Beyond Capsules and Tablets: Formulating with Alternative Dosage Formats

Tablets and capsules are a foundational part supplement industry, but consumer habits are shifting fast, and manufacturers are being forced to keep pace. In this Peer Exchange, David Foreman shifts the conversation with Hank Ramsey and Irfan Qureshi to explore the growing world of alternative delivery formats—gummies, soft chews, powders, shots, and beyond—and the strategic thinking that goes into choosing one format over another.

The conversation moves past surface-level trend-chasing to get at the real formulation challenges brands face: how to pack in enough active ingredients without relying on excessive sugar, how to mask bitter or potent botanicals like ashwagandha and Shatavari, and how serving size ultimately dictates whether a format is even viable. A multi-ingredient formula that requires a dozen gummies to hit an effective dose isn't a win for anyone, for example, and both guests speak candidly about the tradeoffs their companies have navigated—from sourcing exclusive, highly active materials to selecting manufacturing partners capable of handling those constraints.

The discussion also surfaces a recurring theme that cuts through the noise—compliance is the ultimate driver. A product only works if people actually take it, and sometimes that means leaning into a less conventional format, while other times it means sticking with what's proven, even if it isn't the most exciting choice on the shelf.

Viewers, especially formulators, brand leaders, or manufacturing partners, will come away with a clearer framework for thinking about format selection: it's not just about what's trendy, but about matching the delivery method to the formula's complexity, the target demographic, and the practical realities of manufacturing at scale.

Transcript:

David Foreman: I want to move on from what I like to call boring tablets and capsules and talk about, alternative delivery methods. This is where I love, because I was one of the first compounding pharmacists before it was cool to be a compounding pharmacist, so this is a topic that's near and dear to my heart. I think gummies are probably the biggest area right now. Soft chews are definitely picking up. So, when does it make sense to formulate a product into one of these, and I really don't like to call them alternative dosage form, but we're going do that, such as a gummy, soft chew, powder, etc? What goes into making the decision?

Hank Ramsey: Irfan I don't know if Metagenics even does a gummy, maybe a soft chew or something, but I can start it from a brand's perspective. From my past and our past, we weren't fond of gummies just because high sugar…all the different things you would think of with a gummy. But unfortunately, you have to meet the customer where they are these days, with social and digital and TikTok and Instagram and all the different channels. Everything's a gummy there, so we try to meet the customer where it was. So, we launched two things. We launched with one of our partner manufacturers, which is Ixoreal Biomed, the makers of KSM66.

We got some exclusivity on the world's first-ever regenerative Organic Certified KSM66, so we have that exclusive, thank goodness. And we got their first-ever SRI81 Shatavari. I know you two guys are herbalist guys, so when we decided we wanted to do a gummy we wanted to make it highly active. So, we have high actives in there, we have low sugar. Of course, since we don't use animal-based, we use pectin instead of gelatin. And we luckily found a fantastic manufacturer, and a couple of good manufacturers that help us manufacture it and mask some of those actives, because that's the problem. If you're not going to use a ton of sugar and you’ve got a lot of actives in it to make it a very good gummy, you're playing with fire there, so that was the challenge. They came out great. If you've never tried our gummies, I'm going to make a plug for our ashwagandha gummies and our Shatavari. Shatavari was, believe it or not, harder. The herb is extremely bitter, as is ashwagandha, but I can go on record as saying we have the world's first organic or the world's first Shatavari gummy, period, that's been publicly studied.

David Foreman: So, by the way, this also goes outside of gummies and chews. I was just sitting on a panel on this exact topic, formulating, in India last week; stick packs, shots, beverages, scoop powders, or whatever, anything that's not tablet or capsule can fit into this conversation. So Irfan, does Metagenics work with gummies?

Irfan Qureshi: Well, we dabbled in gummies. I think the thing about Metagenics is we are traditionally a very practitioner-focused business, but our consumer brand is a growing enterprise as well, and so, as Hank was saying, you have to meet the consumer where they are. And so, we did have a few gummy products, but I think more so on the soft chew side. We are currently formulating a few products in soft chew formats. We have some that are already on the market as well. The consideration, obviously, is whether the dosage format is adequate for the formula that you're delivering? If you're taking 12 gummies to get an effective dose, it doesn't really make sense. I mean, a lot of our formulas tend to be multi-ingredient formulas. We're not really focused on single ingredients for the most part, but if you do have single ingredient formulas or very simple formulas, I think gummies and soft chews are probably good formats. But I think you also have to be wary, as Hank was saying, of what comes with those soft chews. Is it excess sugar, artificial sweeteners? Things like that. We do a lot more on the powder side, for sure.

David Foreman: What's the differentiator for your companies, not just you guys, but your companies, as to whether you're going to go tablet, capsule, or alternative method of delivery? Like, what… is there…I think I already know the answer, but I just feel like I gotta ask it, I wanna hear both of it, what's the determining factor here?

Hank Ramsey: Yeah, as far as powders go, we do, we launched with 6 powders, we did, 4 whey protein SKUs and 2 plant-based protein SKUs, and I would say proteins, you know, when we launch…We try to look at where we can make the most impact, too. We're not a niche-y company. We want to go into the bigger categories. Obviously, that's where the revenue is. Protein's a huge category in the space. And of course, we launched with organic grass-fed whey protein with, regenerative A2 dairy, which we can talk about later. So that is a powder fill for us, and I would say something like protein, you want it in a powder scoop, because if you're going to take a protein capsule or tablet, you're going to be taking a lot of them.

As far as liquids go, the liquid shot, if you go to any big box retailer now that's got a grab-and-go area, the small single shots or the shots have just gone crazy, and it's funny, right now in our PD calendar, we have a call today, actually, with a manufacturer that's looking at ways we can do some shots.

David Foreman: Cool. What about you, Irfan?

Irfan Qureshi: For us, I think it's really driven by the serving size of the formula that we're looking to deliver, so if it's, again, if it's a simple formula, we might consider, as far as alt delivery formats, we might consider soft chews. If it's a more complex formula, if it's a higher serving size, if it's a protein, if it's a detox product, generally those are in powder formats.

The decision is also based on, like, we will price formulas out multiple ways, We'll also consider what the particular demographic is that we're trying to target for a formula. So if it's an entry-level formula, we're trying to target somebody more on the consumer side, you know, we might consider all delivery formats there, versus if it's a practitioner-focused formula, then obviously we would probably stick with powders, tablets, capsules, for the most part. So I think those are some of the considerations that we're looking at.

David Foreman: I am so glad to hear you say that, because inside, I was losing my mind. And I'll explain… I was on this panel, they did like a Top Chef thing, but they did it for formulators when I was in India. It was a really cool event, because they were given 3 really crappy tasting ingredients from Ayurveda, and they had, like, two and a half hours to create something that tasted good, was functional.

I had to sample stuff and let's just say it wasn't necessarily a pleasant experience with 2 out of the 3 people, and hopefully they never watch this so they don't get offended. Anyway, so because I was on this panel of judges or whatever, I did some of my own homework, and the reason I said I was really glad to hear you say that is, the number one thing that comes about from the consumer side, right? Because, the reality is compliance is the most important thing, right? Because if you're dealing with a 25-year-old, the last thing they want to do is choke down another tablet or capsule. They're looking for something that fits in their lifestyle, right? So…the number one thing was compliance. Like, what will get your customer to continue to take it on a daily basis? I had pill fatigue when I was in India. I came back with a third of my baggie of my stuff I took with me, because I'm like, I don't feel like choking these down today. So, I'm really glad to hear you guys say that. Granted, Hank, I know with your company you've got a lot of… you've got a lot of boxes to check off for, like I said, you put yourself in a box, or your owners, or investors did, but anyway, so thank you so much for saying it depended on who the people were, because I was going nuts.

Hank Ramsey: That’s the opportunity, right? At Elevate, if we can find a way to get that, compliancy, efficacy, and delivery format for the majority, that's the golden trophy right there. If you can figure all that out, that's what we're all shooting for, whether it's sticks, or shots, or gummies, or chews.

And luckily, I think we've all been around long enough to know that the technology and the flavoring concept have gotten so much better over the years that now there are all these options. There's so many options we have now.

David Foreman: One of the things that came out of this whole thing also was…that the consumer was more likely to put up with something that tasted like crap, or not as good, or wasn't in the delivery format they had, because it worked. So that's part of what I am, I'm that customer, because I don't really want to take more tablets and capsules, but I know what works, and if I can only buy it at caps, then that's what I'm going to do.

Hank Ramsey: It's a good example of that, at Garden of Life and at Ancient Nutrition, we became the number one greens manufacturer. We were the number one in the category, and we did it with hardly any sugar. Bitter juiced greens, which have a greens flavor, but they were highly efficacious. People liked the way they felt from them, used it in a powder form, and they came back and used it, even though it was not the best tasting in the category.