A look back at ... Martek.

Martek Biosciences, a leading supplier of nutritional oils, has continued to expand into developing markets since NUTRACEUTICALS WORLD tagged it as an "Industry Innovator" in 2004.

The company's flagship products, life'sDHA, which contains the omega 3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and life'sARA, which contains arachidonic acid--an omega 6 fatty acid-can be found in over 90% of U.S. infant formulas. Both fatty acids are also added to formulas sold in over 70 countries and, subsequently, have been consumed by more than 24 million babies worldwide.

But since the supplier of vegetarian DHA and ARA oils--sourced from algae--took its first steps with infant formula, Martek has jumped into the functional food and beverage market. Today, life'sDHA can be found in over 40 products around the world, in a variety of applications such as milk, juice, yogurt, eggs and nutrition bars.

Some notable products containing life'sDHA that have launched in the past two years include Minute Maid Enhanced Pomegranate Blueberry Flavored 100% Juice Blend, Horizon Organic Milk Plus DHA, Yoplait Kids Yogurt and Silk Plus Omega-3 DHA Soy Milk.

This year Martek also announced the launch of the first bread product with life'sDHA; Oroweat 9 Grain Bread with life'sDHA from Bimbo Bakeries USA is now available at major retailers in the Pacific Northwest, California, Arizona and Nevada. The company also released a new protein-free powder form of life'sDHA that features a minimum of 100 mg per gram of life'sDHA and contains no soy or milk proteins, making it ideal for food and supplement applications where allergen labeling is a concern.

Martek signed a supply agreement with Kellogg's in 2005-its first such contract with a major food company. While no Kellogg products containing life'sDHA have been launched to date, this partnership could prove to be a profitable one down the road.

Meanwhile, in order to meet growing demand for infant formula containing life'sDHA, in 2005 the company completed a major expansion of its Kingstree, SC, facility for the fermentation and downstream processing of the company's nutritional oils. Today, with more than 525 employees and revenues exceeding $300 million, Martek is in good position to outpace the competition.

(Martek Biosciences was profiled as an "Industry Innovator"--Company to Watch--in 2004. It was a runner-up in this year's competition for "Companies to Watch," and has been for the last several years.)

--Sean Moloughney, Associate Editor