The modern food industry has begun to act with an eye toward the production and sale of superfoods, nutraceutical foods that can meet the nutritional needs of individuals without endangering natural balances. The primary goal is to be able to feed a booming global population despite the current climatic-environmental difficulties, with also positive effects on health, disease prevention, and treatment.
As already anticipated in the news for Novel Food transportation, several items, from different origins, have been identified in recent years as replacements for more contaminating foods from intensive livestock farming, to reduce waste and derived costs.
The food industry is one of the most polluting industries in existence, composing alone 23 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions with a very strong impact on CO2 production and exploiting more than 70 percent of water resources. Of all this, emissions from animal-based food production compose 66 percent of total emissions, yet it manages to feed only 18 percent of the population, a proportion whose delta is only detrimental to the environment.
Foods that are now called “Superfoods” can be surprisingly beneficial to those who consume them, without representing a threat to the environment.
Superfoods are those food types rich in nutrients, fiber, protein, and vitamins that can replace other macro-foods that are unsustainable and less functional: algae, spices, and seeds are native and nutrient-rich items that are readily available in nature.
Belonging to a still niche product class, not all superfoods are already visible on the shelves of large retailers; many are purchased online, or within organic stores, pharmacies, or herbalist stores.
Superfoods, from algae to seeds. What are the benefits?
The superfoods that are making their way into today’s food supply are mainly alternative food sources made from insects, algae, plankton, and low-impact aquatic microorganisms, complemented by plant-derived elements such as chia seeds, goji berries, ginger, turmeric, and peperine.
The latest trends have mainly focused on spirulina algae: a single-celled organism used since Aztec times that confers three times the protein of meat and can be taken in its original form, added to already cooked dishes, or under the guise of supplements.
As a superfood with 8 assimilable essential amino acids, vitamins, and trace elements, spirulina possesses a strong antioxidant, remineralizing, and purifying function for the human body.
Competing with spirulina for the podium is plankton, which comes to the table as a collection of edible freeze-dried plant organisms in a green-powder-form, nevertheless haute cuisine and very high value.
Among plant superfoods, on the other hand, purchase requests are steadily increasing for turmeric and ginger, both spices of ancient origin.
Turmeric is a yellow-colored rhizome that has been used over the years for some of its medical properties as an anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antioxidant, acting as an aid to the entire human immune system and liver. It too can be taken in different forms: in tablets, in addition to foods, or in the form of a sauce.
Likewise, ginger is also a superfood with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and more: it works as a panacea for the most common human ills, from headaches to stomachaches, and can be taken as a spice, infusion, or supplement.
The use of superfoods is also a good alternative for those adopting vegan diets, who through the consumption of natural seeds and berries such as flax, hemp, or Goji baches can supplement their diets with vitamins, such as B12, not readily available in prepackaged foods, as well as proteins and minerals, such as calcium and iron.
Do you need to ship cosmetics with superfood ingredients?
The intake of superfood seeds, seaweeds and spices, already in place for some time in Asian territories is now having a following in the West as well: if the use was initially only for food, then beauty care, for cosmetic and beauty care treatments, has also been added.
Superfood and cosmetics, the alliance is possible. But how can agribusiness interact with beauty?
Among the latest from the European territory is InnCoCells, an EU-funded project that focuses on the development of sustainable production processes for the creation of innovative superfood-based cosmetic ingredients
The project, which is still being implemented, aims to create next-generation cosmetic products through the introduction of bioactive and enzymatic ingredients, as solid cosmetics already do.
The source in this case concerns superfood elements rich in nutrients and antioxidants capable of giving skin and hair a stronger and healthier appearance.
The most successful items at the moment are cosmetics and shampoos made by mixing natural elements based on hemp, ginger or spirulina, each one particular and unique due to the beneficial properties of these nutraceutical ingredients.
The use of foods in the base of creams, shampoos, cleansers, or oils does not preclude the preservation of nutritional and beneficial organoleptic properties. How? Through a painstaking extraction process aimed at preserving all the qualities, further strengthening the nutrients and vitamins used in these already abundantly market-tested cosmetic superfood products.
Actually, many of us have already used them unconsciously, maybe without the label superfood, in more easily recognizable forms or names, such as avocado hair masks, linen seed shampoo, body creams with macadamia nuts and shea butter, coconut hair masks, or coffee facial serum.
Sogedim, a specialized transportation service for your Superfoods
Sogedim is the reference partner for the B2B transport of such highly specific products, thanks to strong expertise developed over the years and widespread distribution throughout Europe made possible by correspondents and transport partners who share with us the same principle of quality in the service to be addressed to the customer.
Thanks to a staff of people able to treat goods of every type, the shipper can manage the activities of shipment import-export to strengthen the business of producing companies or superfood third parties interested to intensify own traffics in Europe and worldwide.
If you have storage needs, please feel free to contact our logistics experts.
As a certified BIO, grocery, and personal products shipper with expertise in integrated logistics, we will handle your Superfood products with excellence and highly competitive service.
Entrust your goods to a logistics partner of excellence.