The Transfer
Particles for Humanity and Hexagon Nutrition have completed commercial-scale process validation for VIT A+, a stabilised vitamin A palmitate ingredient developed for large-scale food fortification, shifting manufacturing from LIS by Lesaffre's facility in France to Hexagon's site in India. The milestone closes out a manufacturing-knowledge transfer that began following the partnership's public announcement in 2025.
Scale and Significance
Each validated commercial-scale batch yields sufficient VIT A+ to fortify 600 million servings of food — a throughput figure that underscores the ingredient's positioning as an industrial-volume input rather than a specialty additive. The formulation was engineered to maintain vitamin A stability through storage and cooking conditions typical in low- and middle-income countries, where heat, humidity, and extended shelf life routinely degrade conventional vitamin A palmitate. Target vehicles include bouillon cubes, wheat flour, and sugar — three of the highest-volume fortification carriers used by national nutrition programs across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Vikram Kelkar, Managing Director of Hexagon Nutrition, said the validation confirms that VIT A+ can be manufactured reliably at scale, and that the company intends to work across the food fortification ecosystem to expand supply. Sherri C. Oberg, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Particles for Humanity, framed the transfer as positioning PFH-VAP — the ingredient's technical designation — for the next phase of commercialisation.
What Comes Next
With validation complete, both organisations will turn to market adoption: engaging governments, multilateral agencies, and food manufacturers that operate fortification programs in vitamin A-deficient regions. Relocating production to India is expected to lower unit costs, a material factor in markets where fortification mandates hinge on ingredient affordability and where international food aid budgets are fixed. The India site also offers logistical advantages for supply into Southeast Asia and East Africa, two geographies with substantial unmet demand for fortified staple ingredients.
For food and beverage manufacturers sourcing micronutrient premixes for compliance with national fortification standards, the availability of a commercially validated, heat-stable vitamin A ingredient at industrial volumes represents a meaningful expansion of the supplier landscape. The development is relevant to processors operating in food fortification and functional ingredients markets, where stability claims and validated manufacturing processes are prerequisites for procurement by institutional buyers. Industry observers tracking global nutrition supply chains will note that moving production closer to end markets is a recurring theme as ingredient companies seek to reduce landed costs for price-sensitive public-health programs.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
