- Not only will you see higher prices for C, you will see
it for all other supplements. You will also see cheaper ingredients, not
unlike the current Costco-Kirkland calcium carbonate and synthetic vitamin
E.
-
- Most C now is from corn. If not organic it is a very
heavily treated with pesticides and may be GMO.
-
- Another example is stevia extract. It used to wholesale
for about $25 pound. Now it is more than $30 for one-half pound.
-
- CO Q 10 used to be $2100 a kilo wholesale. It hasn't
really gone down in price. Some of this is related to the patent, however
there is a new more bioavailable form from Japan that is less expensive.
-
- With Co Q 10 you also see additives like olive or other
oil (source not identified) added in and a higher price or fewer caps.
Co Q 10 absorbes better with some fat, but the best way is to take it
with vitamin E (IMHO) and from wheat germ oil, not soy E.
-
- I am happy to know what I know and be able to know which
natural products supply what.
-
- Gayle
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- _________________
-
- From Peter Rejcek 8/21/2007
-
- Yet another thing to blame on the Chinese. Bulk prices
of vitamin C have quadrupled since the first quarter of the year, mainly
due to cutbacks in production by Chinese suppliers who control as much
70 percent to 90 percent of the market, according to industry manufacturers,
suppliers and recent media reports.
-
- A kilogram of bulk vitamin C has risen from about $4
in January to about $12 as of August.
-
- "What they've done is squeeze production. They're
holding back in their production," said Ed Kennan, vice president
of marketing for FutureBiotics, a dietary supplements manufacturer based
in Hauppauge, N.Y. "The whole industry is going to be hit by a severe
shortage."
-
- The Asian economic powerhouse isn't the only party to
blame. Another factor driving prices is the siphoning of corn into the
biofuel market. Corn is a primary source of vitamin C production. BusinessWeek
reported in March that the push for renewable fuels led to an outburst
of ethanol plant construction, with 113 ethanol distilleries now in operation
and an additional 78 in the works. That has pushed up demand for corn to
the point that last year ethanol accounted for about one-fifth of the United
State's corn supply.
-
- "We believe that there are many factors causing
the upward price pressure in the market," said Todd Sitkowski, a spokesman
for DSM Nutritional Products. "As previously report[ed], exports of
vitamin C from China are limited. In addition, they are experiencing significant
costs to improve their environmental, quality and safety performance. Moreover,
all manufactures are experiencing costs pressures relative to energy and
raw material increases."
-
- Keenan predicted it could take up to 18 months before
prices drop. He said vitamin B and other letter vitamins would probably
also experience price hikes, as China is the biggest player in those markets
as well. He said FutureBiotics, because of its distribution agreement,
would have to wait until the first of the new year to raise prices to compensate
for the rising costs. He said it would affect about a half-dozen of the
company's multivitamin products.
-
- Sitkowski said it is difficult to predict where markets
are headed. However, he added, "We see fundamental and sustainable
costs pressures in the vitamin C market, which we see continuing for the
foreseeable future."
-
- However, Sonja Tuitele, spokeswoman for Boulder, Colo.-based
Wild Oats Market, said the company had not been notified of any shortages
or price increases from its supply chain as of Aug. 8. Several other manufacturers
contacted for this article either declined to comment or also said that
they had not experienced any price volatility of bulk vitamin C.
-
- Vitamin C is the largest piece of the letter vitamin
sales category in the conventional channel, with more than $129 million
in sales in 2006, according to The Natural Food Merchandiser's latest Market
Overview.
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