Home › Contract manufacturing guide › Raw materials

Supplement raw materials: what can be processed – and what can’t

Reviewed by Dr. Daniel Wallerstorfer, molecular biologist and founder of Novogenia · Updated: 11 October 2026 · Reading time: 9 min

Why the raw material shapes your product

When you plan a supplement, you think about nutrients first: magnesium, vitamin D3, omega-3. For the manufacturer, though, the decisive question is a different one: in what form does the raw material come – and does that form fit the technology used for production? That determines whether an ingredient can go into your product at all, how long development takes and what the daily serving will look like in the end.

These are the main factors that decide whether a raw material can be processed:

• Form: Is the substance a powder, an oil or a liquid?
• Availability: Does the manufacturer already have the raw material in stock, ready to process, or does it first have to be sourced and developed for the dosage form?
• Production environment: Does the raw material fit the facility – for example, if the manufacturer deliberately works without allergens or bacteria?
• Regulatory framework: Is the substance permitted in the desired form for food supplements? In the EU, Directive 2002/46/EC defines which vitamins and minerals may be used, and in which forms.

Powder or liquid: the most important difference

Most vitamins, minerals and many other ingredients are available as powders. Powders can be dosed precisely, mixed and encapsulated – they are the basis of almost all solid dosage forms.

At Novogenia, the rule is: any nutrient available as a powder can as a rule be encapsulated as a Microtransporter. Microtransporters are plant-based microcapsules for which the release is set individually for each nutrient – fast, or spread over many hours. You can see how this works in our article on how Microtransporters release nutrients.

Liquid raw materials such as oils or liquid extracts need other dosage forms. Novogenia does not process liquid raw materials – with one exception: omega-3 fatty acids, delivered as a vegan softgel of 350 mg. A maximum of 4 softgels per daily serving is possible.

Tip: If the ingredient you want is only offered as a liquid, ask whether it is also available as a powder. Many botanical ingredients, for example, are on the market both as liquid extracts and as dry extracts.

“In stock” or development project: what it means for your timeline

Whether a nutrient is already in stock or has to be developed first is one of the biggest time factors in your project:

Important: even if all the nutrients are in stock, Novogenia has no off-the-shelf products. Every formula is developed as a project of its own. The difference lies in how much development is needed: formulas built from in-stock nutrients are considerably faster, and every new nutrient lengthens the route.

Tip for your brief: List the nutrients you want with the desired amount and, if you know it, the desired compound, and ask right at the start which of them are available immediately. Also note what your product must not contain, such as animal-derived ingredients. That way you know early whether your formula can work with existing raw materials or whether you need to allow more time for a particular nutrient – and you can decide whether it is worth that time to you.

The 22 nutrients Novogenia has in stock

These nutrients are available immediately – all as finished Microtransporters, with omega-3 as a vegan softgel:

How much of a nutrient belongs in a daily serving is a question of formulation. How Novogenia sets minimum and maximum amounts based on EU reference intakes and EFSA’s safety assessments is explained in Dosing limits for micronutrients.

If the nutrient you want is not on the list, that does not rule it out: if it is available as a powder, it can as a rule be developed as a new Microtransporter – with correspondingly more lead time.

What Novogenia does not process – and why

No manufacturer can do everything, and a good one tells you so up front. These raw materials are excluded at Novogenia:

What does that mean for you? If your concept absolutely requires probiotics, enzymes or liquid ingredients, you will need a manufacturer that specializes in them. It is often worth asking, though, whether the core of your product also works without these ingredients – or whether the substance you want is also available as a powder.

The chemical form matters

“Magnesium” on the label says little about which raw material is actually used. Many nutrients come in several compounds – magnesium as citrate or as oxide, for example, and folate as folic acid or as methylfolate. The forms differ in their share of the actual nutrient, in solubility, taste and price.

For your formula, this means: the same amount of a nutrient can require different amounts of raw material depending on the compound – and therefore take up more or less space in the daily serving. So always ask your manufacturer which compound it intends to use, and why. And make sure the form is permitted for food supplements in your target markets.

Raw-material testing: trust is good, testing is essential

Every raw material comes with information from the supplier, usually in the form of a certificate of analysis (CoA). That is a good start, but no substitute for testing of your own. A careful manufacturer checks incoming raw materials before they go into production. Typical test points in the industry are:

• Identity: Is it really the substance that was ordered, in the form that was ordered?
• Content: Does the raw material contain the stated amount of the nutrient?
• Purity: Is it free from undesirable substances and contaminants?
• Microbiology: Does it meet the hygiene requirements?

Which tests are needed in detail depends on the raw material. What matters is that testing takes place – for every batch, not just the first delivery from a new supplier. At Novogenia, every raw-material batch is tested.

Documentation is just as important: for every production batch, it should be possible to trace which raw-material batches went into it. This traceability is at the heart of food safety management systems such as ISO 22000. It is also your safeguard if a complaint ever comes in or a supplier recalls a raw material.

Questions to ask your manufacturer about raw materials

Whether you are talking to a contract manufacturer or a supplement ingredients manufacturer, these questions show you how seriously quality and origin are taken:

• Origin: Where do the raw materials come from, and from which suppliers? Are suppliers audited and approved before the first order?
• Testing: Is every raw-material batch tested – or only spot checks? What exactly is tested, and where?
• Specification: Is there a written specification for every raw material, and can I see it?
• Form: Which chemical compound is used, and why that one?
• Availability: Which raw materials are available immediately, and which have to be sourced or developed first?
• Security of supply: Are there alternative suppliers if a raw material becomes scarce? Will I be informed if a supplier changes?
• Allergens and diets: Is the product free from allergen-containing ingredients? Are all components vegan, including shells and processing aids?
• Traceability: Can every batch of my product be traced back to the raw-material batches it contains?
• Limits: Which raw materials does the manufacturer not process at all?

A manufacturer that answers these questions concretely and without hesitation has its raw materials under control. More selection criteria are covered in How to choose the right supplement contract manufacturer; how to start small with manageable risk is explained in Starting small: minimum order quantities and pilots.

Frequently asked questions

Related: Microtransporter pellet technology · Dosing limits for micronutrients · Quality assurance and certifications

Note: This guide is general information and does not constitute legal advice. Regulations can change; errors and changes excepted. Always have legal questions about your specific product checked by a qualified expert.