Apple cider vinegar effervescent: Plant-based supplement firm The Plant Fix looks to expand market reach

Launched in India last month, the ‘Apple Cider Vinegar with the Mother’ is an addition to its existing range of plant-based supplements, including protein, whole food multivitamins, and super greens herbs powder.

It also contains pomegranate extract, vitamin B6, and B12.

‘The Mother’ refers to the protein and good bacteria, such as the acetic acid bacteria, present in the product. In liquid ACV, ‘the Mother’ is also the substance that gives the product a murky appearance.  

The nearly two-year-old start-up intends to export the ACV effervescent and its other products overseas as well.

“​We realised that in India and in fact, all over the world, there is a lot of ACV consumption, it is a globally recognised product, which people consume for a lot of health reasons,” ​Rishubh Satiya, founder told NutraIngredients-Asia.​

Apple cider vinegar has climbed in sales​ in different parts of the world especially with the onset of COVID-19 for its apparent claimed immunity and digestive benefits. 

At present, the product mostly come in the form of liquid supplements or gummies.

Satiya explained that his firm had developed ACV effervescent tablet for better taste profile and convenience.

“The entire concept of launching an ACV in effervescent is to mask the sour taste of liquid ACV and make it more palatable for consumption,” ​he said, citing a consumer survey conducted recently.

The online survey involving about 5,000 consumers was conducted in India this year, the purpose was to find out the reasons stopping people from consuming ACV.

Factors included sour taste and inconvenience, especially the liquid version which could not be consumed easily while on the go.

While gummy is an alternative, he said that doing so would mean a higher sugar content, which was what he wanted to avoid.

The ACV effervescent is available for sale in India online and the company is looking to work with offline channel distributors as well.

While ACV in effervescent tablet is less commonly seen, there are already such products available in big brand names, including Holland and Barrett brand VitaBoost.

Pain points ​

The key technical challenges in making an ACV effervescent could be summed up in three points.

They include ensuring the stability of the tablet and that it could dissolve properly, as well as masking the sour taste of ACV.

The aim is to create a fruity, sweet, apple juice taste, Satiya said, adding that a zero-calorie sweetener and flavourings were added to improve product taste.

At least six months were spent on testing the product stability and shelf life, he said. 

Going overseas: Singapore first ​

The company has plans to expand overseas and a pilot market test is set to take place in Singapore by mid-November.

Satiya said the company was approached by a distributor for the deal and about seven to eight SKUs of products were already shipped over to Singapore last month.

According to him, the products will be sold in the gyms and other offline channels.

Looking further afield, he is also hoping to distribute his products within and outside of APAC, such as the US.

Back home, its best-selling products are its plant protein made from a blend of pea protein isolate and brown rice protein, vitamin C effervescent tablets, and its ‘Green Elixir’ whole food multivitamin.

The vision ahead is to establish the company as a plant-based supplement product specialist.