Making collagen jelly sticks and inner beauty supplements in Korea

“Inner beauty”, products you eat or drink for your skin, hair or nails, is one of the categories Korea is best known for after skincare. Collagen jelly sticks, collagen drinks and beauty supplements fill Korean pharmacy and convenience store shelves, and many brands abroad want to launch their own.

Making them looks a lot like making cosmetics: a formula, samples, packaging, production. The big difference is that these products are food. That changes who makes them, which rules apply and what you’re allowed to say on the label.

The formats

• Jelly sticks. Single-serving pouches of flavored jelly, eaten straight from the stick. They’re a Korean favorite and easy to carry.
• Drinks and shots. Small bottles or ampoule-style vials, often taken once a day.
• Powder sticks. Powder to mix with water, usually the most economical format to make and ship.
• Tablets, capsules and gummies. Familiar formats in most markets, with their own equipment and minimums.

The format affects nearly everything else: how much collagen fits in a serving, how it tastes, its shelf life, the packaging and the cost of shipping.

Ingredients and decisions

• Collagen source. Fish (marine) collagen is common in Korean products. Pork and beef collagen are also used. The source affects cost, how you can market the product, and who can eat it: fish collagen is an allergen to declare, and none of these are vegan.
• Collagen type and size. Many products use hydrolyzed collagen peptides, often described by their molecular weight. Ask suppliers for specifications and any studies behind their ingredient.
• Dose per serving. Products range widely, from about a gram to several grams of collagen per serving. More collagen changes the taste and texture and raises the cost.
• Other ingredients. Vitamin C, hyaluronic acid, elastin and biotin are often added. Each one needs to be allowed, at that amount, in every market you sell in.
• Taste. Flavor, sweetness and how well the collagen’s own taste is covered decide whether people finish the box. Plan for several rounds of tasting.
• Shelf life. Jellies and drinks need testing to confirm how long they stay safe and taste right.

The rules depend on where you sell

This is the part to plan first. Rules change and depend on your exact product, so confirm them with a regulatory specialist for each market.

• Korea. Products are either general foods or health functional foods. Health functional foods can carry approved functional claims, must use approved ingredients and are made in facilities certified for them. A manufacturer that makes health functional foods is a good sign of experience, even if your product is sold abroad as a food or supplement.
• United States. Collagen products are usually sold as dietary supplements or as conventional foods, regulated by the FDA. Supplements need a Supplement Facts label, must be made under the FDA’s supplement manufacturing rules, and can only make claims about how a product supports the body, not that it treats anything. The facility that makes them must register with the FDA, and importers have their own obligations to verify their foreign suppliers.
• European Union. Food supplements follow EU and national rules, and only health claims that have been authorized can be used. Many popular beauty claims, including several made for collagen, haven’t been authorized, so marketing has to be written carefully.

The practical result: the same jelly stick can need a different label, different claims and sometimes a different recipe for each market. Decide your launch markets before you finalize the formula.

Packaging and minimums

Jelly sticks and powders are usually packed in printed stick pouches, which come on rolls and have their own printing minimums, often per design. Drinks need bottles or vials, caps and often a carton. As with sheet masks, the packaging often sets the minimum order more than the recipe does. Each flavor is usually its own variant with its own minimum, so starting with one or two flavors keeps the first order smaller.

Food also brings its own paperwork for shipping, such as certificates of analysis and, for some markets, health certificates. Ask what your manufacturer usually provides for export.

How long it takes

Expect formulation and tasting rounds, shelf-life and stability testing, label and regulatory review for each market, packaging production and then manufacturing. Like a first beauty product, a first inner beauty product can often take several months, and longer when the recipe or packaging is new.

Questions to ask a manufacturer

• Are you certified to make health functional foods, and which other certifications do you hold, such as HACCP?
• Have you made products for export to our markets, and what documents can you provide?
• Which collagen sources and suppliers do you work with, and can we see their specifications?
• What is the minimum per flavor, and is it set by the recipe or the packaging?
• How many tasting rounds are included?
• How do you test shelf life, and how long does it take?
• Who owns the recipe once we’re done?

How Andle helps

We find Korean inner beauty manufacturers and packaging suppliers that fit your product and markets, ask them to quote the same spec and lay the quotes side by side. Then we coordinate tastings, packaging, testing and production with you and every partner. You see every manufacturer by name and work with them directly. Read more about manufacturing in Korea, or tell us what you’re making and we’ll send a free feasibility check within 48 hours.