An ever-expanding list of product launches across the continent are leveraging upon the exceptional quality and purity for which KSM-66 has garnered renown over the years. Such brands are likewise capitalising on the compelling proposition this leading organic ashwagandha root extract offers through manufacturer Ixoreal Biomed’s admirable sustainability commitments and social impact credentials.

In Part One of Vitafoods Insights report on the subject, we present a round-up of the innovative European brands incorporating KSM-66 into their formulations, and we speak with the co-founder of a UK-based premium supplements company, Wild Nutrition, on his reasons for selecting KSM-66 over the many other ashwagandha extracts available on the market today.

From tonic to tablets, capsules to chocolate: Compelling use cases across the continent

Boasting an array of adaptogenic properties – from stress relief, to increased energy and enhanced cognitive functioning – and with a long list of clinical trials aligning it with many beneficial impacts on human health and wellbeing, best-selling ashwagandha root extract KSM-66 has swiftly become the go-to ingredient for brands seeking to give their new products the competitive edge. Moreover, with its neutral taste profile and high solubility, the versatile nature of KSM-66 means that brands can use the ingredient in all manner of applications and delivery formats, from tablets and tonics, to capsules, drops, food powders, chocolate, and even cocktails.

While KSM-66 has been shown to support the body and mind in numerous ways, supplement launches from Absolutely Woman (Hungary), Harmonia (Finland), and Wild Nutrition (UK) have honed their focus on communicating the extract’s specific benefits with regards to women’s health.

Cognitive functioning is another key area of focus for brands incorporating KSM-66, with notable launches from the likes of Poland’s Olimp Labs (capsules), Slovakia’s Rayzzer (tablets), Belgium’s Physalis (tablets), and Portugal’s Memorium Forte (brain tonic).

Perhaps the most popular KSM-66 benefit that European brands are messaging on is that of stress relief and the promotion of balance in the body. This includes capsule launches from Alpveda (Austria), Amix GreenDay (Czech Republic), Phytomance (Luxembourg), Medicine Garden (Sweden), Arkopharma (France), and Ecosh (Estonia), alongside tablet format products from Sun Wave Pharma (Romania), drops from CannSol (Lichtenstein), a food supplement from Mountain Drop (Slovenia), and even ‘chocolate with benefits’ from Holland & Barrett (Netherlands).

Other formulators across the continent – including Body Fuel (Norway), MPS+ (Italy), and Natsana (Germany) – emphasise the advantages that KSM-66 offers in supporting sports performance.

Elsewhere, many European brands cast their consumer net more widely by showcasing the numerous adaptogenic properties that make KSM-66 so compelling as an ingredient. These include capsule launches from One Nutrition (Ireland), HSN (Spain), Sunday Natural (Germany), and AM Health (Greece), alongside The Cocktail’s ADA Rest (20cl) Adaptogenic Drink (Switzerland).

Wild Nutrition: “It’s a tangible impact KSM-66 is making”

Wild Nutrition founder, Charlie Norton, in the organic fields where KSM-66 cultivates its organic ashwagandha root.

To gain a deeper understanding of all the benefits that using KSM-66 Ashwagandha can bring to a brand, Vitafoods Insights spoke with Charlie Norton of UK-based premium supplements brand, Wild Nutrition. “We use KSM-66 alongside food-grown magnesium in our product ‘Food-grown™KSM-66 Ashwagandha Plus’. It’s one of our best-selling SKUs today,” reports Norton, who founded his business with wife Henrietta – a nutritional therapist who formulates the company’s products.

The couple met Kartikeya Baldwa, founder and CEO of Ixoreal Biomed, when he was launching KSM-66 Ashwagandha in 2017. “This coincided with us launching Wild Nutrition as a brand – our paths therefore crossed right at the start of our journey,” notes Norton. “We were impressed to understand the provenance behind KSM-66, and how that very much echoed Ayurvedic principles in terms of the focus on root extraction and not using leaf – a critical factor.”

Norton made a point of personally visiting the KSM-66 farms and production facilities in India – walking ‘from seed through to finished product’. “Everything I witnessed – the provenance, the quality, the standards attained – merely served to reaffirm our original decision to use KSM-66 in our product,” he enthuses. “It’s not just that the ingredient is so beautifully cultivated and manufactured; it’s also the way the company supports their local community. They fund local schools, and also a hospital that serves the community. I’ve witnessed such support first-hand, and it’s real – it’s not marketing smoke and mirrors, it’s a tangible impact KSM-66 is making.

“One principle we make in all our formulations is to always select the very best quality ingredients – and never compromise on integrity,” continues Norton, whose brand focuses on women’s health, with its KSM-66 product marketed as “supporting emotional balance”. So, when Wild Nutrition decided to go with KSM-66, how much of that decision was swayed by the enormous amount of clinical evidence backing up this leading ashwagandha root extract? “I think it goes without saying,” responds the co-founder. “On the softer side, KSM-66 very much adheres to those age-old Ayurvedic principles, with an unwavering focus on using the root only (and not a combination of root and leaf, as is often the case with other suppliers). But 100 per cent, the number of robust, gold-standard scientific studies conducted on KSM-66 is vast, as is the number of accreditations the company has amassed.”

Charlie Norton at the KSM-66 warehouse, and the company's organic ashwagandha fields in Rajasthan.

Equally if not more vital to Wild Nutrition are the environmental and ethical sensibilities that underpin KSM-66. “As a B-Corp business, sustainability and ethics are crucially important to us,” stresses Norton. “And we see KSM-66 as an amazing product, demonstrating true authenticity in everything it stands for.”

Wild Nutrition’s emphasis on standards and provenance is of course amply underlined by Norton’s visit to KSM-66’s vertically integrated sites in India to see it all up close. And with traceability and ethically sourced ingredients likewise rising up the list of priorities for shoppers, incorporation of KSM-66 could only prove a valuable asset for European supplement brands seeking to win over sustainably minded consumers.