Ganeden Locks Down Bacillus Coagulans Probiotics in Coffee, Tea, and Cereal in U.S.

Ganeden Biotech (Cleveland) has gone a step further in cornering the U.S. market for probiotics in coffee, tea, and cereal-at least when it comes to the probiotic strain Bacillus coagulans. A newly obtained U.S. patent (#8,697,055) gives the company exclusive rights to use the spore-forming Bacillus coagulans strain in these product applications.

Ganeden customers are already using the company’s flagship Ganeden BC30 Bacillus coagulans strain in coffee, tea, and cereal products. Ganeden BC30 tea company fans include Ganeden BC30 The Republic of Tea, Bigelow Tea Company, GT Kombucha, KeVita, and Tipton Mills.

In 2012, Tipton Mills became the first company to incorporate Ganeden BC30 in coffee (touted as “the world’s first probiotic coffee”). Since then, the coffee possibilities have grown. In February of this year, Ganeden announced Ganeden BC30’s marriage to single-cup K-Cup technology, with the launch of the Copper Moon Coffee Company’s French Vanilla Cappuccino Insta-Kups featuring Ganeden BC30.

Ganeden BC30 also recently made a big-name splash in the cereal aisle, with the debut of Post’s Great Grains Digestive Blend cereals.

Bacillus coagulans’s unique ability to form protective spores helps keep the bacteria viable through digestion and the harsh processing conditions that functional foods and beverages endure, including high heat and extrusion. In a recent interview with Nutritional Outlook, Ganeden’s senior vice president Mike Bush explained, “We have been able to overcome most of the usual probiotic challenges by the sheer physical makeup of the organism itself, and we’ve also become good at knowing where in a particular food application we should integrate the probiotic to get the best from it, especially through processing.”

“Non-spore forming probiotics, such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, are unable to form this protective layer, making them much more vulnerable to manufacturing conditions,” the company adds.

The company also requires marketers to use an efficacious dose of Ganeden BC30-enough so that the ingredient is actually effective in a food or beverage matrix delivery system.

More marketers seem to believe that the healthy digestive benefits of probiotics can help differentiate their products in a crowded marketplace.“We have a product that's unique to the consumer; it adds real value, not perceived value, it’s not just another coffee,” said Tim Sheehy, Tipton Mills’ president, during the initial unveiling of the company’s probiotic coffee. “We are providing a specific benefit to consumers wanting to lead healthier lifestyles.”

According to Ganeden, “The probiotic industry is growing rapidly, with no indication that it will be slowing down anytime soon; by 2015 the market is expected to reach $31.1 billion globally, with about 90% of that from the sale of functional foods and beverages. In addition, consumer awareness continues to increase with over 80% of consumers associating probiotics with a health benefit. Ganeden Biotech’s goal is to make probiotics available in everyday food so that consumers don’t have to take another pill. Coffee, tea and cereal are a big part of that.”

Jennifer Grebow
Editor-in-Chief
Nutritional Outlook magazine
jennifer.grebow@ubm.com