Vitamin Shot Manufacturer – Premium Liquid Supplements for European Brands
Noviatic is a European contract manufacturer of finished food supplements, based in Vilnius and Kaunas, Lithuania. We produce vitamin shots – single-serve, high-dose liquid formulas in 10 ml, 25 ml and 60 ml formats – for supplement brands, pharmacy chains and distributors across 40+ countries, on dedicated microbial-controlled liquid lines inside our own GMP-certified facility.
The science case for putting vitamins in a shot
A capsule or tablet delivers an active ingredient to the stomach and relies on digestion to do the rest. For many nutrients, that’s fine. For others, it’s where a significant portion of the dose is lost.
Water-soluble vitamins like B12 and vitamin C depend on transport proteins in the gut to cross into the bloodstream. At high doses, those transport systems saturate – meaning more of the active is excreted rather than absorbed. A smaller, more bioavailable dose delivered in liquid form can outperform a larger dose in a capsule precisely because it doesn’t overwhelm the transport pathway.
Fat-soluble vitamins like D3 and K2 require dietary fat to be absorbed – something a capsule consumed without food can’t guarantee, but a liquid formula with an appropriate carrier addresses directly at the formulation level.
And for collagen peptides, the argument is dose volume. A meaningful clinical serving of hydrolysed collagen runs 5–10 g. In a 25 ml shot, that dose fits naturally. In a capsule, it means swallowing a handful.
A vitamin shot is not simply a liquid version of a capsule. It’s a format that changes what can be delivered, at what dose, to whom.
The format earns its place for these consumers – and these categories
Consumers who don’t or won’t take tablets. Difficulty swallowing is more common than most supplement brands account for, particularly in older adult populations. A ready-to-drink shot removes the barrier without requiring a reformulation of the active profile.
Consumers who want speed over routine. A shot is taken once, in seconds, without water, preparation or measuring. For immunity and energy categories especially, that convenience is part of the product’s value proposition – the shot is positioned as acute, decisive supplementation, not a daily habit tablet.
Brands competing on bioavailability. Liquid formats are where absorption claims are most credible to consumers, and where the formulation technology to back those claims – including Miosol™ liposomal encapsulation – is most naturally applied.
Premium pharmacy and health retail positioning. In European pharmacy retail, a 60 ml individually packaged shot commands a price point a capsule in a jar rarely achieves. The format signals efficacy and premium intent at the shelf level, before the consumer reads a single claim.
From raw ingredient to finished bottle – what actually happens?
Liquid manufacturing has more failure points than solid dosage forms. Microbial contamination, oxidation, active degradation in solution, pH instability, fill accuracy – none of these exist in tablet pressing. A manufacturer who produces excellent capsules is not automatically equipped to produce a stable, effective vitamin shot. Here is what the process actually involves.
Ingredient intake and testing. Every raw material goes through incoming inspection and QC testing before it is accepted into stock, carried out in-house or through accredited external labs depending on the parameter, and checked against current EU regulatory requirements.
Formulation and carrier selection. The active ingredients are combined with a liquid carrier – water-based, oil-based or emulsion, depending on the actives and target absorption profile. Fat-soluble vitamins require emulsification to stay stable in solution. Sensitive actives like B12 and certain botanicals require pH management from the outset to avoid degradation before the formula even reaches the consumer.
Flavour development. A 60 ml shot is consumed in one go. The flavour has to be strong enough to mask the active ingredients – which in combination often carry bitter, metallic or astringent notes – without being so intense it becomes unpleasant. Flavour is not a finishing step. It’s a formulation decision made early and tested under stability conditions, not just at development.
Microbial control. Liquid is a growth environment for microorganisms in a way that a dry tablet or capsule is not. Every shot runs on dedicated, microbial-controlled lines with physical separation between different liquid formats. Water activity, preservative systems and filling environment are all managed to keep microbial count within specification across the product’s full shelf life.
Fill accuracy. In a 10 ml shot, a 2% fill error is 0.2 ml – which at high active concentrations is a meaningful deviation from label claim. Fill accuracy is tighter in shot formats than in almost any other liquid format, and is confirmed during the pilot run before volume production begins.
Pilot batch. Same equipment, same controls, smaller scale – the last checkpoint before volume commitment.
Stability testing. Shots are tested under real-time and accelerated conditions across the full shelf-life window – typically 24 months. Potency, pH, microbial count, colour and flavour are all assessed at defined intervals. A shot that passes at production and fails at month 12 is a product liability, not just a quality issue.
Batch release. Every finished batch goes through full QC – identity, potency, microbial count and heavy metals – before a Certificate of Analysis is signed and the batch is cleared for shipment. Not every test applies to every product; what’s required is agreed with you upfront and confirmed in the specification.
For shots where bioavailability is the whole point
Standard liquid delivery is already faster-absorbing than most solid formats. Miosol™ takes that further by encapsulating active ingredients in phospholipid carriers – the same lipid-based structures that cells use to transport compounds across membranes. The microcapsule protects the active through the digestive environment and delivers it where the body actually absorbs it, improving bioavailability by up to 6x compared with a standard supplement.
It’s developed and manufactured in-house. It’s not licensed from a third party. And it’s available exclusively to the brands we produce for.
Vitamin shot categories across the segments your customers are already buying
Category | Key actives | Positioning |
Vitamin C & immunity | Vitamin C, zinc, elderberry, acerola, echinacea, beta-glucans, propolis | Acute-onset and daily immunity support |
B-complex & energy | B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, B12, taurine, adaptogens | Fatigue support, active lifestyle, mental energy |
Beauty & collagen | Collagen, hyaluronic acid, biotin, zinc, selenium, botanical extracts | Skin, hair and nail support |
Vitamin D3 & K2 | D3, K2, magnesium | Bone support, immune function, daily wellness |
Antioxidant & longevity | Vitamin C, glutathione, CoQ10, resveratrol, quercetin | Cellular protection, healthy ageing |
Multivitamin shots | Full vitamin and mineral complex | Premium daily nutrition |
Sleep & recovery | Magnesium, melatonin, ashwagandha, lemon balm, B vitamins | Evening use, sleep quality, stress recovery |
If your brief calls for something outside this list, share it. Our R&D team will confirm whether the formula and dose work in a shot format before any development begins.
Your formula. Our formula. Or something new.
Have a vitamin shot formula already?
Contract manufacturing runs your specification on our equipment, through our QC process, out the door under your label. No reformulation unless you want it.
[See contract manufacturing →]
Want a faster route to market?
Our private label library includes tested, ready-to-sell vitamin shot formulas across immunity, energy, beauty and wellness. Most can be adjusted on flavour, active levels or dose before production. Significantly faster than starting from scratch.
Building from a brief?
Our in-house R&D team takes your concept through formulation, stability testing, pilot batch and scale-up.
On the shelves of Europe's most demanding retailers
The vitamin shots we manufacture are stocked by pharmacy chains, drugstores and health retailers across Europe – buyers with strict supplier qualification standards and no tolerance for quality failures.
Benu · Dr. Max · Shop Apotheke · Rossmann · Doc Morris · Apotek · Douglas · Holland & Barrett · Redcare · apo.com · apotheke.de · Superdrug · GNC · Amazon · Rewe · Allegro
Tell us what you're building. We'll get back to you quickly.
Share your format, indicative volume and target markets and we will come back to you within a few business days to confirm receipt and let you know what we need to prepare a full response. Pricing, capability details and a fit assessment follow as soon as we have reviewed your brief.
What brands ask us about shot manufacturing?
Why do some vitamins work better in a shot than in a capsule?
Absorption rate and dose volume are the two main reasons. Water-soluble vitamins like B12 and C can saturate gut transport proteins at high doses in solid form – liquid delivery at appropriate concentrations avoids that. Fat-soluble vitamins like D3 need a carrier to be absorbed, which a liquid formula addresses directly. And for high-dose actives like collagen, a 25/60 ml shot carries what would otherwise require several capsules per serving.
What is the difference between a vitamin shot and a functional shot?
The distinction is primarily positioning. Functional shots are typically framed around a specific benefit – energy, sleep, immunity – and can contain a wide range of actives. Vitamin shots are specifically framed around nutrient delivery: vitamins, minerals and similar micronutrients, often in bioavailable liquid form. In practice, many vitamin shots are also functional shots. The framing depends on the brand strategy, not the formula.
What shot sizes do you produce?
10 ml, 25 ml and 60 ml. The 60 ml format is most common for vitamin shots in European retail – it accommodates full therapeutic doses for nutrients like collagen, vitamin C and B-complex without compromising on flavour balance.
Can vitamin shots include Miosol™ liposomal technology?
No – Miosol™ is only available within our dedicated Liposomal product category, in liquid or capsule form. See our Liposomal page for more on how it works and what it’s used for.
What makes liquid stability harder to achieve than solid format stability?
Liquid is an active environment. Actives can degrade in solution, interact with each other or with the carrier, and pH can shift over time – all of which affect potency and appearance by the time the product reaches the consumer. Microbial contamination is also a risk that doesn’t exist in the same way in dry formats. We address all of these at the formulation stage, not through preservative overload, and confirm stability under real-time and accelerated testing before any product launches.
Do you offer private label vitamin shots?
Yes. Our library includes tested, ready-to-sell formulas across immunity, beauty, energy, focus, men’s health and wellness. Most can be adjusted on dose, flavour and active levels. Private label is typically the faster path to market than custom development and cost less as stability studies are not needed.
What is the minimum order quantity for vitamin shots?
MOQ is confirmed per project at the quoting stage. Pilot batches are available for new formulations – conditions confirmed during the quote.
What does every batch of vitamin shots get tested for?
Testing is matched to the product, its formulation and the regulatory requirements of your target market – typically some combination of heavy metals, microbial count, potency, identity and for oil-based shots, oxidation. What applies to your batch is confirmed upfront in the specification. Every batch ships with a signed Certificate of Analysis and retention samples are kept for 12+ months so anything that comes up after delivery can be checked against the original material.
How long from brief to first delivery?
Approximately 11–13 weeks from purchase order for an existing or private label formula. Custom formulation, including flavour development and stability testing, adds time – confirmed per project.