Vitaquest International, a product development and commercialization partner in the nutraceuticals and functional foods segments, has acquired a Paterson, New Jersey-based powder processing facility from Pharmachem Laboratories, a division of Ashland Inc. The facility has been used for specialty granulated bulk ingredients since 1978.
 
The acquisition will enable Vitaquest to provide application-specific product development services, such as pilot and commercial manufacturing solutions using fluid bed technology for granulation, agglomeration, microencapsulation, drying, and blending of liquid and powder ingredients.
 
The operation will be branded as VQ technologies, and the acquisition makes Vitaquest International one of just a few dietary supplement and functional food commercialization companies with this technological capability and extends its range of services from raw material processing, formulation, and supplement manufacturing to packaging and fulfillment services.
 
The newly-acquired facility will operate under the same TotalQ quality programs as Vitaquest’s three existing facilities in New Jersey.
 
“Powder and particle engineering are important parts of creating the highest quality, most effective products and have long been a part of our manufacturing mix. Most companies in our industry outsource this highly specialized capability,” said Patrick Brueggman, president and chief executive officer of Vitaquest. “Bringing this capability in-house, builds on our TotalQ commitment to quality, gives us the ability to broaden our product offerings, and helps our customers get to market faster.  This is an important step for us, and we feel like it sets us apart from other companies in our industry.”
 
What Does Fluidized Bed Processing Do?
 
The facility has long been capable of the multiple processes needed for optimal tableting and capsule production. These processes can affect physical properties like flowability, compression, compaction, dissolution, and uniformity, as well as product performance issues like dosing accuracy, release time, mouthfeel, taste masking, and appearance.
 
Within the fluidized bed process, granulation creates denser, more uniform particles from lighter, less uniform powders resulting in less dust and less caking with improved flow, compaction and compression properties for efficient tablet and capsule manufacturing. Agglomeration creates larger, porous powders from loose particles, improving flow, performance and appearance of food, beverage and dietary supplement powders. Microencapsulation creates a barrier coating on particles resulting in powders with modified physical, sensory, stability, release and performance characteristics designed to solve a specific problem challenge. Fluid bed drying enables uniform powders with specified moisture and water activity levels every time. 
 
Paterson NJ has a rich history of innovation, technology and manufacturing and we’re excited about the opportunity to be creative and do more for our customers. Across the supplement, food & beverage industries, innovation in product forms and delivery systems is a hot trend and a huge driver of value. This manufacturing capability will help us do that,” said Gregory Drew, vice president of innovation for Vitaquest. “It will also let us work on projects that might have otherwise been impossible or cost prohibitive, which means we can take our customers places we couldn’t before. Add these to the end-to-end quality and product development efficiency this acquisition offers, and we have a win for Vitaquest and our customers.”