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STRATEGIC INFORMATION FOR
THE NUTRITION INDUSTRY
May 2021
nutritionbusinessjournal.com | $199
Essential business
NBJ honors an industry for overcoming challenge with integrity and service
By Bill Giebler
T
hroughout each year, NBJ re- heightened manufacturing safety protocols
ports on and talks to emerging and ingredient supply challenges. NBJ Award winners
and established leaders in dietary Well before NIH’s Anthony Fauci,
supplements, food and beverage, iden- M.D., recommended taking vitamins C » Large Company Leadership &
tifying challenges, opportunities, trends and D, consumers old and new had already Growth Puris
and threats across the industry. We hear flocked to vitamin aisles—and Amazon—
» Medium Company Leadership &
about the intersections of diet and health for those vitamins, plus multis, elderber-
Growth Your Super
and broader cultural happenings, whether ry, zinc and more. NBJ surveys over the
political or social. We hear about issues of last twelve months show that as much as » Small Company Leadership &
trust and opportunities for transparency, 54% of shoppers increased supplement us- Growth Apothékary
about how brands are guiding consum- age due to COVID-19—and many from » Management Achievement The
ers and how consumers and suppliers are “none” to “some.” entire supplement industry
guiding brands. But not all populations were treated » Efforts on Behalf of Industry Now
At the top of the year, we take these equally, by COVID-19 or by access to in- Health Group
understandings, overlaid with the values formation and nutrition. So, as the virus af- » Science and Innovation Brightseed
NBJ and New Hope Network promote fected populations of color disproportion-
as critical to industry success, and look ately, race and equity came into play, not » Supply Chain Transparency
Cepham
back over the prior year. Beginning with just in headlines sparked by the murder of
general nominations and moving out to George Floyd but by the pandemic, too. As » Mission and Philanthropy
those recognized by our staff and adviso- we look back on 2020, then, we’re looking Naturade
ry board, we determine the winners of the at a year deeply influenced by a pandem- » Stewardship and Sustainability
NBJ Awards. ic and deeply rattled by still-lacking racial HowGood
Thus, each year the awards are heavi- equality in most strata of our lives. » Education Brian Terry and Ken
ly influenced by industry headlines, as we These are the headlines that have in- Redcross, M.D.
honor companies that made those head- formed the 2020 NBJ Awards.
lines with integrity or responded to them This March, we had twice as many nom-
with aplomb. But rarely—probably never— inees as in prior years, which led to vibrant We’re honoring the work of both Bri-
have the awards been so heavily influenced discussions with our advisory board and, an Terry of Nordic Naturals and Ken
by general headlines as they were in 2020. ultimately, to the following 10 awardees. Redcross, M.D., with a shared Educa-
Those intersections—of health and global For starters, we’re honoring the entire tion Award for their parallel efforts to
happenings—were profound in 2020, and industry with the Management Achieve- increase awareness of the importance
the industry was hit with particularly large ment Award for the work so many com- of vitamin D for populations of color—
challenges, including, for many companies, panies did to keep employees working and during COVID and beyond.
the challenge of meeting record sales with safe during a record year. We’re also honoring nearly-centenar-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
Bill Giebler, Content & Insights Director
TABLE OF CONTENTS Rick Polito, Editor in Chief
01 10 18 Claire Morton Reynolds, Industry Analyst
Katie Dove, Design Team Manager
Essential business NBJ Award: Efforts on NBJ Award: Supply
NBJ honors an entire industry Behalf of Industry Chain Transparency David Allen, Designer
By Bill Giebler NOW Health Group pushes Cepham breaking down the silos Cindy Van Schouwen,
Amazon to take up the gate- By Marc Brush Business Development
04 keeper role quality retailers play Carlotta Mast, Senior Vice President
NBJ Award:
By Melaina Juntti
21 and Market Leader
Leadership and Growth NBJ Award: Mission
Three companies built on 13 & Philanthropy
NBJ Editorial Advisory Board
Tom Aarts
health and integrity NBJ Award: Science Naturade brings nutrition to com- NBJ Co-founder & EAB Chairman
By Melaina Juntti and Innovation munities in need By Marc Brush
Steve Allen
Using AI to explore the pow-
Partner, Digitalis Ventures
08 er of plant compounds
By Peter Rejcek 24 Anthony Almada
NBJ Award: NBJ Award: President, IMAGINutrition
Management Stewardship and
Achievement 15 Sustainability
Mark Blumenthal
Founder, American Botanical Council
Supplement brands highlight NBJ Award: Education HowGood aligns an entire industry Bob Burke
worker safety during challenging Ken Redcross and Brian Terry on sustainability standards Founder, Natural Products Consulting
year boost awareness of vitamin D By Bill Giebler
William Hood
By Rick Polito deficiency for people of color
William Hood & Co
By Rick Polito
Greg Horn
CEO, Specialty Nutrition Group
Adam Ismail
Chief Strategy Officer, KD Pharma Group
Loren Israelsen
President, UNPA
Larry Kolb
President, TSI Health Sciences
Get in on
Bernie Landes
President, Nutritional Products Consulting
Janica Lane
the action Managing Director, Piper Jaffray
Michael McGuffin
President, AHPA
Learn how Randi Neiner
Neiner Consulting
consumer Ian Newton
Managing Director, Ceres Consulting
mindset shifts Kantha Shelke
Founder, Corvus Blue
are driving Scott Steinford
Trust Transparency Consulting
this $40.5B
Peter Wennström
President, Healthy Marketing Team
category.
Nutrition Business Journal® (ISSN 1548-6168)
is published in 11 editions each year by New
Hope Network, a division of Informa PLC, 5541
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The new or reproduced without written permission.
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MAY 2021 newhope.com | 2
NBJ 2021 Market Overview Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
COVER STORY CONTINUED
LETTER FROM NBJ:
LOOKING TO EXAMPLES AND THEN LOOKING AT OURSELVES ian supplement brand Naturade with
the Mission and Philanthropy Award,
Maybe stepping outside the comfort zone is not supposed to feel com-
fortable.
for shattering the privileged exclusivity
For this year’s Awards Issue, we chose winners in two categories based on seen across the supplement industry by
what they did for nutritional equity. Naturade focuses on making quality nu- filling a substantial gap in marketing
trition more available to communities of color (see page 21). Nordic Naturals’ reach and taking nutrition to BIPOC
Brian Terry helped the brand build its Health Equity and Advocacy Project, and communities.
Dr. Ken Redcross helped the Organic and Natural Health Association design its For Leadership and Growth, we’ve
Get on My Level campaign, both efforts aimed at raising awareness of vitamin chosen three companies of very differ-
D deficiencies in dark-skinned populations (see page 15). ent sizes and ages. Those are pea-pro-
Naturade is receiving the Mission and Philanthropy Award. Terry and Red- tein supplier Puris, for its pioneering
cross will share the Education Award. Terry and Redcross are Black. Naturade role in plant-based protein market, and
is co-owned and run by Claude Tellis and Kareem Cook, both Black men.
herbal products startup Apothékary
This is what diversity looks like. Sadly, it’s not what NBJ has historically
looked like.
and whole food supplement brand
This could be the uncomfortable moment when we question whether our Your Super, for marching into a
awards this year are merely a reaction to the events of 2020, the year that the crowded space with quality and exem-
deaths of George Floyd and other Black Americans at the hand of the police plary transparency.
thrust race into the conversation for every industry and institution. Are we guilty Proving that legacy brands can be
of choosing the winners we did because race and inequity are a hot topic? Is market-leading innovators, Supply
there a self-righteous opportunism in these choices? We’d say, no, that the Chain Transparency Award goes to for-
work of Naturade, Redcross and Terry is important and would not have hap- ty-year-old ingredient supplier Cepham,
pened without their perspectives and passions. They earned these awards. for its longtime commitment to trans-
But those questions aren’t the hard part. That NBJ looked past the
parency that includes a recent full-scale
subject of race for much of its history may be the more important matter
adoption of blockchain technology.
at hand. We did not choose these winners to apologize for a monocultural
viewpoint or wave a flag that says, “look at us, we’re the good guys.” For Technology plays a key role, too,
too long we weren’t looking hard enough for diversity. But this year, diver- for two companies providing sophisti-
sity found us. Recent events forced us to take a hard look at what we cover cated tools to the product formulation
and how we cover it. We hope this more diverse slate of nominees is a sign process. Brightseed takes the Science
that our cultural perspective is recalibrating. and Innovation Award for its compu-
We needed to try harder, and we have. Look at the last year of NBJ tational biology tool that helps to un-
issues and you will see a chorus of voices that is not as white and male as lock the potential of plant medicines,
the industry we cover. We’ve examined racial health disparities, and we’ve and HowGood grabs the Stewardship
called the industry to task for not supporting entrepreneurs of color, not and Sustainability Award for its robust
doing enough to bring diversity into its leadership ranks. Each month now,
sharable database that improves sus-
NBJ and other Informa media brands meet with a council of voices with
tainability efforts for formulators.
diverse backgrounds and diverse viewpoints. We talk about what stories we
are working on, and we ask how we can be more conscious of what those Lastly, NOW Health Group is this
stories might mean to people who don’t look like us. year’s recipient of the Efforts on Behalf
We’re not there yet. We look forward to a time when it doesn’t feel of the Industry award for taking Am-
awkward, uncomfortable. azon to task for lacking quality stan-
But right now, maybe it should. It means we’re trying. dards, likely prompting the behemoth
e-tailer to implement dietary supple-
Rick Polito ment standards in December.
NBJ Editor in Chief The task of selecting so few winners
is difficult every year, and especial-
ly hard this year with so many nomi-
nations for us to review, and so many
challenging headlines for everyone to
contend with.
Please join us in honoring the 2020
NBJ Awards recipients. Thank you for
taking a moment to read these head-
lines.
APRIL 2021 newhope.com | 3NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
NBJ Award:
Leadership and Growth
Three companies built on health and integrity
By Melaina Juntti
G
iven the explosive sales of dietary The 2020 Large Company Leadership
supplements and natural and or- and Growth Award, reserved for entities val- NBJ Takeaways
ganic foods in 2020, plenty of ued at $75 million and up, goes to PURIS.
companies recorded a banner year. But For 35 years, the innovative seed genetics » Puris’s pea protein expertise was
there’s a big difference between enjoying and plant-based protein enterprise has been well timed for rapid expansion in
the windfall from a red-hot market during building the infrastructure to transform plant-based foods, most nota-
a global pandemic and laying the ground- non-GMO crops into ingredients destined bly its position as a supplier to
work for prolonged prosperity. Establishing for plant-based foods that consumers want Beyond Meat
sustainable markets that engender contin- to eat. Through its joint venture with Car- » Your Super is moving into retail,
ued growth—not only for that company gill, PURIS has become the largest pea pro- but intends to keep its focus on
but throughout the supply chain—requires tein producer in North America, claiming direct to consumer
true leadership, marked by integrity, inge- revolutionary meat mimic Beyond Meat » Apothekary is seeing great results
nuity, resilience and vision. These three NBJ among key customers. NBJ isn’t the only from its subscription program
Award winners exemplify exactly that. outlet to take notice. Fast Company recently
HERB AND BOTANICAL SUPPLEMENT SALES AND GROWTH, 2016-2024E
16,000 20%
14,000 18%
16%
12,000
14%
10,000 12%
8,000 10%
6,000 8%
6%
4,000
4%
2,000 2%
0 0%
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020e 2021e 2022e 2023e 2024e
Sales Growth
Source: Nutrition Business Journal ($mil, consumer sales)
MAY 2021 newhope.com | 4NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
named PURIS among the 10 most innova- “From our work with farmers and ag tech to new
tive food companies in 2021.
Your Super takes home the Midsize product innovation continuing to elevate eating
Company Leadership and Growth Award
($15 million to $75 million). Launched in experience, a lot is coming down the pike. Keep
2015, the direct-to-consumer brand is on a
mission to help people take charge of their your eye out for us—we have a lot cooking.”
health through its organic, non-GMO,
additive-free superfood and plant-based –Nicole Atchsion, Puris
protein powders. A Certified B Corp, Your
Super has developed a transparent supply
chain, working directly with values-aligned All three of these companies logged lion—and growing at a double-digit clip.
producers around the world and uplifting stellar growth in 2020 and, more impor- Sustainability-minded founder Jerry Lo-
their communities. tantly, demonstrated the type of leadership renzen believed people needed to eat more
Finally, NBJ hands Apothékary the that leads to long-term success. plants, which meant plant-based foods had
Small Company Leadership and Growth to taste good. So he set about developing
Award (under $15 million). The online Large Company Leadership seeds for non-GMO pea, soybean and oth-
herbal apothecary champions “food as and Growth: PURIS er protein-dense, sustainable crops while
medicine” for modern-day woes such as Launched as World Food Processing in also building up the infrastructure for clean
stress, low energy and gut discord. Like the 1985, PURIS has bloomed from an Iowa food-ingredient processing.
other two winners, Apothékary has built seed geneticist’s vision for a closed-loop Now based in Minneapolis, PURIS is
its supply chain from the ground up—dili- food production system to a vertically inte- helmed by Lorenzen’s kids, co-CEOs Tyler
gently, ethically, transparently. grated company worth north of $100 mil- Lorenzen and Nicole Atchison, Ph.D. The
HERBS AND BOTANICALS VS. TOTAL SUPPLEMENT GROWTH, 2016-2024E
20%
18%
16%
14%
12%
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020e 2021e 2022e 2023e 2024e
Supplement Growth Herb and Botanical Growth
Source: Nutrition Business Journal ($mil, consumer sales)
MAY 2021 newhope.com | 5NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
younger Lorenzen runs PURIS Proteins, generating a lot of greenhouse gas.” be closer to its largest market. But by ear-
which includes the Cargill joint venture, Though pea protein has become ly 2017, they realized 10% of orders were
while Atchison oversees PURIS Holdings, PURIS’s calling card, the company plans to from the U.S.
the seed and ag tech side of the business. do other joint ventures around other prod- “We wondered why Americans were or-
Lorenzen came onboard in 2011, short- ucts in the future. “What’s new and next for dering from a tiny startup in Berlin, espe-
ly after his NFL career ended, when he us is constantly evolving because there is so cially when they had to pay $30 in shipping
helped his dad purchase an old dairy facil- much to do in the plant-based market,” and wait four weeks to receive their prod-
ity and convert it to the first pea protein Atchison says. “From our work with farm- ucts,” Kuech says. “We learned that they
plant in the U.S. “We invested the money ers and ag tech to new product innovation were looking for cleaner options, without
and scaled our organization from 30 people continuing to elevate eating experience, a stevia, flavors, fillers or cheap stuff. We offer
to over 300 people and six manufacturing lot is coming down the pike. Keep your eye the perfect blend of both worlds: the con-
locations,” he says. “Our success was largely out for us—we have a lot cooking.” venience of supplements and the benefits of
due to my mom and dad taking the risk to Adds Lorenzen: “What we accomplish a whole-foods diet.”
grow the business—and do it for farmers in 2020 and 2021 will pale compared to what Since relaunching in Venice, California,
and customers.” A few years later, Lorenzen we will accomplish in 2022 and beyond.” in 2018, Your Super has exploded, receiv-
convinced his sister to leave her career in ing their one millionth order in December
medical devices to help him lead PURIS. Midsize Company Leadership 2020. Impressively, about 95% of sales come
The company now works with hundreds and Growth: Your Super from the brand’s website. “This is strategic
of growers across the U.S., accounting for a Your Super was born out of a shocking because we want to be close to our custom-
few hundred thousand acres—and expand- diagnosis. Co-founders Michael Kuech and er,” Kuech says. About half of all revenue
ing. “What’s great about an integrated sys- Kristel de Groot had met while on tennis stems from subscriptions. Last year, Your
tem is that when one part grows, all other scholarships at Valdosta State University in Super expanded beyond powder mixes into
parts must scale, which is also the complex- Georgia. The two fell in love and traveled the the bar category.
ity and challenge of vertical integration,” world together after grad school. While trav- “But we’re not just selling products—
Atchison says. “We are very thoughtful eling, they were stopped in their tracks upon our mission is to help customers improve
about building scale into the business sys- learning that Kuech, then just 24, had cancer. their health,” de Groot says. “We have
tem so that we can scale in the right way, be “I was on a path to become a business customers all across the country, and 60%
a good partner for farmers and our custom- consultant, and then I got this diagnosis,” have never used superfoods before. They
ers, and meet demand.” he says. “When I started researching why see us as the health buddy they never had.
Teaming up with Cargill on its cli- people get sick, I was shocked to learn By holding their hand and teaching them
mate-change-resilient yellow pea protein in that a big risk factor for chronic diseas- that healthy eating doesn’t have to be com-
2018 has proved transformational. “Today, es is the way you eat. I thought, wow, I plicated, we can give them the energy they
through PURIS and our joint venture with can’t control everything, but I can control need to love life.”
Cargill, we operate the largest pea protein that. Kristel immediately put me on very Your Super also stands out for its direct
processing in North America—and we’re healthy diet.” sourcing. “We’ve always felt that, being in
the first with a two-plant model,” Atchison Having grown up with eczema and an the superfoods category, a transparent sup-
says. “We have a new plant opening this orthomolecular nutritionist aunt, de Groot ply chain is very important,” Kuech says.
year in Dawson, Minnesota, that will more had long known that food directly impacts “We know our farmers and know exactly
than double our capacity. When we can health. “I directed him to whole foods and where each ingredient is produced.”
make more protein, we can work with more told him he needed spirulina, wheatgrass Establishing relationships with suppliers
farmers, sequester more carbon and put and other greens,” she recalls. “He said it was is a long process. “We source 100% organic
more plant-based products on the market.” expensive and complicated, so I grabbed a and only work with suppliers willing to show
Keeping all its operations domestic is a jar, filled it with a bunch of superfood ingre- us their fields, which disqualifies about 90%
conscious decision based on environmental dients and told him to take it every day. Then of them,” Kuech explains. “We require every
footprint. “In terms of solutions for plant- I realized there were a lot more Michaels in supplier to present a third-party test from an
based nutrition, we are trying to build prod- the world, as nine out of 10 people don’t eat accredited lab, then we test the sample again
ucts that do not compromise on taste, texture, enough fruits and vegetables.” in-house. After a few weeks, if the supplier
functionality—or sustainability,” Lorenzen The couple launched Your Super in has the same values as us, we’ll slowly get
says. “If you look at our system versus some Amsterdam in 2015, selling Kristel’s into business together.”
other non-GMO and organic plant-based hand-formulated line of über-clean, organ- Values alignment throughout the sup-
supply systems, ours is efficient and localized, ic, non-GMO superfood and plant protein ply chain is especially important to Your
which is very impactful in terms of sustain- powders directly to consumers. They relo- Super, which became a B Corp in 2018.
ability, whereas others ship back and forth, cated the business to Germany in 2016 to “We believe if an ingredient is sourced
MAY 2021 newhope.com | 6NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
the right way, it can have a positive impact
on producers’ lives,” says de Groot, noting
that company has impact initiatives with
its partner producer co-ops. Furthering its “I came to the realization that fruits
do-good mission, Your Super partners with
Action Against Hunger to donate a bar for and vegetables alone wouldn’t solve
every mix sold.
Next up, the company is planning new all of my health problems.”
superfood mixes for new functions. “We
– Shizu Okusa, Apothékary
want to reach millions and millions of peo-
ple and can do that by expanding into dif-
ferent categories,” Kuech says. “We’ll build
out our bars business and our European
business further, and we’re launching at other healthy foods direct to consumers. JRINK was acquired in December
target.com this spring. We also have plans Several years into that business, Okusa 2020, allowing her to exit the company and
to move into retail, but our DNA will al- got the idea for Apothékary. “I was so busy devote full attention—and money from the
ways be direct-to-consumer so that we can running JRINK, which is an all-inclusive, sale—into Apothékary. Her “pharmacy of
be very close to our customers.” all-encompassing life, that I was having the future” launched officially in January
hormonal issues, skin problems and stress,” 2020, “so basically the same as COVID—
Small Company Leadership she says. “I came to the realization that the best time ever to start a new business!”
and Growth: Apothékary fruits and vegetables alone wouldn’t solve Okusa jokes.
It’s safe to assume not many Goldman all of my health problems. I remember Originally, Okusa based the business
Sachs and World Bank alumna launch on- walking through Walgreens and thinking, around brick-and-mortar storefronts, but
line herbal pharmacies. But Apothékary ‘I didn’t want to take a pill or buy some- the pandemic had other ideas. She quick-
founder Shizu Okusa grew up with tradi- thing where I have no idea where the ingre- ly pivoted to direct-to-consumer, which
tional Japanese herbs and medicinal mush- dients are from.’” has proven fortuitous. “We did an in-
rooms and understood their value. “Botan- Tapping into her Ayurvedic knowledge tentional move to digital—we just didn’t
icals and plant-based healing are a family while still working full-time on JRINK, expect it to go so quickly to the literal
tradition,” she says. “My parents never gave Okusa began seeking out organic herb hockey-stick growth we’ve experienced,”
me Tylenol; it was always reishi drink, al- producers and formulating herbal blends Okusa says. After just over a year in busi-
ways prevention over reaction.” for various need states—the products that ness, sales are poised to reach eight digits.
As 2020 rolled on, Apothékary ramped
up its subscription services—also not
something it had intended initially. “We
naturally converted customers to subscrip-
“We know our farmers and know exactly tions because it’s kind of like getting a refill
of a prescription every 30 days,” Okusa says.
where each ingredient is produced.” “Organically, about 30% of our revenue is
from subscriptions.”
– Michael Kuech, Your Super Okusa credits her amazing—and grow-
ing—team for believing in her mission and
being willing to pivot from a retail-focused
company to one that “mirrors the personal
shopping experience digitally.”
After leaving Goldman Sachs, Okusa would eventually bear Apothékary labels. That said, storefronts are still part of the
moved to a banana plantation in Mozam- Setting up the organic, non-GMO supply plan going forward, as is an expansion of
bique to help small farmers raise capital chain for Apothékary took her a year and Apothékary’s wholesale and international
for agricultural projects. Next, she ven- a half. “Going from local fruit and vege- businesses. In May, the brand is moving into
tured to Bali to train in yoga and Ayurve- table sourcing with JRINK was night and skin care, starting with a hibiscus rose an-
da. These two experiences fueled her day from the vendors we use now, who are ti-aging mask. Also next month, Apothékary
passion for wellness. In 2012, not long from India, Korea, Japan, Russia and Chi- will launch on Amazon in the U.S., followed
after moving to Washington, D.C., Oku- na,” says Okusa, who meticulously vetted by amazon.ca this fall. By seizing these op-
sa launched her first company, JRINK, each source to ensure quality and ethical portunities, Okusa expects the company to
which delivers fresh, clean juices and harvesting. triple its business in 2021.
MAY 2021 newhope.com | 7NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
NBJ Award:
Management Achievement
Supplement brands highlight worker safety during challenging year, earning the
first-ever award given to the whole industry
By Rick Polito
I
t’s easy to believe that the success of sprawling facilities, the industry stepped up
2020 for the supplement industry is when supplements were declared “essential” NBJ Takeaways
going to be remembered longer than and made it essential that the workers re-
the challenges of 2020—it was, after all, main healthy. » The supplement industry saw huge
a historic year for sales growth—but the Shifts were staggered and segregated. demand spikes while also learn-
challenge that should not be forgotten was Temperatures were checked. Rapid tests ing to counter employees’ risk of
among the most important the industry has deployed. Plexiglass shields went up. Pro- infection with new procedures
ever faced. cesses designed to speed production were » Line workers in supplement man-
tweaked to highlight safety. ufacturers face some of the same
The industry kept its And all of this happened on a learning risks as those in industries where
workers safe. curve that companies had to chart on the infections were more widespread
In a year when demand skyrocketed and fly, just as hordes of new consumers began » Development of best practices
manufacturers were forced to chase ingre- to turn to supplements and SKUs began to across the industry were often
dients while ramping up production, the sell out. “The first 60 days were very fluid,” collaborative
workforce that supports all that growth was says KD Nutra CEO Scott Woodruff, de-
largely kept safe. NBJ knows of no major scribing how his company built up proce-
outbreaks at supplement manufacturing dures and practices on the spot. “We built a ing across all products, all categories. So,
sites, despite workers often employed at foundation, and we managed around that,” everybody had to step up.”
tasks that require close physical proximity, he says. “We did what was important to put Mister says companies were contacting
from encapsulation to shipping. our employees first.” CRN for direction and executives were
That’s why, for the first time, NBJ has CRN President and CEO Steve Mister sharing best practices with each other
chosen to give the Management Achieve- called NBJ’s decision to bestow an award from the start. Companies were mandat-
ment Award to the entire supplement in- on the entire industry a worthy break from ing masks long before local authorities
dustry. From small brands making herbal tradition. “Everybody in the industry had even issued guidelines. He also points to
extracts to contract manufacturers with a stake in this, and the demand was ris- the risks inevitable to any kind of line-
work and compared supplements to other
linework industries like meat processing
where outbreaks were widespread. “With
GMPs, we had a good base to start from.
So, we understood the importance of good
“We did what was important hygiene and good sanitation,” Mister says,
“but there was so much more companies
to put our employees first.” needed to add.”
Companies that did have sick employees
– Scott Woodruff, KD Nutra traced the workers’ contacts in and outside
of the facilities and sent every worker who’d
had contact with them home. Facilities that
were already being sterilized got sterilized
MAY 2021 newhope.com | 8NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
SUPPLEMENT INDUSTRY SALES AND GROWTH, CURRENT VS. PRE-COVID, 2016-2024E
70,000 16%
60,000 14%
12%
50,000
10%
40,000
8%
30,000
6%
20,000
4%
10,000 2%
0 0%
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020e 2021e 2022e 2023e 2024e
Current Sales Projections Pre-COVID Sales Projections
Current Growth Projections Pre-COVID Growth Projections
Source: Nutrition Business Journal ($mil, consumer sales)
even more thoroughly. “They contained it
very quickly,” Mister says.
Carlson Laboratories President Car-
ilyn Anderson was one of the company
heads who had to learn, and act, quickly. “You’ve got to support your employees. You have
In the first weeks of the pandemic, when
the situation was evolving rapidly and with to support the people that work with you and for
little certainty, Anderson shut the facility
down. Carlson, she says, is “a small family you. If you don’t, you don’t have a company.”
company” that’s run like a family, and when
employees were worried about taking care – Carilyn Anderson, Carlson Laboratories
of their own families, especially their chil-
dren as area schools shut down, the deci-
sion was obvious. “The best thing we could
do was close. Everybody thought it was
really odd, but you’ve got to support your lot of things in those two weeks,” Anderson ery component in the operation.
team. You’ve got to support your employees. recalls. “When we came back in April, we He remembers workers scrambling to
You have to support the people that work were ready to go.” meet demand while simultaneously learn-
with you and for you,” Anderson says. “If ing new practices, and he remembers driv-
you don’t, you don’t have a company.” Moving on ing his management team to get those
A skeleton crew kept pieces of the oper- For Woodruff, the COVID pandemic practices right. He saw the same thing hap-
ation going, with deliveries and other oper- was a test his company didn’t want to take pening across the industry. Asked to grade
ational matters, but the bulk of the Carlson but managed to pass and come out stronger. the industry’s response, he doesn’t hesitate.
team sat it out for two weeks until proper “We really had to come together as a team,” “I’d give us an A,” Woodruff says.
safety protocols became clear. “We set up a he says, explaining how the virus taxed ev- We agree.
MAY 2021 newhope.com | 9NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
NBJ Award:
Efforts on Behalf of Industry
NOW Health Group pushes Amazon to take up the gatekeeper role
quality retailers play
By Melaina Juntti
F NBJ Takeaways
or a long time, natural products re- er guarding it. Without quality standards
tailers were the primary gatekeepers in place for its supplement vendors, Ama-
for dietary supplements. They vetted zon had been more like an open floodgate, » NOW purity-tested dozens of
brands meticulously and stocked only those allowing unscrupulous actors to peddle suspiciously cheap supplements
they deemed legitimate and high quality, sketchy products. sold on Amazon, confirming they
thereby shielding consumers from the bunk For years, upstanding dietary supple- were bogus
products that give this industry a bad name. ment brands and naturals products retail- » Frustrated by Amazon’s anemic re-
The system worked well for decades. ers alike were frustrated by Amazon’s lax- sponse, NOW made its data public
Then along came the internet and, spe- ness. Along with the online marketplace
» Presumably triggered by NOW,
cifically, Amazon. By sheer size and algo- stealing business from the latter, both
Amazon enacted sweeping new
rithmic wizardry, the e-commerce giant groups worry about the proliferation of
requirements for its supplement
oopened up and enormous gate—maybe bad products, which, besides not providing vendors
one of the biggest ever—with no real keep- the health benefits they purport to, could
E-COMMERCE SUPPLEMENT SALES AND GROWTH, 2016-2024E
18,000 100%
16,000 90%
14,000 80%
70%
12,000
60%
10,000
50%
8,000
40%
6,000
30%
4,000 20%
2,000 10%
0 0%
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020e 2021e 2022e 2023e 2024e
Sales Growth
Source: Nutrition Business Journal ($mil, consumer sales)
MAY 2021 newhope.com | 10NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
even harm consumers. “Speaking truth to power is coura- Exposing wrong
But aside from grumbling about it in geous and risky, and NOW’s decision to Initially, NOW didn’t intend to publi-
industry circles, what could a single supple- test and publish results of product label/ cize its findings. “But after trying other op-
ment company or retailer actually do about content discrepancies was speaking truth to tions, we felt this was the only card left to
the problem? This was the almighty Am- power,” says Loren Israelsen, founder and play,” Richard says. “We did contact Am-
azon after all, a behemoth that conquered president of the United Natural Products azon directly multiple times over several
nearly every CPG market it entered and Alliance. “NOW showed why they are an years and escalated the problem directly to
almost singlehandedly changed the way industry leader, and their efforts to address [ Jeff Bezos’s email], but we were unable to
America shops. and improve product quality will have last- get any attention or action. It was only after
NOW Health Group, a quality stal- ing and positive effects. I salute and thank we added independent third-party testing
wart and industry leader for more than NOW for this exceptional action on behalf to that done by our respected in-house labs
a half-century, knew exactly what to do. of our industry.” and made the results public that Amazon
In an effort spearheaded by Dan Richard,
vice president of global sales and market-
ing and son of founder Elwood Richard,
along with Aaron Secrist, executive vice
president of quality, R&D and opera- “NOW deserves a lot of credit for doing the
tions, NOW tested popular supplements
sold on Amazon, proved they were bogus work that apparently moved the quality
and made its findings public.
These efforts very likely played a part needle for Amazon.”
in forcing Amazon’s hand. In early De-
cember 2020, the e-tailer unveiled sweep- – Beth Lambert, Herbalist & Alchemist
ing new requirements for its supplement
vendors, marking its first real attempt at
being a gatekeeper for quality. Under the
new rules, sellers must back each supple-
ment with a certificate of analysis from Proving fraud seemed to take notice.”
an ISO/IEC 17025-accredited lab, de- NOW started suspecting foul play sev- Going public with this matter was not
tailed product images and a manufactur- eral years back. “Many unknown brands be- without risk. “Though NOW is a large
er’s guarantee that it abided by 21 CFR gan appearing on Amazon with prices that leader in the industry, some of our own
Part 111. seemed too good to be true,” Richard explains. family owners thought this was crazy and
These requirements may not be perfect, “Specifically, we suspected CoQ-10 400 mg, too much of an invitation to be sued,”
but they are pivotal and should help level which was being sold in dry gelatin capsules. Richard says. “We are, thankfully, surprised
the playing field for honest industry play- We knew this would be impossible to fill on that no legal action came from this, but we
ers and help keep consumers from being normal capsule machines, due to stickiness.” were absolutely 100% confident that we
duped. To find out whether these products met had the correct data and that some people
“Industry self-policing is an important label claims, NOW purchased 10 coen- were cheating intentionally. We are also
part of making sure consumers are getting zyme Q-10 products from Amazon sellers large enough to defend ourselves and were
the benefits they expect from the products and tested product potency in-house. All ready to defend our data legally if needed.”
our industry offers,” says Beth Lambert, 10 failed to match label claims, most miss-
CEO of Herbalist & Alchemist. “Given ing the mark by a longshot. Some products Impacts for industry
the very large numbers of herbs and supple- contained no Co-Q10 whatsoever. There has been plenty of talk about
ments sold on Amazon, this was a problem The maddening data led NOW to test Amazon’s requirements since December,
that needed addressing—especially during other categories to determine whether the and no shortage of hot takes. The prevailing
the pandemic, when people are shopping problem was isolated or widespread. Un- opinion, however, is that their issuance is a
online more. NOW deserves a lot of credit surprisingly, they discovered that some of solid first step.
for doing the work that apparently moved the most expensive supplements were tar- “Amazon is coming at the problem from
the quality needle for Amazon.” gets for cheating, namely SAMe, alpha-li- a good place,” says Jim Emme, CEO of
By taking the risk, investing time and poic acid and phosphatidylserine. NOW Health Group. “The initial rollout of
money into testing and being the catalyst “Given the very low prices, unknown their draft standards needed some polish-
for massive change, NOW made it easy for name brands, unknown contact info and ing up. The laboratory requirements were
NBJ to decide the winner of this year’s Ef- unusually high potencies, the results were a little clunky, yet we’ve heard that Ama-
forts on Behalf of the Industry Award. not a surprise,” Richard says. zon is considering all reasonable concerns,
MAY 2021 newhope.com | 11NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
to bring more clarity to their expectations.
We’ve also been told that Amazon is listen-
ing to the feedback from the trade groups
“Speaking truth to power is courageous and
and will reissue the expectations with more
reasonable standards.”
risky, and NOW’s decision to test and pub-
Indeed, in early April, Amazon updat-
ed the standards to accept results from in-
lish results of product label/content discrep-
house laboratories compliant with current
good manufacturing practices. Earlier incar-
ancies was speaking truth to power.”
nations of the policy had mandated results – Loren Israelsen, United Natural Products Alliance
come from ISO/IEC 17025 accredited labs.
Regardless, because Amazon’s rules
align with the cGMP requirements al-
ready listed in the DSHEA standards,
Emme believes all dietary supplement try to beat the system and gain an unfair sumers’ health and health care choices,” says
companies should be able to comply. Of advantage. So far, cheating has prospered Michael McGuffin, president of the Ameri-
course, rules are only effective if enforced. on Amazon, but we hope Amazon will en- can Herbal Products Association. “From
Will Amazon actually put teeth behind its force real quality standards—and not just its ingredient sourcing to it manufacturing
requirements? by paper documents, which can easily be operations to its honest and transparent
“We’ll have to wait and see,” Richard doctored.” communications with its customers, NOW
says. “The task is monumental, so we’re For now, industry is pleased to see move- continues to carry out the founder’s mission
glad Amazon is even trying to enforce high ment toward rooting out fraud and grateful of ‘empowering people to lead healthier
quality standards. Given that the cat-and- to NOW for lighting a fire under Amazon. lives.’ Elwood Richard would be proud of
mouse game of cheating has high financial “NOW has always been willing to take un- the current management’s ongoing commit-
rewards, it’s likely that cheaters will always compromised positions in support of con- ment to his original vision.”
AMAZON SALES OF COQ10, ELDERBERRY AND MELATONIN
APRIL 2019-FEBRUARY 2021
Source: ClearCut Analytics
MAY 2021 newhope.com | 12NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
NBJ Award:
Science and Innovation
Brightseed uses AI to explore the power of plant compounds
By Peter Rejcek
W
hile the topic of Lee Chae’s The challenge is unlocking the millions
Ph.D.—computational biol- of potentially beneficial compounds from NBJ Takeaways
ogy and genomics—may be more than 400,000 plant species estimated
unrecognizable to the average person, the to exist on the planet » Artificial intelligence and machine
specialty allows him to recognize the qual- “That’s why we built a technology that learning could unlock uses for
ities and capabilities of plants and connect allows us to find these nutrients from plant compounds by scanning
the genetic dots that trace a path to new amongst that whole universe of plant large amounts of data
uses, new ideas and new products. chemicals,” he says. “We want to under- » The technology has focused on
And it’s very much the specialty that stand how they impact human health at the pharmaceutical development, but
made the company he founded, Bright- molecular level and then develop these into the same principals can be applied
seed, this year’s recipient of NBJ’s Science phytonutrient solutions for consumers to to supplements
and Innovation Award, an award Chae live a longer and healthier life.” » The government, through the NIH,
will share with the company’s other co- is backing development of AI for
founders, CEO Jim Flatt, Ph.D., and COO AI forages ahead health-focused projects
Sofia Elizondo. That technology is called Forager,
Computational biology is the discipline which uses computational biology and
Chae and Brightseed use to apply artifi- machine learning to uncover how plant en areas of human health, for the natural
cial intelligence technologies, mathemat- small molecules interact with human bi- products industry. In a sense, Forager is
ical models and other techniques to un- ology. Machine learning is a subset of AI creating a digital map of the natural world
derstanding the molecular underpinnings that uses statistics to identify patterns in that connects plants and people through
of the natural world. For Chae, it’s not so massive amounts of data, with results im- validated molecular roadways.
much about researching new uses for plants proving over time as the algorithms learn “Once you validate how it’s working,
then those phytonutrients themselves be-
come a marker of quality. So, growers can
grow for it and procurement people can
“Innovative platforms using artificial screen for it in terms of quality. And then
product development and production can
intelligence and machine learning can help us also use that as a marker for what they’re
delivering,” Chae says. “That validation
begin to capture the potential of food as medicine.” can be used to develop products around,
develop an ingredient around, to drive a
– Dariush Mozaffarian, M.D., Tufts University message to consumers around the efficacy
of a product.”
This AI-generated atlas for plant phy-
tonutrients is growing rapidly. The compa-
but allowing the plants to guide the re- automatically through experience. ny expects Forager will have analyzed the
searchers to those new uses. The ability of these systems to derive health properties of more than one million
“The foundational hypothesis is that insights from large, complex data is driving compounds in the edible and medicinal
plants are nature’s foremost chemists,” says adoption in the pharmaceutical industry plant kingdom by the end of 2021, with
Chae, who serves as chief technology offi- for drug discovery. Brightseed, however, is a goal to surpass 10 million by 2025. The
cer at Brightseed. It’s these small molecules one of the very few companies leveraging company announced its first major break-
that interact with the body at the molecular its technology, which can establish ingre- through with Forager earlier this year. The
level that drive human health, he explains. dient functionality across more than a doz- platform discovered two plant compounds
MAY 2021 newhope.com | 13NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
found in more than 80 edible plant sources
that may benefit metabolic health by help-
ing clear fat from the liver. “Brightseed’s ambition to unlock the power of the
“We’re seeing tons of signals in our day-
to-day research activities that we think can plant kingdom and break the artificial divide
lead to a pipeline of phytonutrients that we
can deliver to customers and consumers,” between health care and nutrition is a key unlock
Chae says.
to our mission to bring health through
Collaboration and momentum
Brightseed has raised $52 million in dis- food to as many people as possible.”
closed funding to date and has established
partnerships with several well-known natu- – Taisa Hansen, Danone
ral food and wellness companies, including
Pharmavite and Danone North America.
The manufacturer of Nature Made vita-
mins, Pharmavite will clinically validate
and test phytonutrients identified by For- demia, government and industry—that AI as a sort of venture capital accelerator to
ager as having the highest potential for fu- could prove instrumental in accelerating support “high-risk, innovative endeavors
ture products. the knowledge of health benefits the plant with the potential for extraordinary im-
The partnership with Danone is focused kingdom has to offer. pact.” That includes projects to speed up
on identifying potential novel compounds “We are just scratching the surface of the application of AI and machine learning
in the food giant’s plant-based ingredients cataloging and understanding the health in health research.
that could be linked to undiscovered health effects of these phytonutrients,” says The National Center for Complemen-
benefits. For instance, analyses by Forager Dariush Mozaffarian, M.D. Dr.PH., a tary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) is
revealed five times the phytonutrients than professor of nutrition in the Friedman one of the agencies leading the effort at
previously known in Danone’s supply chain. School of Nutrition Science & Policy at NIH.
“This first collaboration confirms the Tufts University. He serves as a scientif- “There is definite interest in applying
power of the platform, which we believe to ic advisor for several companies, includ- state-of-the-art computational methods, in-
be a key enabler of our joined vision of food ing Brightseed, DayTwo and Elysium cluding artificial intelligence, to understand-
as a force for good,” says Taisa Hansen, se- Health, among others. ing how compounds from nature may help
nior vice president of research and innova- “Innovative platforms using artificial solve some of today’s most pressing health
tion at Danone. “Brightseed’s ambition to intelligence and machine learning can help problems,” said NCCIH Director Helene
unlock the power of the plant kingdom and us begin to capture the potential of food as Langevin, MD, via email.
“A question of particular interest to
NCCIH, which we hope to address in the
Bridge2AI program, is how a less healthy
person becomes healthier—a process called
“The foundational hypothesis is that plants salutogenesis,” Langevin said. “The saluto-
genesis process is likely to involve multiple
are nature’s foremost chemists.” systems in the body (such as the cardiovas-
cular, nervous, and digestive systems), mul-
– Lee Chae, Brightseed
tiple domains (biological, psychological,
social), and multiple time scales. Thus, big
data and machine learning may be needed
to answer questions about it.”
The true measures of success for these
break the artificial divide between health medicine—[the] use of natural plant foods technologies will be reductions in both
care and nutrition is a key unlock to our and compounds for preventing and treating healthcare costs and chronic disease, accord-
mission to bring health through food to as disease,” Mozaffarian says. ing to Chae. “It will be a whole movement of
many people as possible.” In April of this year, the NIH Common companies and people and healthcare sys-
Fund announced a new multidisciplinary tems and supply chains that need to be unit-
A growing ecosystem initiative called the Bridge to Artificial In- ed. We’ll know it’s happening once we start
Recognition is growing—across aca- telligence (Bridge2AI). The fund functions seeing those numbers change.”
MAY 2021 newhope.com | 14NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
NBJ Award:
Education
Ken Redcross and Brian Terry boost awareness of
vitamin D deficiency for people of color
By Rick Polito
I
n the nutrition industry, social issues mizing the vitamin D and synthesizing it and people have been doing research on
don’t end with skin color. Yet, for the in the same way that other people are be- for years. It’s not something that we just
two men chosen for this year’s NBJ cause our skin functions as almost an SPF created out of thin air. We have a lot of
Education Award, skin color is paramount— 30 sunblock. I didn’t know that. It’s been a the studies and information to really drive
and it’s something the nutrition industry global health concern for many years. It’s home the statistics and make this project
can do something about. just been under the radar. move forward. But the industry has never
Ken Redcross, a concierge physician who Redcross: When you talk about how really pushed it at all, or I am unaware if
advises patients on supplement use, and many people who have brown skin or tan they have.
Nordic Naturals National Sales Manager skin recognize that they’re at risk for vita- Redcross: The supplement industry is at
Brian Terry took on parallel projects to raise min D deficiency, it’s like nobody knows. a very special place right now. Because this
consciousness of Black American’s chron- When I was able to educate them why it’s pandemic has really made vitamin D so im-
ically low vitamin D levels, a state, driven in like that, when I can get to the granular lev- portant, it really opens up a lot of other op-
part by skin color, that can be a prelude to el and talk about melanin production and portunities within the minority space to re-
conditions that include heart disease, asth- say, “Look, there’s a scientific reason why ally make a difference. The message is very
ma and COVID. our vitamin D level can be lower,” you get a important, especially in minority groups
It’s also one that can be corrected. lot of buy in from that. So, it was something where there’s been different challenges over
Terry helped develop Nordic Natu- that definitely wasn’t so well known in the the years with the healthcare system. So,
ral’s Health Equity & Advocacy Project beginning. But, you know, hopefully now I think the nutrition industry has always
(HEAP). Redcross helped the Organic and
Natural Health Association create the Get
On My Level program. As Black men, they
understand the risks to the community. As “When you talk about how many people
professionals, they understand the industry
has the power to change the situation. who have brown skin or tan skin recognize
We talked to both men about the pro-
portions of the problem and what the in- that they’re at risk for vitamin D
dustry can do.
deficiency, it’s like nobody knows.”
NBJ: How much awareness is there that
– Ken Redcross, M.D.
people with darker skin are prone to being
vitamin D deficient?
Terry: What we’ve found is that so many
people were just unaware of the deficiency that word is out there, people are starting been open to those things, but I don’t know
as a whole. But what we also found out to put two and two together. if there was the same amount of thought as
was that 82% of the Black population is to say “maybe we have to market differently,
deficient in vitamin D. So, that was some- NBJ: Do you think the supplement industry or maybe we have to talk about things in a
thing that really struck a chord with me. has done enough to raise awareness about this? in a different way.”
Black people’s skin functions like a barrier Terry: I am not aware that it has. This
gradient for sunlight. So, we’re not opti- has been something that a lot of scientists NBJ: What are some of the challenges for
MAY 2021 newhope.com | 15NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
the supplement industry to reach commu- working. In other words, the messenger is Terry: We wanted to have something that
nities of color? important, making sure that you let this was authentic, and that’s where we really
Redcross: To reach communities of col- group know that you understand and you started: with our hearts there. And then
or, the first and foremost thing that you acknowledge that, “Hey, there’s some chal- we brought in different people within our
have to do is understand that there needs lenges out there, but I care. And I want to team that had passion and were willing to
to be empathy. I wrote a book called Bond: know how I can come in and make a differ- do additional work on this as a project. We
The 4 Cornerstones of a Lasting and Caring ence in your family.” Having those candid had everyone from project management,
Relationship with Your Doctor because this talks is very important? to education, to marketing help bring all
relationship between the patient and doc- Terry: I think it’s about awareness and au- of these different areas together to be able
tor is my passion. And it’s all about trust, thentic marketing and making people aware to really start this project. We had men,
respect, empathy, and communication. The of the benefits. I think the natural products women, different ethnicities, different gen-
empathy is the important part to under- industry has helped lead the charge on so ders, different backgrounds as a whole and
stand. Why is the mistrust so deep-seated many social issues over the years, but within people that were passionate about it as an
in the African American communities and this population, I don’t think the dots have overall objective.
the Latino communities? It’s kind of hard always been connected. And I don’t always Redcross: One of the important things
to get that buy in from a group if they don’t understand the reason why. I just think was finding the spaces that were most valu-
believe you’ve been able to understand their that, overall, brands can be better in regards able to get to the masses that we wanted to
path or the shoes that they walk in and to having an authentic message to reach get to. Community groups, churches, those
some of the challenges that they have to people of color. That starts with diversifica- things are very important in the minority
stay well. And not just financial challeng- tion within the organizations as well. group and the African American group
es. Look at how low the ability for minori- in particular. So, we had to think, “Where
ties to be able to telework was versus other NBJ: What went into designing the out- can we get the most bang for our buck to
groups. That impacts your health. That puts reach for your programs (Get On My Level make a difference in the communities?” We
you in COVID’s way if you have to keep and HEAP)? had to educate on the fact that vitamin D
VITAMIN D SUPPLEMENT SALES AND GROWTH, 2016-2024E
1,600 50%
1,400
40%
1,200
30%
1,000
800 20%
600
10%
400
0%
200
0 -10%
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020e 2021e 2022e 2023e 2024e
Sales Growth
Source: Nutrition Business Journal ($mil, consumer sales)
MAY 2021 newhope.com | 16You can also read
