Bespoke collagen supplement manufacturing

Collagen peptides and type II collagen, from bovine, marine or chicken

Custom collagen powders, sticks, drinks, shots, gummies and capsules for premium brands are what we develop as a collagen supplement manufacturer, and all of them are made in Leicester. Collagen anchors the beauty supplement shelf and sits at the centre of our beauty supplement manufacturing range. We specify each product by source, peptide size and dose, from milligram doses of undenatured type II collagen for joint products to collagen peptides at the 2.5 g to 15 g a day used in published trials, and write claims that hold in each market you sell in. Every batch ships with its certificate of analysis, and every launch with its specification, stability report and the species and origin documents for each collagen lot.

Collagen is the main structural protein of skin, bone, tendon and cartilage. Supplements use it in three states, and the state sets the dose and the format.

• Hydrolysed collagen (collagen peptides). Collagen cut by enzymes into short peptides, usually a few thousand daltons, that dissolve in cold water and don't gel. This is the form in almost every beauty powder, drink and stick.
• Gelatine. Partly broken-down collagen with longer chains that gel. It is the gelling agent in gummies and capsule shells, not a dosed active.
• Undenatured type II collagen. Collagen from chicken sternum cartilage, processed at low temperature to keep its native structure, and dosed in milligrams for joint products.

Sources

• Bovine collagen comes from hides and bones, is rich in types I and III, and tastes more neutral than marine grades.
• Marine collagen comes from fish skins and scales and is mainly type I. Fish is a declared allergen in the UK, EU and US, and marine sourcing needs traceable species and origin, close control of heavy metals and work on fishy notes.
• Porcine collagen comes from pig skin. It is common in gelatine but rules out halal and kosher claims.
• Chicken collagen comes from sternum cartilage and is the usual source of type II.

In GB and the EU, raw materials must come from animals found fit for human consumption after inspection, and bones must exclude specified risk material. Halal and kosher certification is arranged for your product with a matching source: bovine from a certified supply chain, or fish, where kosher certification usually needs species with fins and scales.

Animal-free collagen

Most "vegan collagen" on sale today is a collagen booster: amino acids such as glycine, proline and lysine with vitamin C and plant extracts, which we make in every format above. Collagen-like proteins made by precision fermentation are a different product. In GB and the EU they are novel foods that need authorisation before sale. A 2025 analysis by GFI Europe and Arthur D. Little estimated the cost of making collagen this way at well above the market value of conventional collagen (GFI Europe, 2025), so we build animal-free collagen products as boosters.

Liquid collagen, creamers and gummies beside the classic tub

• Powders in tubs carry full gram doses, flavoured or unflavoured, and are made in Leicester. See powder supplement manufacturing.
• Sachets and stick packs carry one measured dose for travel and subscriptions, also made in Leicester. See sachet and stick pack manufacturing.
• Liquid collagen, collagen drinks and shots deliver a dose in one swallow, with flavour and preservation matched to the drink's pH. Our team sets the formula and specification, and we fill them in-house. See liquid supplement manufacturing.
• Gummies carry a smaller collagen dose with vitamin C, biotin or hyaluronic acid, and are GMP certified, with every batch assayed as standard. See gummy manufacturing.
• Capsules suit undenatured type II collagen and milligram co-actives, and are GMP certified.
• Coffee creamers, teas and bars carry collagen into food routines; we make them in-house.

Collagen also pairs with biotin, zinc and selenium in hair supplement formulas. For beauty brands, we also make skincare to sit beside a collagen supplement. Brothy, bitter and marine notes go through our flavour development and taste masking work before launch.

Peptide size, vitamin C and collagen's protein score of zero

From 2.5 g of peptides to 40 mg of type II

Collagen is a gram-dose ingredient. Skin trials have used doses from 2.5 g a day: an eight-week trial in 69 women used 2.5 g or 5 g (Proksch and colleagues, Skin Pharmacology and Physiology, 2014). A 12-month study in postmenopausal women used 5 g a day for bone (König and colleagues, Nutrients, 2018), and a 12-week study in older men combining collagen with resistance training used 15 g a day (Zdzieblik and colleagues, British Journal of Nutrition, 2015). Undenatured type II collagen is dosed on a different scale: a 120-day trial in healthy adults used 40 mg a day of the ingredient (Lugo and colleagues, Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2013). We set the dose from the trial behind your positioning, and the dose sets the format.

Pro-Hyp peptides and the role of vitamin C

Collagen peptides are digested like other proteins, but some short peptides survive: prolyl-hydroxyproline (Pro-Hyp) appears in human blood, peaking one to two hours after a dose (Iwai and colleagues, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2005). Peptide size and the enzymes used shape that profile, which is why suppliers sell specific peptide grades backed by their own trials. Vitamin C belongs in the formula for science as well as claims, because the enzymes that build collagen in the body depend on it.

Protein quality and labelling

Collagen contains no tryptophan, so it is an incomplete protein with a protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS) of zero. In GB and the EU, label protein is calculated from nitrogen, so a collagen powder can still meet the "source of protein" (12% of energy) or "high protein" (20% of energy) conditions. In the US, a protein claim needs a %DV corrected for protein quality, which leaves collagen alone at zero. Blends with whey or plant protein solve that.

Stability, taste and mixability

Collagen peptides attract water, so powders cake unless moisture, water activity and packaging are controlled. Their amino groups react with reducing sugars in warm storage (the Maillard reaction), which browns the powder and changes its flavour, so we choose sweeteners and carriers to match. Agglomerated grades wet and dissolve in cold water without clumping. Marine grades can carry fishy notes, and bitterness rises as peptides get shorter. In gummies, collagen peptides soften the gel, which limits the dose per piece. Gram doses also raise the stakes on contaminants: a 10 g daily serving delivers twenty times the material of a 500 mg capsule.

Vitamin C carries the claim, not the collagen

As of October 2026, collagen itself has no authorised health claim in GB or the EU, for skin or for joints. Brands build compliant claims around vitamin C: "Vitamin C contributes to normal collagen formation for the normal function of skin", with the same claim authorised for bones and cartilage. Vitamin C must reach a source level, at least 15% of its 80 mg reference value in the daily dose. The claim describes vitamin C, so copy must not transfer it to the collagen. We check every claim against each market's rules at artwork stage, before a label is printed.

• Great Britain. The same claims and source-level condition apply. Fish collagen is declared as a fish allergen, because the narrow labelling exemption for fish gelatine does not cover it.
• European Union. The same claims and allergen rules apply. Collagen made by precision fermentation needs novel food authorisation, and member states differ on botanicals added to collagen blends.
• United States. Collagen supplements make structure and function claims, such as support for skin hydration, backed by competent and reliable scientific evidence, notified to FDA and carrying FDA's standard disclaimer. Labels name the fish species. Products sold into California face Proposition 65 warning rules for lead, which matter at gram doses.

We prepare products and documents for the UK, the EU and the US.

From hide, bone or fish skin to a cold-soluble peptide

Collagen peptides come from specialised hydrolysis plants, and every supplier passes our approval process before any material is used. The process runs in six steps:

1. Raw material. Hides, bones or fish skins from animals fit for human consumption, with species and origin traced.
2. Conditioning. Acid or alkaline conditioning opens the collagen structure; bones are demineralised first.
3. Extraction. Warm water draws the collagen out as gelatine.
4. Hydrolysis. Selected enzymes cut the chains to the target peptide size. This step defines the grade.
5. Purification. Filtration and ion exchange clean the solution, and marine grades are deodorised.
6. Sterilisation and drying. The solution is sterilised, spray dried and often agglomerated for cold-water solubility.

In Leicester, we specify the grade, then dispense, blend, fill and seal your product. Vitamin C and other micro-ingredients go in through a premix, so every serving carries its share, and powders are filled by weight, with the scoop sized to the bulk density of the finished blend. The critical steps are dose accuracy and blend uniformity, moisture control for a powder that attracts water, seal integrity, and label verification on every batch, the critical control point in our HACCP plan. Each product type has its own HACCP study, reviewed every year, and our allergen management plan, with yellow colour coding, controls fish collagen from goods-in to label.

What to check before choosing a collagen supplement manufacturer

Ask for the specification and the certificates of analysis behind every claim. Every batch is tested by accredited partner laboratories (ISO/IEC 17025) as part of every order, to the tests set for each product and market, as our testing and batch release page explains.

• Identity and content: protein by nitrogen, hydroxyproline as the collagen marker, and the amino acid profile.
• Peptide size: molecular weight distribution by size-exclusion chromatography.
• Heavy metals: lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic by ICP-MS. As of October 2026, collagen in GB and the EU must meet its own residue limits, including arsenic 1 mg/kg, lead 5 mg/kg, cadmium 0.5 mg/kg and mercury 0.15 mg/kg, and a food supplement must also meet lead 3.0 mg/kg, cadmium 1.0 mg/kg and mercury 0.10 mg/kg. We specify the stricter value for each metal.
• Microbiology: total viable count, yeasts and moulds, and pathogens such as Salmonella.
• Physical checks: moisture, water activity, solubility and appearance, and pH for liquids.

Every batch is released by quality control against its specification, and nothing is dispatched without quality control sign-off. Each batch ships with its certificate of analysis and batch release confirmation, and your launch file holds the specification with its test methods, the stability report that sets the vitamin C overage, and the species and origin documents for each collagen lot. We keep three retained samples per batch for shelf life plus one year, and a full mock recall, forward and backward with mass balance, runs in seconds. We are ISO 9001, HACCP and GMP certified by BSI, and FDA registered. BRCGS implementation under way, certification expected in early 2027. Your formula is yours, including its specification and test plan, as our formula ownership commitment sets out. Start your project with your source, dose and markets, and we build the formula around them.

References: Myung and Park, American Journal of Medicine (2025); Proksch and colleagues, Skin Pharmacology and Physiology (2014); König and colleagues, Nutrients (2018); Iwai and colleagues, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (2005); Commission Regulation (EU) No 379/2012 (2012); Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/355 (2016); Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915 (2023).