula, disrupting the beverage colloidal system. Manufacturers lacked cyclodextrin inclusion modification production lines and could only produce standard spray-dried powder that failed to meet low-temperature beverage stability requirements.
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Extensive drying technology triggering thermal degradation of anthocyanins during powder production Manufacturers adopted high-temperature spray drying with inlet air temperature above 170°C. Thermally sensitive bilberry anthocyanins suffered 17%–22% activity loss under high-temperature conditions, with further degradation during secondary heating in oral liquid boiling, resulting in finished products failing to meet formulated active ingredient content targets.
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High impurity content in extracts triggering oxidative discoloration when mixed with formula auxiliary materials Crude extracts contained high molecular impurities such as polysaccharides and pectin. After 3 months of storage with vitamin C and zinc salt auxiliary materials in the formula, finished products turned dark brown from purple-red, failing stability tests and barring shelf placement in Swiss supermarkets.
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HiSiaddi assembled a team consisting of plant extract process engineers, European dietary formulators and third-party testing specialists, selecting two medium-to-high-end manufacturers with imported berry raw material qualifications and fractional refining production lines. The optimization workflow followed: designated locked-source raw materials → separate low-temperature extraction on two lines → sealed precise compounding → specification-specific modification + terminal formulation fine-tuning, verified in three phases: 100g lab samples, 50kg pilot batches and mass production.
Bilberries were exclusively sourced from wild fresh fruits in Lapland, Finland, accompanied by Finnish Ministry of Agriculture origin certificates and GAP harvesting records. Blueberries were imported from cultivated fresh fruits in Maine, USA, with supporting North American plant protection traceability documents. HPLC fractional anthocyanin testing was performed on every batch of incoming raw materials, with unqualified batches rejected directly to fix the baseline content of single raw materials for precise 65:35 compounding.
Co-extraction in one tank was abandoned; bilberries and blueberries were produced on two independent production lines. Bilberries underwent mild pectinase wall-breaking percolation extraction at 36°C under light-proof sealed concentration, while blueberries adopted gradient weak acid ethanol extraction at 44°C. Both materials were concentrated separately under negative pressure at low temperatures. After drying, the bulk density of each powder was tested separately, and automated loss-in-weight feeding was adopted for precise 65:38 mixing under sealed nitrogen protection to prevent stratification. The total anthocyanin content of finished compound products remained stable between 19.7% and 20.4%, fully within the client’s specified range.
1. Special compound dry powder for capsules: Low-temperature vacuum freeze-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 powder for oral liquids: Post-compounding low-temperature β-cyclodextrin inclusion modification, achieving full dissolution in cold water with no precipitation after 90 days of storage at 4°C, fully matching the client’s low-temperature beverage production conditions.
1. Capsule formulation fine-tuning: Replace highly hygroscopic lactose auxiliary materials with low-moisture-absorption microcrystalline cellulose, add food-grade citric acid chelating agents in small doses to chelate trace metal ions and block oxidative discoloration triggered by impurities; adjust feeding sequence by mixing extracts and mineral auxiliary materials in separate batches to reduce compatibility reaction risks.
2. Oral liquid formulation optimization: Stabilize the system pH within a weak acid buffer range of 4.2–4.6, pre-dissolve raw materials at low temperature of 60°C before heating for boiling to shorten high-temperature residence time and limit anthocyanin thermal loss below 3.3%.
3. On-site workshop control guidelines: Store raw materials at constant temperature of 22°C with moisture-proofing, unpack small batches on demand for feeding, calibrate screw feeding air pressure of capsule equipment to reduce powder oxidation exposed to air.
Three-stage negative pressure rectification was deployed across all production sections to remove ethanol solvent, with finished product solvent residues controlled below 350 ppm. Every batch underwent full screening of 226 pesticide residues by SGS in accordance with EC396 standards, with English COA certificates carrying HPLC anthocyanin monomer chromatograms issued in formats compliant with Swiss pharmaceutical authority filing requirements.
After 4 rounds of cross-border sample delivery, full testing by Swiss laboratories and pilot production verification at the client’s workshop, both customized raw materials passed all standards. The first batch of 4.8 tons was vacuum-packed in aluminum foil bags and shipped to Zurich with smooth customs clearance.
After raw material commissioning: The capsule production line operated stably for 33 consecutive days with filling weight error below ±2%, and the rejection rate dropped to 1.5%. All batches of oral liquid remained transparent with no precipitation after long-term cold storage, enabling the delayed 80-day new product to launch in pharmacies across Switzerland and Germany.
The client immediately signed a long-term annual procurement framework of 15 tons (9.2 tons capsule powder + 5.8 tons water-soluble oral liquid powder), scheduled for monthly delivery in 11 batches. Subsequent customized demand for ultra-fine powder for children’s chewable tablets was also fully entrusted to HiSiaddi for overall technical coordination, sample follow-up and compliance document preparation. Compared with raw materials sourced locally in Europe, the comprehensive procurement cost of domestically customized extracts decreased by 30.2%, and sea transportation cycle was shortened from 70 days to 22 days.
In the following year, OptiVital expanded its market to Austria and Liechtenstein relying on stable customized raw materials, launching new customized low-impurity bilberry & blueberry complex extracts for high-end eye-care skincare products while retaining the original customization process and supply chain. Endorsed by this high-end Swiss brand, partner factories optimized standardized production lines for compound berry extracts and successively signed cooperation agreements with two equivalent high-end eye-care brands in Austria and Luxembourg, escaping the low-price homogenization competition for berry extracts.
Most domestic plant extract manufacturers focus on mass production of single-ingredient extracts yet lack technologies for differentiated dual-berry extraction, precise compounding and specification-specific modification. They also lack familiarity with formulation compatibility and production conditions of terminal capsule and oral liquid products sold in Europe. While mid-to-high-end European brands master local formulation and regulatory standards, they have limited understanding of raw material supply chain chaos and customization process drawbacks in China, leading to frequent mass production failures and delayed new product launches upon independent direct sourcing. Leveraging plant extract technology and overseas application experience, HiSiaddi establishes a full-chain technical service covering raw material traceability, customized extraction & compounding, powder modification and terminal formulation optimization, bridging the technical gap between domestic raw material production and overseas finished product formulation application, enabling domestic compound plant extracts to enter the high-end European dietary supplement raw material supply chain.
Should you require further formulation optimization consultation services, please contact HiSiaddi customer service.
+86-13120989737 
info@hisiaddi.com 
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