ExcelVite has added sustainability certification to the list of credentials achieved by the company. As a manufacturer of health ingredients derived from Malaysian red palm oil, the certification awarded by SIRIM (Standard and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia) for the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) Supply Chain certification scheme assures buyers that the raw material used is sustainably produced.
The company’s mission to provide super qualities of nutraceutical ingredients including full spectrum tocotrienols/tocopherol complex and natural mixed-carotene complex from sustainable sources is likely why the company has become a leading global manufacturer of dietary supplement, food and cosmetic ingredients in a few short years.
Its assurance of quality under PIC/S GMP Certification (Good Manufacturing Practice for Medicinal Products) and its status as the only tocotrienol producer in the world that is FDA-inspected speaks volumes about ExcelVite’s drive to be the best in its sector. The newly achieved certification of sustainability under the MSPO Supply Chain standard adds an extra credential that shows what the company produces, does not harm the natural environment.
Super Health Products Sustainably
While many companies (dietary supplement and cosmetic companies) are familiar with ExcelVite and its registered tradenames such as EVNol and EVNol SupraBio as they have signed on to ExcelVite’s co-branding program (for its body of clinically-research, science and high quality), there are still a certain segment of the consumer market that do not know about the company that produces them. This is why the stories behind the company and what they mean to the consumer is so important.
ExcelVite is a Malaysian ingredients manufacturer that extracts the best nutrients from red palm oil in order to create natural elements to be used in every day foods, supplements and cosmetics. Their products list with trade names like EVNol and EVTene are something which the average consumer may have seen on labels and these are the ingredients that make a consumer product super healthy.
EVTene for example, is a natural mixed carotene complex which offers both an esthetic and a health value to the foods that it is added to. Carotenoids are a plant-based family of colors which range from yellow to red. They are an essential component of human health for heart and healthy aging as well as vision and immunity. More information can be accessed on Carotene.org.
Food ingredients aside, ExcelVite produces a super vitamin E for nutraceutical and nutricosmetics applications under its ENVol and ENVol SupraBio trademarks. The importance of vitamin E for human health cannot be understated as this vitamin is essential for all aspects of human health from brain health to healthy aging. An overview on Vitamin E from WebMD provides the full scope of how the body uses vitamin E for optimal health. More information on tocotrienol can be accessed on Tocotrienol.org.
Supporting research notes from NCBI and others all point to the fact that palm oil is one of the best natural sources for Vitamin E in terms of bioavailability. Nutritionist Andrea Donsky recently shared some tips on boosting immunity with ABC7 and explained how red palm oil benefits human health.
“Malaysian red palm oil contains antioxidants as well as immune boosting compounds (tocotrienols and mixed-carotene) that support our immune system. They’re also good for our liver, kidneys, and brain. Its beautiful red color comes from carotenes including alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and lycopene.”
As a natural source of carotenes and tocotrienol, consuming red palm oil straight up as a drizzle over salads is one of the best ways to add it to healthy diets but its availability on supermarket shelves in North America is limited. The extraction of these nutrients for commercial application has however, made it possible for a wider population to benefit from these essential nutrients for human health.
Sustainability for human and environmental health
There is no doubt that palm oil nutrients are beneficial for human heath but the obvious question is the environmental impact of growing oil palm in Malaysia.
We reached out to ExcelVite to find out how they are addressing the issue of sustainability. Their response to our questions gave us a deep insight to the proactive measures they have taken to ensure the sustainability of their palm oil supply.
ExcelVite uses only 32,000 tons of crude palm oil annually and yet has parlayed this to become one of the largest producers of tocotrienol and mixed-carotene complexes globally. This is not a nod to the overall richness of healthy components in the palm oil fruit but rather a well thought out business plan that demanded exacting qualities from its raw material. According to the CEO of ExcelVite:
“EV is first and foremost a branded biopharmaceutical ingredient producer, this requirement is to ensure that the palm oil we purchase, contains acceptable minimum levels of palm phytonutrients (tocotrienols and carotenes) as well as other parameters such as FFA, DOBI, etc. in order for our proprietary extraction processes to run efficiently.”
In keeping with the company policy for transparency, ExcelVite revealed that their source of crude palm oil comes only from Tian Siang’s mills in Perak state, Malaysia, which have been certified under the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) scheme. In a further show of transparency, they declared that the actual supply of raw materials, which in this case is bunches of oil palm fruits from the farm, is not 100% certified at this time.
According to ExcelVite, the company claim to using Certified Sustainable Palm Oil can only be made on a Mass Balance model as some of the smallholders supplying the mill, are yet to be certified under the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil scheme.
“The mills are responsible to document traceability down to the smallholders. As far as the crude palm oil supply is concerned, the traceability system that is in place is able to trace the supply chain down to the smallholder and these are documented by the mills according to the quality demands of ExcelVite .
We expect to use 100% certified sustainable palm oil in the very near future for the production of all our products. As such, we are making every effort to ensure our supply chain is certified. However, we understand that certification for some of the smallholders in our supply chain are delayed at the present time. This is why we only claim to use a Mass Balance model of certified palm oil under the MSPO.”
Certification for consumer confidence
The company acknowledged the importance of using 100% certified palm oil and is working with its suppliers to achieve the Segregated supply stream. In the meantime, ExcelVite is keeping its supply sources within the area where its own production takes place. This enables the company to keep tight control over its raw material supply to remove any doubts over the quality of its mass balance supply of certified palm oil.
This high level of transparency is a good boost for buyer confidence. In ExcelVite’s supply chain, transparency is obvious in the online information provided by Tian Siang, the exclusive supplier of crude palm oil to ExcelVite.
In Malaysia, the government has mandated MSPO certification by all oil palm planters by the end of 2019. However, to date, many smallholders are yet to be certified. Certifying smallholders is no mean task as smallholders in general, need external administrative and financial support in order to achieve certification. ExcelVite on its part, is paying a premium cost for its palm oil in order to reach the goal of using palm oil from a Segregated Model where every drop in its supply chain, including that from smallholders, is certified as sustainable under the MSPO.
Certification creates consumer confidence where they can enjoy the health benefits of ExcelVite’s products without wondering if their own well-being comes at a cost to tropical forests and orangutans. For a company that works behind the scenes in providing natural ingredients with healthy benefits for consumer products, more consumers need to know about the company that is bringing them these sustainable ingredients.
The company has a co-branding program with dietary supplement and cosmetic manufacturers to display the company’s trademark and logo on the product label so that consumers will be informed about the branded ingredient in the product. Many have embraced this program due to the ingredients’ clinically-research science and high quality.
“About 60% of our customers have embraced this co-branding program, as they trust the quality, research-based evidence on health benefits as well as our sustainability commitment, thereby leveraging these unique selling points to promote the finished products to consumers alike.”
Companies that are providing sustainable products need consumer support as this will inspire others to follow their model for sustainability. Consumers can inspire change for good by asking their favorite brands to use ExcelVite’s ingredients for the quality, scientifically substantiated health benefits and sustainability.
Published October 2019. CSPO Watch