Parry Nutraceuticals has been issued with a European Union import licence for organic Spirulina – the first to be granted to an Indian company in nearly two years.

In October 2022, the European Commission delisted a number of Indian organic certification bodies after detecting traces of the EU-banned pesticide ethylene oxide in a shipment of organic sesame seeds from India. Among the organisations affected by this move was the sole control body in the world authorised to certify organic microalgae from India, putting an indefinite stop to imports of organic Spirulina into the EU from India.

Following the European Commission’s decision, Chennai-based Parry Nutraceuticals – which produces only Spirulina that is certified organic – began the search for a Europe-based body willing to develop the capacity to certify organic Spirulina from India. Having successfully identified a recognised, credible European partner, and after more than a year of hard work behind the scenes, Parry Nutraceuticals is in a position to resume exports to the EU with immediate effect.

Baburaj Lakshmi Kanthan, Parry Nutraceutical’s Head of Business, welcomed the news. “It was a long process – much longer than we’d hoped for – but we are delighted to be back in the EU,” he said. “We thank our customers for their loyalty and patience during this delay and we look forward to working with them again.”

During its absence from the EU in the past two years, Parry Nutraceuticals has invested considerably in research and development and will re-enter the European market with new, improved versions of its organic Spirulina powders and tablets. These are manufactured using the innovative Tuymai filtration process. This preserves Spirulina’s cell structure, in turn enhancing its purity and organoleptic profile and increasing the levels of phycocyanin in the powder. Phycocyanin is a powerful bioactive associated with health benefits including muscle recovery and immunity.

Rajendran Lingan, Head of Quality Assurance at Parry Nutraceuticals, commented: “We have been very busy during our temporary absence from the EU market, and we are excited to offer the latest version of our superior quality Spirulina to our European customers. We are one of only two Spirulina producers worldwide with two separate Organic Certifications. In addition to EU Organic status, we also now hold certification from the even more stringent Naturland, which is a gold-standard European scheme demonstrating that we are compliant with the most exacting ecological and social sustainability standards. We are also the only microalgae producer with USP verification – and our contaminant levels are three to five times lower than current EU regulatory requirements.”

Parry Nutraceuticals supplies Spirulina in a range of forms, including granules, which are a flexible option for a variety of applications such as food and beverage, food supplements, and cosmetics and personal care. The company is also a leading manufacturer of white-label Spirulina tablets, which are supplied ready for health and wellness companies to package, brand and sell as their own supplements. Parry Nutraceuticals’ sales to the US and Asia were unaffected by the EU’s decision and have continued to perform strongly during its absence from the European market.

Sofia Hoffmann de Mendonça, European Business Development Manager for Parry Nutraceuticals, said: “The absence of our organic Spirulina from the European market has been frustrating not only for the Parry team but also for our customers and distributors. They previously had access to organic Spirulina products with the best quality-price ratio in Europe but found themselves left with no comparable alternative. We are delighted that we can now return to the EU market to serve our current customers – and new ones – and once again deliver the great-quality, unique, and competitively priced Spirulina that we are well known for.”

Parry Nutraceutical’s Spirulina is produced in a natural, rural environment in the south of India, in compliance with the strictest certifications. The company has also invested extensively in research to support health claims specific and exclusive to its own Spirulina, offering an added-value selling proposition in the global market. Find out more about Parry Nutraceuticals in this new video: https://youtu.be/dNY7f8nP7Ro.