Aronia, Gut Health, and Berry Innovation

In this interview following SupplySide Connect New Jersey, Greenvit’s Rafal Pietruszynski discusses the evolving positioning of aronia and the company’s Aronvit extract, highlighting both scientific and commercial considerations shaping its market potential. While aronia is widely recognized for its high polyphenol content, Pietruszynski notes that it has historically been underutilized, largely due to limited marketing investment and a lack of global awareness compared to other “superfruits.”

Initially positioned for cardiovascular health, aronia faced challenges in the dietary supplement sector, as this category is often dominated by pharmaceutical approaches. In response, Greenvit shifted its strategy, focusing instead on metabolic health and gut microbiota support, areas more aligned with current consumer trends and supplement innovation. The company has invested in ongoing research to substantiate these benefits, particularly the ingredient’s ability to promote beneficial gut bacteria that produce butyrate, a key compound for intestinal health and barrier integrity.

Pietruszynski emphasizes that Aronvit’s value extends beyond science. Commercial advantages include Poland’s role as a leading aronia producer, ensuring consistent supply, scalability, and traceability. Mechanized harvesting and stable pricing further enhance its competitiveness. Additionally, Greenvit’s proprietary water-based ultra-filtration technology allows for solvent-free extraction, yielding a broad-spectrum product that differentiates Aronvit in the market.

Looking ahead, Greenvit is expanding its portfolio with cranberry and black currant extracts, reflecting a broader strategy to position itself as a berry extract specialist. These additions enable the development of multi-ingredient, synergistic formulations targeting specific health needs. Cranberry’s established role in urinary tract health and black currant’s complementary properties support this approach.

A key component of this expansion is Greenvit’s partnership with Fruit d’Or, a major Canadian cranberry producer. Pietruszynski notes that this collaboration strengthens both technological capabilities and global credibility, reinforcing the company’s position as a reliable international partner.

A transcript of his conversation can be found below.

Nicholas Saraceno: Aronia is often recognized as one of the most polyphenol-rich berries, but it’s still relatively underutilized compared to other botanicals. From your perspective, what makes Aronvit uniquely positioned to stand out, not just scientifically, but commercially, in today’s competitive ingredient landscape?

Rafal Pietruszynski: It's really true that for many years, aronia and aronia extracts were largely underestimated in the market. I would say still, aronia is not considered as a worldwide known and used superberry. I think one of the reasons was that there was not enough spending on marketing. None of the big players in the market invested heavily in promotion of this unique berry. There needs to be some marketing support to create some demand.

Originally, aronia has been positioned as a cardiovascular health support ingredient. There were many scientific studies proving it can support heart-connected diseases. But in my opinion, cardiovascular health is a difficult category for a food supplement sector. It's rather a pharma industry area. After a couple of years of promoting aronia, bearing iron wheat for cardiovascular health, we changed our strategy, and we started to investigate aronia, and we started to position Aronvit as a metabolic-related extract, metaboli= related berry, and also the gut microbiota support. We invested and we still invest in our own further studies to prove it. We believe that this is finally the right health area to position aronia and Aronvit, and it also feeds the current market trends.

Commercially, I believe that success depends also, of course, on pricing, availability, and traceability. As aronia is cultivated in large quantities in Poland, still, Poland is the biggest manufacturer in the world of aronia berries. The source of berries is safe, is secured. There is, enough volume to create it to make it a super fruit, a worthwhile super fruit. It is harvested mechanically, so no pickers are needed.

Finally, its cost is not an expensive barrier at the end, compared to others. The price is rather stable over the years, so it has all the commercial aspects needed to be successful. Last but not least, we have also invested in our own new technology of main brand filtration, ultra-filtration, which is water-only extraction. No solvents are needed, and we get really a whole spectrum extract. This is something, that also makes our own wheat unique.

Saraceno: Greenvit has highlighted research exploring aronia’s impact on the gut microbiota using Aronvit. What excites you most about these findings, and how do you see this science shaping the next generation of gut health or multi-benefit formulations?

Pietruszynski: One of the most important benefits of using iron wheat is actually the beneficial effect on gut health. It supports the growth of good bacteria which produce butyrate, a key compound that nourishes intestinal cells and helps maintain a tight, healthier barrier, which is more important. It also promotes the development of a new generation of beneficial microorganisms which, as recent research shows, can support metabolism and help maintain a healthy body weight.

Additionally, this extract supports the natural cooperation between intestinal bacteria. Some of them break down nutrients, creating compounds that other bacteria convert into even more valuable substances, such as butyrate (mentioned already). In fact, this translates into better functioning of the entire intestinal ecosystem,

Saraceno: Greenvit is expanding its berry portfolio with cranberry and black currant extracts. How do these additions reflect your broader vision for the company, and how do you see these ingredients working together to create more comprehensive or synergistic health solutions?

Pietruszynski: Expanding our portfolio with cranberry and black currant extracts is a natural step in Greenvit’s development, in Greenvit’s journey, and our strategy being an expert in berry extracts. Of course, this allows us to provide our customers with either offer, allowing them to create more, tailored, multi-ingredient formulations to address specific health needs.

Each of these berries bring something unique to the table. Cranberry, for example, is strongly associated with supporting urinary tract health. But we do also significantly believe in the potential of synergy between different berries, different botanicals, as combining these extracts into solutions that work better than alone, and even more precisely address the needs of modern consumers. It's also worth mentioning that we entered the cranberry extract business together with our good partner, Fruit d’Or, one of the world's t largest producers of cranberries from Canada.

It’s also a really key element of this development of this expansion of the portfolio, because it's not just an expansion of the portfolio. This partnership not only opens us to new technological and market opportunities, but it also strengthens our credibility. It shows that we are perceived as a reliable partner on the international stage, which is of great importance in building Greenvit’s global position.