BioVivo Bets on US Sourcing to Elevate Quality, Traceability, and Botanical Potency

Speaking at SupplySide Connect, Jim Roza, chief scientific officer at Layn Natural Ingredients, outlined how its subsidiary BioVivo Science is leveraging US-based sourcing and manufacturing to strengthen quality, traceability, and supply chain resilience in botanical extracts. Operating from Jeffersonville, IN, BioVivo is strategically positioned near key agricultural regions, enabling direct access to domestically grown biomass such as American ginseng, broccoli seed, and cranberry.

Roza emphasized that proximity to raw material sources allows for hands-on oversight, stronger relationships with growers, and faster response to potential issues. Unlike globally sourced ingredients, domestic sourcing enables frequent field visits and deeper collaboration with farmers, fostering transparency and long-term supply stability. These partnerships are mutually beneficial, helping farmers scale production while ensuring BioVivo has reliable access to high-quality inputs.

The conversation also highlighted BioVivo’s approach to standardization and consistency, particularly for scientifically backed ingredients like broccoli seed extract and American ginseng. For broccoli seed, BioVivo works with a major Kentucky-based seed developer producing proprietary hybrids with elevated glucoraphanin levels, the precursor to sulforaphane. This targeted sourcing ensures a more potent starting material, improving extraction efficiency and final product quality.

Similarly, BioVivo sources American ginseng primarily from Wisconsin, a leading cultivation region. Given that ginseng requires up to seven years to mature, Roza stressed the importance of working with experienced growers who can nurture optimal levels of bioactive compounds like ginsenosides. By securing high-quality raw materials upfront, BioVivo enhances both purity and consistency in its extracts.

Overall, Roza positioned domestic sourcing as a strategic advantage, enabling BioVivo to deliver reliable, clinically relevant botanical ingredients while supporting a more transparent and resilient supply chain.

A transcript of his conversation can be found below.

Nicholas Saraceno: Ladies and gentlemen. Nico Saraceno, senior editor of Nutritional Outlook here. We are reporting live from SupplySide Connect. I'm joined today by Jim Roza. He is the chief scientific officer at Layn Natural Ingredients. BioVivo Science is a Layn subsidiary, so we're diving into a lot of that, but thank you for joining me today. I really do appreciate it.

Jim Roza: Well, thank you for the invitation. Glad to be here at SupplySide Connect, speaking to you about our subsidiary, BioVivo Science in Jeffersonville, IN.

Saraceno: Sweet, let's hop right into it. You mentioned BioVivo. They emphasize US-based sourcing and manufacturing for their botanical extracts. How would you say domestic production impacts ingredient quality, traceability, and supply chain resilience compared to ingredients that are more globally sourced? What's the difference in that regard?

Roza: Well, because of the fact that where we're situated in Jeffersonville, IN, which is really kind of in the center of the country, we have access to a lot of domestically produced biomass that's used in the nutraceutical and food and beverage realms. American ginseng from Wisconsin. You have broccoli seed from Kentucky. Cranberry from Wisconsin, Massachusetts.

A lot of the biomass that we're using is locally produced, and so that gives us an opportunity actually to be hands on, to visit the fields where they're harvested, and to work closely with the farmers and to make sure that there's transparency and quality all through the chain. It’s a little different than when you're procuring something from India or South America.

Obviously, we could travel to those places of the world. But I mean, when you have it locally, if there is an issue, you can be hands on with it immediately. One of the things that we're interested in doing is developing long-term relationships. And obviously, as our business grows and we need more biomass, working with these local companies, what we can do is we can work with them, help them build their business. And they in turn—quid pro quo—help us to provide us with the biomass that we need to do the extracts that we're doing.

Saraceno: I love that. Several of your highlighted ingredients, such as broccoli seed extract standardized to sulforaphane, and you mentioned American ginseng. They're supported by a growing scientific interest. So how would you say BioVivo ensures consistency and bioactive standardization across these botanicals in order to deliver that reliable, clinically relevant outcomes that the consumers are looking for?

Roza: Let me begin with broccoli seed extract. We work with one of the largest seed companies in the world that are located in Kentucky. They've developed some hybrid seed with broccoli, which has a high level of glucoraphanin, and glucoraphanin is the precursor to sulforaphane. In order to produce sulforaphane, you have to have glucoraphanin.

We're working with an established company that has a legacy known for the different seeds that they nurture and propagate, so we're working with broccoli seed that has higher levels of glucoraphanin that you would find in other sources. So that's really unique, and they're within a half hour drive from where we're at.

With American ginseng, another one of our key ingredients from BioVivo, Wisconsin is only a short distance from Jeffersonville, IN, and Wisconsin is really the hotbed of American ginseng cultivation in America. American ginseng is also found in Missouri and even some areas of Canada, but most of it is coming from Wisconsin. Once again, we can visit with companies that are established that have been growing ginseng, because ginseng takes seven years to mature.

You need to be working with established companies that are nurturing and growing the ginseng properly, so that you have the highest level of ginsenosides. That benefits us, because then when we bring those roots in house, we already know it's got high levels of ginsenosides. Actually, it helps with efficiency, creating a product with higher levels of purity.