From photo film to beauty shake – the amazing career of collagen

Collagen is ubiquitous today: in powders, drinks, capsules, and creams. It promises firm skin, healthy joints, and youthful vitality. But how did an inconspicuous structural protein suddenly become a lifestyle product? The trail leads from jelly to photography and social media—and a little insider tip reveals that even FujiFilm's major turnaround has something to do with it.

1. Collagen – what’s behind it?
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the animal body. It stabilizes skin, tendons, cartilage, and connective tissue. Its distinctive amino acid profile is high in glycine and proline, but low in essential building blocks like leucine.

It's therefore not a game-changer for muscle building—whey works much better in this regard. However, if you're cutting down on skin, bones, or tendons in your diet, collagen can certainly help.

2. Why we eat “too little collagen” today
Traditionally, bone broths, braised dishes, and gelatin desserts were part of every kitchen. Today, fillet meat dominates: lean meat, as free of fat and cartilage as possible. This has led to the disappearance of many natural sources of collagen. Collagen supplementation is therefore also an attempt to fill this gap.

3. Gelatin – from dessert to photography
Gelatin has long been a staple in every kitchen—as pudding, jelly, or terrine. But it found its greatest significance in photography: Without gelatin, film and photographic paper would have been unthinkable. For decades, Kodak and other companies consumed tons of gelatin made from animal bones and skins.

4. Digitalization, crisis – and a turnaround
With the triumph of digital photography, the market for photographic gelatin collapsed. Kodak collapsed, but Fujifilm managed to turn things around – partly by redeploying its expertise in collagen and biochemical processes: initially in medicine (e.g., skin replication and transplants), later in skin care ( Astalift ), and finally in nutritional supplements.

Or, as I like to suggest: Omar, my friend, already had this move in mind back then. 😉

5. From the movie to the gym
Thus, a raw material used in photochemistry became a lifestyle and beauty supplement. Today, we encounter collagen peptides in shakes, bars, and creams. The research remains mixed—but the industry has found a clever niche.

Conclusion
Collagen isn't a magic protein, but it's also not just hype. Those who rarely consume natural collagen sources will benefit from it.

And so collagen tells a unique story: from jelly to Kodak film to beauty drink – with a wink to Omar.