As a new foreign trade service provider driven by both technology transformation and foreign trade services, HiSiaddi has established a "1+2+3+4=1" service system and can supply DL-menthol from well-known original manufacturers of various brands. As a technology-driven foreign trade enterprise, HiSiaddi has repeatedly proposed menthol formula optimization schemes and application improvement suggestions based on technological transformation cooperation with factories and precise market insight. Below is a consulting case of menthol product formula optimization by HiSiaddi.
Contact HiSiaddi customer service for more formula optimization consulting services.
SwissCool is a mid-to-high-end European brand specializing in organic sugar-free hard candies, medicinal throat pellets and salon-grade soothing repair essences, sold at premium Coop supermarkets and Alpine chain pharmacies across Switzerland. Its raw materials comply with EP European Pharmacopoeia, Swiss SFA food standards and COSMOS organic skincare criteria. The company previously sourced natural L-menthol imported from Germany long-term. To reduce supply chain costs and shorten lead times, it purchased bulk domestic GB-standard natural menthol for mass production, which triggered three major formula and production process defects during manufacturing, resulting in mass unqualified finished products and temporary production line shutdowns. After fruitless communication with raw material factories, the client entrusted HiSiaddi to fully identify root causes, optimize raw material indicators, improve end-product formulas and standardize production processes to resolve all technical pain points. An annual fixed procurement order of 62 tons was subsequently confirmed.
The client stocked 13.6 tons of domestic menthol and launched trial production on three lines for candies, medicinal pellets and skincare essences simultaneously. Three days after production launch, mass manufacturing defects emerged, all rejected by European finished product quality inspection:
During hard candy boiling at 102–105°C, cooling sensation of finished products was weak at identical addition ratios, with menthol aroma volatilization loss exceeding 18% after 30 minutes of high-temperature cooking (client internal control limit ≤7%). Finished candies developed fine surface crystals and agglomerated after 25 days of ambient storage, failing the 12-month shelf life requirement for Swiss supermarket access. Raw material testing revealed excessive isomenthol and highly uneven crystal particle size (fine powder proportion over 35%). Ultra-fine particles sublimate easily under high heat, while tiny crystals absorb moisture to form crystal bridges, causing candy recrystallization and agglomeration.
Pellets adopt anhydrous ethanol and medicinal propylene glycol as solvents. After ambient filling and one-week storage at 5°C, abundant menthol crystals precipitated at the bottom of bottles, turbidifying the liquid and failing EP Pharmacopoeia standards for oral formulations, barring sales in Swiss pharmacies. Traceability confirmed excessive menthofuran and high-boiling mixed alcohol residues in raw materials, which reduced solubility under low temperature and separated from the system.
The skincare essence adopts an oil-water emulsified system. Equivalent menthol addition caused local redness and stinging upon facial application; cooling sensation faded significantly after 45 days of storage. Root causes included trace residual acetone solvent and excessive irritating terpene impurities in raw materials leading to high skin irritation; conventional menthol lacked stability modification and slowly sublimated at ambient temperature, depleting cooling components.
The client contacted raw material manufacturers, who could only provide GB-standard test reports without technical capabilities for end food/pharmaceutical formula application. Factories could only conduct minor raw material purification and failed to match the client’s segmented process requirements. Production line shutdowns caused capacity losses, prompting the client to urgently commission HiSiaddi for full-chain technical diagnosis and rectification.
HiSiaddi collaborated with technical departments of domestic menthol manufacturers and Swiss client formulation engineers to synchronously advance three rectification dimensions: upstream refined raw material process optimization, downstream end-product formula improvement and standardized production parameters.
1. Candy-Grade Menthol: Adjust side-stream extraction points of continuous rectification to reduce isomenthol from national standard 0.8% to ≤0.18%; adopt gradient temperature-controlled recrystallization and air classification screening to precisely control particle size at 80–100 mesh with fine powder content limited below 8%, mitigating high-temperature sublimation and moisture-induced agglomeration; restrict residual solvents below 15ppm to enhance thermal stability.
2. Medicinal Pellet-Grade Menthol: Install precision packed rectification and negative-pressure impurity removal sections to reduce menthofuran ≤4ppm and completely eliminate high-boiling mixed alcohols, locking optical rotation within -49.9°~-50.4° to avoid crystal precipitation in low-temperature ethanol solvents.
3. Skincare Essence-Grade Menthol: Full closed nitrogen production without industrial antioxidant BHT addition; remove residual low-carbon solvents and irritating terpene impurities, with heavy metals lead and arsenic below Swiss internal control limits to reduce skin irritation. Each batch of raw materials is accompanied by full GC component spectra and SFA/EP third-party COA test reports.
1. Hard Candy Formula Optimization: Add 0.12% food-grade β-cyclodextrin to the original formula to encapsulate menthol and lock aroma volatilization under high heat; fine-tune syrup water content to reduce free moisture in the system and suppress recrystallization and agglomeration from the formula side.
2. Medicinal Pellet Optimization: Slightly adjust the ratio of propylene glycol and anhydrous ethanol to boost low-temperature solubility, with trace medicinal solubilizing excipients added to further eliminate precipitation risks under cold storage.
3. Skincare Essence Optimization: Pre-melt menthol with a small amount of plant-derived oil before emulsification instead of direct powder feeding; compound natural vitamin E to slow menthol oxidation and volatilization for long-lasting cooling sensation retention.
1. Candy Workshop: Add menthol only after syrup cools below 70°C, avoiding direct dosing during high-temperature boiling to reduce instantaneous volatilization; store finished products at constant temperature ≤20°C and humidity ≤55%.
2. Pellet Workshop: Pre-treat raw materials at constant 22°C for 24 hours in advance to eliminate solubility fluctuations caused by temperature differences.
3. Skincare Production Line: Prepare menthol pre-solution with oil before slow addition into aqueous phase emulsification to avoid local high concentration triggering stinging. HiSiaddi compiled bilingual Swiss-German operation manuals and provided online training for client workshop operators.
Three specifications of improved 5kg samples were sent to Switzerland for full testing: candy aroma loss reached 6.2%, no crystal precipitation observed in pellets after 60 days of 5°C storage, and essences showed zero stinging with shelf-life cooling retention compliant. The 13.6 tons of inventory raw materials were sent back to the factory for deep processing and modification before staged production resumption on all three lines. All finished products passed Swiss official commodity inspection and shelf access. The client subsequently signed an annual framework procurement order of 62 tons, split into 28 tons candy-grade, 21 tons medicinal-grade and 13 tons skincare-grade with monthly scheduling.
Successfully completed localization substitution of imported raw materials with procurement costs reduced by 32% and eliminated production shutdown losses. The raw material acceptance and production control specifications output by HiSiaddi improved the enterprise’s internal raw material standards and shortened new product launch cycles.
Developed differentiated refining processes for three grades: food, pharmaceutical and organic skincare. Customized products command a 30% premium over standard GB bulk goods. Leveraging the high-end Swiss client qualification, orders from similar mid-to-high-end brands in Austria and Finland were expanded.
Built a full-chain technical service system covering menthol raw material quality control, food/pharmaceutical/skincare formula implementation and production process guidance, accumulating a technical database for high-end European daily chemical and food clients.
1. Industry Pain Points: Domestic menthol manufacturers focus on mass production of GB-standard general goods with only basic physical-chemical indicator control, lacking R&D capacity for end candy, pharmaceutical and cosmetic formula compatibility. Mid-to-high-end European brands comply with multiple strict regional regulations; minor deviations in raw material trace impurities or crystal particle size can lead to finished product scrapping, creating technical information asymmetry between supply and demand sides.
2. Procurement Characteristics of Mid-to-High-End Clients: Raw materials are tied to pharmaceutical supervision and supermarket access qualifications. Losses from unqualified finished products far exceed raw material price differentials, so clients prioritize raw material compatibility and full-chain technical support over low prices alone.
3. Core Value of HiSiaddi: Connect European formulation standards with domestic raw material production processes, implementing dual-sided solutions of raw material modification, end formula optimization and production standardization to resolve cross-industry technical disconnections in one stop.
Contact HiSiaddi customer service for more formula optimization consulting services.
+86-13120989737 
info@hisiaddi.com 
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