09.01.09
The last time Nutraceuticals World caught up with Kearny, NJ-based Pharmachem it was 1999 and expansion was on the horizon for the company. Staying true to its goals, the company has made significant strides during the last decade in terms of managing a wealth of diverse acquisitions.
"The last 10 years has been a period of great expansion for Pharmachem Laboratories, primarily through acquisitions," said Paul Borrell, vice president of sales, Pharmachem. "The company has achieved its goal of becoming a vertically integrated ingredient supplier and manufacturer of custom and branded ingredients, as well as process services."
Today Pharmachem operates five processing and manufacturing facilities in northern New Jersey. Its most recent acquisition took place earlier this year when it purchased a 130,000 square foot beverage processing and packaging facility near Dallas, TX. Production capabilities at the facility, re-named Alix Technologies, include bottling, hot fill (HTST) processing, cold fill (batch pasteurized) processing and turnkey formulations.
"Our goal is to help customers develop the right formula and packaging for innovative liquid nutritionals," said David Holmes, founder and CEO of Pharmachem. "Combined with our existing R&D capabilities, Alix Technologies will be specifically designed to produce concentrated liquid nutrition, ready-to-drink syrups and slurries, energy drinks and super juice concentrates."
In addition, the company also owns American Ingredients, an ingredient supplier (Anaheim, CA); Avoca Inc., the largest custom extraction facility in North America (Merry Hill, NC); Avoca BioProcessing, a dairy ingredient and natural product processing facility (Menommonee Falls, WI); MPT, Inc., a fluidized bed, high-sheer granulation facility (Paterson, NJ); and Proprietary Nutritionals, Inc. (Ontario, Canada), a supplier of patented, science-based ingredients.
"These acquisitions have enabled us to expand our processing capabilities and launch a number of new branded ingredients," said Mr. Borrell. As a result, he said these new capabilities would enable the company to meet the growing needs of the dietary supplement and functional food markets for standardized, high-quality ingredients. "It will also enable us to continue to 'add value' at every level, from research and development, to processing and supply of the highest quality ingredients demanded by the industry," he added.
Pharmachem is currently positioned to supply a wide variety of vitamins, herbs, botanicals and extracts. On the specialty ingredient side, it is the developer of Phase 2 Carb Controller. Assisting the specialty ingredient efforts is its subsidiary, Proprietary Nutritionals Inc., which markets several other proprietary brands, including Benexia chia; Berry-Max fruit concentrates, including Cran-Max cranberry concentrate; Celadrin, for joint flexibility and relief; InoCell natural protection (Inositol & Cal-Mag IP6); Lactium for stress management; Perluxan hops extract; and Sytrinol for heart health.
The company is also a global leader in application-specific processing, including custom extraction, fermentation, drying, liquid-to-powder conversion, granulation, agglomeration, blending, nutrient fortification, ready-to-drink powders, beverage processing and packaging. All ingredients are standardized for specific potency, solubility, direct compression and disintegration characteristics.
And Pharmachem's progress doesn't stop there. "We will continue to make investments in processes and ingredients to ensure their safety and efficacy and to support our customers," Mr. Borrell commented. "As evidenced over the last 10 years, we have aggressively invested in new facilities and technologies to stay abreast of what's going on in our industry. We will continue to invest in technology and ingredients to provide the value-added services our customers have grown to expect."
Offering his perspective on industry performance in the current economic environment, Mr. Borrell offered, "We're optimistic about our industry. While no industry is totally recession-resistant, we feel ours is less affected because consumers will continue to invest in alternative and preventive healthcare due to the high cost and lack of availability of traditional healthcare."
For the future, Mr. Borrell believes research will be an important part of the company's plans. "We have invested heavily in our research and development facilities to ensure we are supplying ingredients that meet our customer's potency and purity requirements," he said. "We have also continued to invest in clinical research to ensure our branded ingredients are safe and efficacious."
He went on to say that the entire industry must make the same commitment to properly serve consumers and gain their trust if the dietary supplement and functional food markets are to grow and flourish in the future. -R.W.
Pharmachem Laboratories
265 Harrison Avenue
Kearny, NJ 07032
Telephone: 800-526-0609; 201-246-1000
Fax: 201-246-8105
E-mail: sales@pharmachemlabs.com
Website: www.pharmachemlabs.com
"The last 10 years has been a period of great expansion for Pharmachem Laboratories, primarily through acquisitions," said Paul Borrell, vice president of sales, Pharmachem. "The company has achieved its goal of becoming a vertically integrated ingredient supplier and manufacturer of custom and branded ingredients, as well as process services."
Today Pharmachem operates five processing and manufacturing facilities in northern New Jersey. Its most recent acquisition took place earlier this year when it purchased a 130,000 square foot beverage processing and packaging facility near Dallas, TX. Production capabilities at the facility, re-named Alix Technologies, include bottling, hot fill (HTST) processing, cold fill (batch pasteurized) processing and turnkey formulations.
"Our goal is to help customers develop the right formula and packaging for innovative liquid nutritionals," said David Holmes, founder and CEO of Pharmachem. "Combined with our existing R&D capabilities, Alix Technologies will be specifically designed to produce concentrated liquid nutrition, ready-to-drink syrups and slurries, energy drinks and super juice concentrates."
In addition, the company also owns American Ingredients, an ingredient supplier (Anaheim, CA); Avoca Inc., the largest custom extraction facility in North America (Merry Hill, NC); Avoca BioProcessing, a dairy ingredient and natural product processing facility (Menommonee Falls, WI); MPT, Inc., a fluidized bed, high-sheer granulation facility (Paterson, NJ); and Proprietary Nutritionals, Inc. (Ontario, Canada), a supplier of patented, science-based ingredients.
"These acquisitions have enabled us to expand our processing capabilities and launch a number of new branded ingredients," said Mr. Borrell. As a result, he said these new capabilities would enable the company to meet the growing needs of the dietary supplement and functional food markets for standardized, high-quality ingredients. "It will also enable us to continue to 'add value' at every level, from research and development, to processing and supply of the highest quality ingredients demanded by the industry," he added.
Pharmachem is currently positioned to supply a wide variety of vitamins, herbs, botanicals and extracts. On the specialty ingredient side, it is the developer of Phase 2 Carb Controller. Assisting the specialty ingredient efforts is its subsidiary, Proprietary Nutritionals Inc., which markets several other proprietary brands, including Benexia chia; Berry-Max fruit concentrates, including Cran-Max cranberry concentrate; Celadrin, for joint flexibility and relief; InoCell natural protection (Inositol & Cal-Mag IP6); Lactium for stress management; Perluxan hops extract; and Sytrinol for heart health.
The company is also a global leader in application-specific processing, including custom extraction, fermentation, drying, liquid-to-powder conversion, granulation, agglomeration, blending, nutrient fortification, ready-to-drink powders, beverage processing and packaging. All ingredients are standardized for specific potency, solubility, direct compression and disintegration characteristics.
And Pharmachem's progress doesn't stop there. "We will continue to make investments in processes and ingredients to ensure their safety and efficacy and to support our customers," Mr. Borrell commented. "As evidenced over the last 10 years, we have aggressively invested in new facilities and technologies to stay abreast of what's going on in our industry. We will continue to invest in technology and ingredients to provide the value-added services our customers have grown to expect."
Offering his perspective on industry performance in the current economic environment, Mr. Borrell offered, "We're optimistic about our industry. While no industry is totally recession-resistant, we feel ours is less affected because consumers will continue to invest in alternative and preventive healthcare due to the high cost and lack of availability of traditional healthcare."
For the future, Mr. Borrell believes research will be an important part of the company's plans. "We have invested heavily in our research and development facilities to ensure we are supplying ingredients that meet our customer's potency and purity requirements," he said. "We have also continued to invest in clinical research to ensure our branded ingredients are safe and efficacious."
He went on to say that the entire industry must make the same commitment to properly serve consumers and gain their trust if the dietary supplement and functional food markets are to grow and flourish in the future. -R.W.
Pharmachem Laboratories
265 Harrison Avenue
Kearny, NJ 07032
Telephone: 800-526-0609; 201-246-1000
Fax: 201-246-8105
E-mail: sales@pharmachemlabs.com
Website: www.pharmachemlabs.com
