Dr. Aly Gamay, president and founder of the company, says that he’s seen a shift from the way consumers use nutritional supplements. First there were capsules, then tablets, soft gels, effervescents and more recently powders. But Gamay says that liquids offer the consumer more benefits. Compared to powders, liquid supplements offer consumers fast and full absorption, an easy to swallow delivery system, convenience in that mixing is not required and a once-a-day dosage by offering a sufficient serving of active ingredients, he says.

Gamay cites four reasons why he believes powders have become less desirable. “No. 1: There is a lot of dusting with the powder, even if it is in a stick pack, and can get on the outside of the bottle. No. 2: You would have to shake the powder vigorously to dissolve the ingredients. No. 3: You have precipitate at the bottom of the bottle. It never dissolves completely.

And No. 4: It looks cloudy, which is not the case with the liquid. Our twist-tubes address all of the shortcomings of powders,” he says.

These twist-tubes packaged in PVDC or PETA have been developed to deliver on a variety of functionalities. The company offers 10 and 20 ml twist-tubes that are designed to be added to water, 33 ml bottle shaped twist-tubes as ready-to-drink supplements and a 2-ounce egg-shaped blister.

DreamPak’s product lineup for its add-to-water products offers vitamins, minerals and herbal supplements, joint care, health and beauty; and its RTD supplements are made for energy, male and female enhancement, joint care, fiber, beauty collagen and cholesterol reduction, among others. The company also produces chewable gels in peelable units for weight loss, joint care and even pet health.

Founded in 2000, DreamPak was not initially in the liquid business. In fact, Gamay, who has a PhD from Utah State University’s Department of Food Science and Nutrition, was making single-serve cheese products in kid-friendly shapes as well as chewable vitamin-enhanced candy for children. It wasn’t until 2005 that the company made a shift to liquid beverage.
Since then, Gamay says he has found success in the beverage sector working with US-based and international branded marketing companies, multi-level marketing companies and food, drug and mass retailers.

The company’s revenue for 2009 was under $10 million, and Gamay expects to have a positive 2010 with a new whey protein liquid concentrate that delivers about 10 grams of protein in a 20 ml twist-tube in addition to another liquid concentrate that offers consumers about 10 servings of fruits and vegetables, including phytonutrients, antioxidants, vitamins and fiber, in one 20 ml twist-tube at 10 calories per serving. The company has plans to share these new innovations at Expo West slated for March 12-14 in Anaheim, Calif.

DreamPak has its research and development facility in Alexandria where it works on new product development and offers technical support to its sister company, Gamay Foods, a food and flavor technology business that Gamay started in 1987.
“With Gamay Foods we are able to bring the latest innovation of food technology and flavor technology into our formulations,” he says.

Gamay Foods is located in New Berlin, Wis. where DreamPak has a 50,000-square-foot production plant with unique form-fill seal equipment to package the twist-tubes. Recently, a high-speed filling line for 2-ounce bottles was installed for the production of ready-to-drink vitamin or energy shot products. The new filling line is said to be able to produce 100,000 to 300,000 bottles a day. Gamay adds, “The cost is going to be very economical for those companies or marketers who buy these kinds of products. So, we are going to offer really high quality at a lower cost.”

Though DreamPak has about 35 accounts in the United States, Gamay says that a good portion of the business’ nutritional supplements and vitamin drink concentrates are sold overseas. In particular, the company exports its products to Korea, Taiwan, China, Indonesia and the Caribbean.

“The reason being,” he says, “the use of liquid supplements or functional beverage concentrates overseas is well known, a little bit more than the States.”

But as US consumers continue to look for more functionality and nutritional value in their beverages, that is likely to change, and according to Gamay, he’s already begun to see a shift in demand.

“We are seeing the trends mostly in functional beverages,” he says. “Consumers would like to get the benefit of various nutrients in a fun-to-drink beverage.”

VITAL STATS
DREAMPAK, LLC
PRESIDENT & FOUNDER: Dr. Aly Gamay
HEADQUARTERS: Alexandria, Va.
EMPLOYEES: 19 full-time
GOALS: To offer alternative delivery systems for consumer health products that make it easy and enjoyable for people to stay healthy.

From Beverage World February 15, 2010