Italy is in pole position, with 73% of European production. Lazio, together with Lombardy, are the leading Italian regions

ROME - Nutraceuticals are a fairly new pharmaceutical category. The term was coined in 1989 by the American medical researcher Stephen De Felice to define a discipline which combines the study of nutrition with the sector of pharmaceutics. More commonly known as dietary supplements or food additives, their rate of production has undergone a phenomenal growth and it now amounts to a turnover of 3.3 billion euros in Italy alone. Lazio and Lombardy are the national leaders in this strategic sector, in terms of both production and consumption. The survey “The Italian food supplement supply chain”, which was recently presented to the Italian Chamber of Deputies, reveals the existence of a market that has gained the trust not only of consumers, but also of many doctors, who are increasingly prescribing the use of these products. The genuine area of excellence in this “Made in Italy” sector is represented by the practice of contract manufacturing by third parties. This industrial model has been adopted by several leading multinationals, which see Italy as one of the most competent sources of products in the world, and this confirms the high quality of production processes in this country. Thanks to the new technologies that are now available to the firm, as well as its innovative research and development laboratory, ITC Farma has been able to set up some strategic collaborations with university research teams, and it can nowsatisfy most requests for the pharmaceutical market, including the development of new product formulations in the field of nutraceuticals. As Dr. Guglielmo Frontini, the plant director of ITC Farma, explains: “thanks to our decades of experience, in addition to the new structures with which we are now equipped, our company is able to open up to new markets, and we can beperfectly integrated with every demand. In addition to the prevalent production of pharmaceuticals, food and nutrients represent a very important segment, in terms of development as well as quality. Today in the food sector we are able tomanage 800 kilograms of powders each working day, which are treated to produce granules for sachets or for compression. In this way we can make and package any kind of product required.” Frontini concludes by pointing out that “today, by means of the dynamics of major industrial investments, we are also ready for the challenge represented by the sector of nutraceuticals: a market that is becoming ever more important andpresent in our daily lives.”