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
hroughout each year, NBJ re- heightened manufacturing safety protocols ports on and talks to emerging and ingredient supply challenges. and established leaders in dietary Well before NIH’s Anthony Fauci, NBJ Award winners supplements, food and beverage, iden- M.D., recommended taking vitamins C » Large Company Leadership & T Growth Puris tifying challenges, opportunities, trends and D, consumers old and new had already 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 » Small Company Leadership & political or social. We hear about issues of last twelve months show that as much as Growth Apothékary trust and opportunities for transparency, 54% of shoppers increased supplement us- about how brands are guiding consum- age due to COVID-19—and many from » Management Achievement The entire supplement industry ers and how consumers and suppliers are “none” to “some.” 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- » Supply Chain Transparency as critical to industry success, and look ately, race and equity came into play, not Cepham back over the prior year. Beginning with just in headlines sparked by the murder of Mission and Philanthropy general nominations and moving out to George Floyd but by the pandemic, too. As » Naturade those recognized by our staff and adviso- we look back on 2020, then, we’re looking 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 Essential business NBJ Award: Efforts on NBJ Award: Supply Katie Dove, Design Team Manager 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 keeper role quality retailers play Carlotta Mast, Senior Vice President 04 By Melaina Juntti NBJ Award: 21 and Market Leader Leadership and Growth NBJ Award: Mission NBJ Editorial Advisory Board Three companies built on 13 & Philanthropy 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 er of plant compounds 08 By Peter Rejcek 24 Anthony Almada NBJ Award: NBJ Award: President, IMAGINutrition Management Stewardship and Mark Blumenthal Achievement 15 Sustainability 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 Bernie Landes President, Nutritional Products Consulting Get in on Janica Lane Managing Director, Piper Jaffray the action Michael McGuffin President, AHPA Learn how Randi Neiner Neiner Consulting Ian Newton consumer Managing Director, Ceres Consulting Kantha Shelke mindset shifts Founder, Corvus Blue Scott Steinford are driving Trust Transparency Consulting Peter Wennström this $40.5B President, Healthy Marketing Team Nutrition Business Journal® (ISSN 1548-6168) is published in 11 editions each year by New category. Hope Network, a division of Informa PLC, 5541 Central Avenue, Suite 150, Boulder, Colorado, USA 80301. © 2020 Informa PLC. All rights reserved. This publication may not be duplicated The new or reproduced without written permission. Please visit Active Lifestyle Report www.nutritionbusinessjournal.com to order a subscription. Annual digital subscription rate is $1395. Corporate rate at nutritionbusinessjournal.com is $2695 for up to five users.
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 Maybe stepping outside the comfort zone is not supposed to feel com- the Mission and Philanthropy Award, 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 D deficiencies in dark-skinned populations (see page 15). chosen three companies of very differ- Naturade is receiving the Mission and Philanthropy Award. Terry and Red- ent sizes and ages. Those are pea-pro- cross will share the Education Award. Terry and Redcross are Black. Naturade tein supplier Puris, for its pioneering is co-owned and run by Claude Tellis and Kareem Cook, both Black men. role in plant-based protein market, and This is what diversity looks like. Sadly, it’s not what NBJ has historically herbal products startup Apothékary 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 work of Naturade, Redcross and Terry is important and would not have hap- Chain Transparency Award goes to for- pened without their perspectives and passions. They earned these awards. ty-year-old ingredient supplier Cepham, But those questions aren’t the hard part. That NBJ looked past the for its longtime commitment to trans- subject of race for much of its history may be the more important matter parency that includes a recent full-scale at hand. We did not choose these winners to apologize for a monocultural adoption of blockchain technology. 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 the industry we cover. We’ve examined racial health disparities, and we’ve lock the potential of plant medicines, called the industry to task for not supporting entrepreneurs of color, not and HowGood grabs the Stewardship doing enough to bring diversity into its leadership ranks. Each month now, and Sustainability Award for its robust NBJ and other Informa media brands meet with a council of voices with sharable database that improves sus- diverse backgrounds and diverse viewpoints. We talk about what stories we tainability efforts for formulators. 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 | 3 NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
NBJ Award: Leadership and Growth Three companies built on health and integrity
By Melaina Juntti
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 $75 million and up, goes to PURIS. companies recorded a banner year. But For 35 years, the innovative seed genetics » Puris’s pea protein expertise was G well timed for rapid expansion in there’s a big difference between enjoying and plant-based protein enterprise has been the windfall from a red-hot market during building the infrastructure to transform plant-based foods, most nota- bly its position as a supplier to a global pandemic and laying the ground- non-GMO crops into ingredients destined Beyond Meat work for prolonged prosperity. Establishing for plant-based foods that consumers want sustainable markets that engender contin- to eat. Through its joint venture with Car- » Your Super is moving into retail, ued growth—not only for that company gill, PURIS has become the largest pea pro- but intends to keep its focus on direct to consumer but throughout the supply chain—requires tein producer in North America, claiming true leadership, marked by integrity, inge- revolutionary meat mimic Beyond Meat » Apothekary is seeing great results nuity, resilience and vision. These three NBJ among key customers. NBJ isn’t the only from its subscription program Award winners exemplify exactly that. outlet to take notice. Fast Company recently
HERB AND BOTANICAL SUPPLEMENT SALES AND GROWTH, 2016-2024E
16,000 20%
14,000 18% 16% 12,000 14% 10,000 12% 8,000 10%
6,000 8% 6% 4,000 4% 2,000 2% 0 0% 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020e 2021e 2022e 2023e 2024e
Sales Growth
Source: Nutrition Business Journal ($mil, consumer sales)
MAY 2021 newhope.com | 4 NBJ 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 | 5 NBJ 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 | 6 NBJ 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 “I came to the realization that fruits its partner producer co-ops. Furthering its do-good mission, Your Super partners with and vegetables alone wouldn’t solve Action Against Hunger to donate a bar for every mix sold. all of my health problems.” Next up, the company is planning new 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 | 7 NBJ 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
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 I demand spikes while also learn- a historic year for sales growth—but the Shifts were staggered and segregated. ing to counter employees’ risk of challenge that should not be forgotten was Temperatures were checked. Rapid tests infection with new procedures among the most important the industry has deployed. Plexiglass shields went up. Pro- 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 infections were more widespread workers safe. curve that companies had to chart on the 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 | 8 NBJ 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 – Carilyn Anderson, Carlson Laboratories employees were worried about taking care 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 | 9 NBJ 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
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- NBJ Takeaways 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 F sold on Amazon, confirming they they deemed legitimate and high quality, sketchy products. 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 | 10 NBJ 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- – Beth Lambert, Herbalist & Alchemist cember 2020, the e-tailer unveiled sweep- 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 | 11 NBJ 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- “Speaking truth to power is courageous and ing to the feedback from the trade groups and will reissue the expectations with more risky, and NOW’s decision to test and pub- reasonable standards.” Indeed, in early April, Amazon updat- lish results of product label/content discrep- ed the standards to accept results from in- house laboratories compliant with current ancies was speaking truth to power.” good manufacturing practices. Earlier incar- 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 | 12 NBJ 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
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 W learning could unlock uses for specialty allows him to recognize the qual- “That’s why we built a technology that 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 | 13 NBJ 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 ofNature 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 “The foundational hypothesis is that plants person becomes healthier—a process called salutogenesis,” Langevin said. “The saluto- are nature’s foremost chemists.” genesis process is likely to involve multiple systems in the body (such as the cardiovas- – Lee Chae, Brightseed cular, nervous, and digestive systems), mul- 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 | 14 NBJ 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
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 IEducation 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 “When you talk about how many people understand the risks to the community. As professionals, they understand the industry who have brown skin or tan skin recognize has the power to change the situation. We talked to both men about the pro- that they’re at risk for vitamin D portions of the problem and what the in- 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 | 15 NBJ 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 | 16 NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
is so important, and what vitamin D can orative, you can build something together. to different programs to draw attention do for you, especially in these COVID There are people who have volunteered to to vitamin D deficiency. times when we’re seeing what COVID is be a part of this, based upon just hearing doing to that community in particular. Vi- about it within the organization. They NBJ: What other conditions and concerns tamin D contributed to the almost two- to asked how they could lend their back- around healthcare disparity do you think three-fold increase in death and mortality ground, their expertise to this. This is just the supplement industry should be getting for African Americans. It was getting that the first social cause that we started with, involved in? information out there of how important it but it’s not the only one that we’re looking Redcross: You have to all recognize that was to understand what vitamin D is, and at it. what is the number one cause of death what it can do for our community. Then we NBJ: COVID gave urgency to vitamin D, for both men and women is heart disease. had to talk about the number. I can tell you how do you think you can sustain the at- Diabetes is another. There is also asthma. where you can get your vitamin D testing tention and impact of this? All of those hit communities of color kit or whether you go to your doctor’s of- Redcross: COVID was able to really al- harder. So, it’s bigger than just the vita- fice and get your blood test, but what does low us to put a big, bright light on the min D. It’s a relationship building. Once that matter if you don’t know what you’re importance of a vitamin D, but it’s not we build a relationship—in my case with targeting? The actual goal is “I want you to get on my level.” “My level” is between 40 and 60. That’s the key. The big clincher is, “Guess what? If you don’t know your levels, you’re walking in the dark.” When you put “For us, this wasn’t really about COVID, all three of those together, you can impact change, you can almost move mountains. this was strictly about awareness. It wasn’t That’s what we can do with a nice central- ized message. anything other than just having a social NBJ: What have you learned that you think cause that we were passionate about.” could be used in future efforts and cam- paigns in the supplement industry? – Brian Terry, Nordic Naturals Redcross: One of the best strengths of this industry is that we’re all here because we not only love what we do, but we love helping people. That’s why we’re here. The important thing is to recognize that there is another whole subset of a population only about COVID. As COVID starts to the patient and maybe with a lot of the out there that we can tap into in a differ- dissipate, we still have our immune sys- business owners with the consumers— ent way and be able to impact change in tem, which we want as robust as possible. you have someone that trusts you for life, a way that maybe we didn’t think about And that’s where vitamin D does a lot of and that’s what we want. before. Those healthcare disparities are the magic as well. And there are so many Terry: For me, it’s about optimal nutrition very real in those communities. I look at other ways that vitamin D plays a role in as a whole. Right? You have so many differ- it as almost a brand-new opportunity to health. There are even vitamin D recep- ent areas that people can have troubles get into the communities and to educate tors in the brain. Life has changed, but with. There’s the food deserts problem. Not and let them know: why is omega-3 im- the vitamin D story really doesn’t. being able to find healthy food can contrib- portant? What is black seed oil? What is Terry: We have a plan to draw awareness ute to high blood pressures, or high choles- astaxanthin? I would love those words to through different social platforms, PR, terol, or cardiac issues, and so on. So, the become part of their vocabulary in those different areas that we can track metrics key is really optimal health. In our project, different communities. I’d say that there about who is talking about it to really the number one thing is to make sure that is kind of a brave new world out there target the right audience for the messag- people are going to visit their doctors, and where we really can get in and impact ing. But for us, this wasn’t really about make sure that they’re getting that vitamin change. COVID, this was strictly about aware- D workup. At the end of the day, that’s Terry: The biggest thing that I’ve learned ness. It wasn’t anything other than just about optimal wellness. We can’t control is that it takes a team. Because you’re not having a social cause that we were pas- everything, but we can try to make always going to agree on how everything sionate about, and one in which Nordic high-quality products available to people should be done, but if you have a collab- Naturals had a lot of support in regards nationwide.
MAY 2021 newhope.com | 17 NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
NBJ Award: Supply Chain Transparency Cepham breaking down the silos
By Marc Brush
ack in a more questionable era of tory and a bright, bold future, thanks to the supplement industry, before its commitment to transparency. “You sell transparency caught hold as even in this industry based on a bond of trust,” NBJ Takeaways a mere buzzword, there were quality con- says Swaroop. “When we create transpar- » Before transparency was a trend, B it was a primary value for this cerns, there was adulteration, there were ency that’s visible to all of us, that creates bad actors abusing the rules of the game. faith in our products; we give those bad 43-year-old ingredient supplier Of course, these problems remain, but actors less air.” » Blockchain across the industry now there are antidotes. Among them are Cepham does transparency right, could provide volume checks and ingredient suppliers committed to sup- which is to say that transparency is part adulteration controls porting the value proposition of transpar- of the culture and evident throughout the » Pharmaceutical and supplement ency. “Transparency holds a clear value operations of the company, and Dr. Swa- companies share some of the same now for supplement companies,” says Dr. roop is deeply committed to blockchain as needs that can be satifised with Anand Swaroop, President of Cepham, a tool to deliver on the promise of trans- block chain traceability one such supplier with a long, rich his- parency. It’s this pledge to transparency
AYURVEDIC HERB SALES AND GROWTH, 2015-2023E
500 70% 450 60% 400 350 50% 300 40% 250 30% 200
150 20% 100 10% 50 0 0% 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021e 2022e 2023e
Sales Growth
Source: Nutrition Business Journal ($mil, consumer sales)
MAY 2021 newhope.com | 18 NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
and a vision to create it that has earned Cepham the NBJ Supply Chain Transpar- “I was looking for a tool for a long time, some way ency Award. to tell the whole story in a more precise manner. From India to New Jersey Cepham hit the scene in 1978 as part We wanted something that would give clarity to all of India’s science and technology boom. It’s early focus on Ayurvedic ingredients our stakeholders and get them on the same plane, proved prescient, as that approach to health and wellness continues to gain favor in the on the same platform with the same visibility.” West. Cepham’s early work to identify the actives in Ayurvedic plants and deliver con- – Dr. Anand Swaroop centrated extracts was pioneering then and remains so today. Over the years, Cepham would launch research initiatives across the globe—from Cepham promotes sustainable and fair- prove to be a tough task. sub-Saharan Africa to South America— trade growing practices, and this is where Cepham test drove a number of trans- and focus on popular categories of supple- things get really interesting. By making the parency platforms before Swaroop would ment innovation—from active nutrition ethical choice and doing the work to moni- place his bet on blockchain and a company to cognitive health. U.S. operations were tor quality at every link in the chain of cus- called TagOne. That was almost three years launched in 2004 with a QA facility, QC tody, the company was ready and waiting for ago, and now blockchain is everywhere lab, and pilot plant in Piscataway, New Jer- a trend like transparency to take hold. It was inside the company. “We use it on every- sey. Between the U.S. and India, the com- also hungry for a way to differentiate from thing,” says Swaroop. “It’s in the warehouse, pany has grown into more than 200,000 its peers and authentically demonstrate its in the QA lab, with processors, in the fac- square feet of production floor and lab true level of commitment to the cause. tory back in India. We upload everything space. to TagOne and it simplifies the work. We can see what is moving where in real time.” For the uninitiated, blockchain tech- nology provides a distributed, immutable ledger for data capture, data sharing, and “If we go this way, toward transparency for data analysis, and TagOne had an estab- lished track record for delivering block- everyone along the chain, we’ll open eyes. chain solutions in the pharma industry. Supplements can carry an even more com- We’ll treat the people doing the hard work plicated supply chain, of course, but there were models to build off after TagOne set more fairly. People want to do good things. the stage with Johnson & Johnson and Bristol Meyers Squibb. We just need to show them how.” With a tool like TagOne, Swaroop’s vi- sion for transparency-made-real began to – Dr. Anand Swaroop take shape. A full snapshot of seed-to-shelf with the click of a button? Entirely possible. Making blockchain work Cepham’s roots in medicine pre- Believing in blockchain The supplement supply chain is a step- DSHEA informed its approach to the new “I was looking for a tool for a long wise affair, but transparency works against markets opened up by a regulated market time,” says Swaroop, “some way to tell the that grain. A tool like blockchain gets sup- for nutraceuticals. All Cepham facilities are whole story in a more precise manner. We pliers, manufacturers, contract manufac- certified to NSF, GMP, and ISO standards. wanted something that would give clar- turers, and brands all staring at the same The company is that rare breed of ingredient ity to all our stakeholders and get them screen. “We love to work in silos in this supplier that can do it all, from research to on the same plane, on the same platform industry,” says Swaroop. “We manufacture clinical study to manufacture to distribution. with the same visibility.” This would and sell raw materials to brands and con-
MAY 2021 newhope.com | 19 NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
tract manufacturers. That’s what we do, but “As we start to scale this in sometimes I have no idea where our ingre- dients end up.” natural products, we can get into Joe Witte is the VP of Ecosystems & Partnerships at TagOne. “Our team had predictive analytics. We can see trends, worked on track and traceability from the pharma side, and we knew about the ongo- like an increase in heavy metals from a ing challenges in supplements with verify- ing quality, but Dr. Swaroop really opened certain source. We can reduce risk, which our eyes here. It’s such an important rela- tionship for us. His expertise and feedback, affects insurance and class-action lawsuits his intention for doing things the right way, it’s impressive.” and product recalls. Once we centralize The secret to success for this relationship is rolling up some sleeves and digging into the data and get it off paper, spreadsheets, the nuances of how things really operate in supplements. “Dr. Swaroop’s totally in and pdf’s, then we can look the weeds,” says Witte. Those weeds can be thick in the supplement supply chain, with holistically, at a macro level.” streamlining and quality verification reliant on document management, auditing re- – Joe Witte, TagOne quirements, and a host of data capture points that need special attention on the chain. If Cepham has a lesson to share with industry about transparency, it might be to make this even more relevant, but there’s Why this matters believe in the effort, commit, and then dig still more to come as a technology like Natural products are different than in. “Before you get to blockchain, you have blockchain captures share in the market- other manufactured goods, says Swaroop. to take a step back,” says Witte. “First you place. “It’s an extremely smart tool,” says “These are not petrochemicals. A pill in a see the value in software for streamlining Swaroop, “and our industry is taking baby consumer’s hand today started a journey a data and sharing documents. If you share steps.” year back in the field somewhere.” For that those documents externally, then you’re As strong COVID-related sales persist, pill to build trust in its consumer, transpar- interested in transparency. We talk about Cepham is starting work with TagOne to ency—and the careful stewardship of re- working backwards from blockchain to mine its data for greater insights. Witte sources it promotes—is essential. software to process to procedures to culture sees the potential, too. “As we start to scale “We ultimately need to create a very and values, so it all starts with culture and this in natural products,” he says, “we can clear communication,” says Swaroop. “The values. That’s what’s most impressive about get into predictive analytics. We can see old lady who cleans fenugreek seeds in working with Cepham.” trends, like an increase in heavy metals from a small village in India, she doesn’t know a certain source. We can reduce risk, which what I’m going to do with those seeds. If The future of blockchain affects insurance and class-action lawsuits we get everyone on the same page, that cre- The technology powering blockchain is and product recalls. Once we centralize ates a fair and equitable trade.” cloud- and transaction-based, which makes the data and get it off paper, spreadsheets, Swaroop knows this lady, and many like cryptocurrency ledgering an option on the and pdf ’s, then we can look holistically, at her. He has asked her why she cleans the near horizon. When speaking of this future a macro level.” seeds so meticulously. Is it to get paid more? for a technology like blockchain, Swaroop A real world scenario might be that No, she told him. She cleans the seeds well begins thinking about COAs as NFTs three of the top four ashwagandha sup- because someone will be eating them. “I (non-fungible tokens). “It’s multiple com- pliers feed a blockchain ledger, and collec- heard that and thought, ‘Wow, she gets it,’” panies going to each destination,” he says, tively they can’t explain how so much more says Swaroop. “If we go this way, toward explaining how COAs could be held and of the ingredient than they produce ends transparency for everyone along the chain, safely guarded from tampering and falsifi- up on store shelves. Voila, a predictive tool we’ll open eyes. We’ll treat the people do- cation, “but no one can change it. The qual- to surface adulteration. That’s the kind of ing the hard work more fairly. People want ity stays there.” self-policing of the bad actors that many in to do good things. We just need to show Amazon’s new standards around COAs the supplement industry long for. them how.”
MAY 2021 newhope.com | 20 NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
NBJ Award: Mission & Philanthropy Naturade brings nutrition to communities in need
By Marc Brush
he company tagline says it all: “We of COVID-19. believe everyone should have access It’s a similar story for Kareem Cook, to quality food regardless of in- Naturade’s chief marketing officer and a NBJ Takeaways come, location, and race.” It puts mission co-owner of the business with Tellis. “I’ve T » The supplement industry has not directly into the brand identity. lost two aunts and two cousins,” he says. done a consistently good job Ask the brain trust at Naturade about “This is a major issue for us. The failure reaching minority populations that mission, and it’s clear that it’s part of of this industry to reach these communi- » BIPOC-owned brands need better their identity too. ties is real and tragic. It’s time to seize this support from equity investors “We want to reverse prediabetes,” says moment.” The COVID pandemic has high- CEO Claude Tellis. “Diabetes affects 86 According to Tellis, COVID exposed » lighted the problem of diabetes, a million Americans—that’s almost 1 in the underbelly of diabetes in America. The disease prevalent in communities 4—and it really hits people of color in a pandemic itself, and the silent pandemic of of color major way.” Tellis recently lost two uncles lifestyle co-morbidities that worsen out- to the disease, both after leg amputations comes, is a clarion call to not only change and one from the additional complications the way Americans eat but to change the
ESTIMATED INCIDENCE OF DIAGNOSED DIABETES ACROSS RACE/ETHNICITY IN THE UNITED STATES, 2017-2018
Hispanic 9.0
Black, non-Hispanic 7.9
Asian, non-Hispanic 7.25
White, non-Hispanic 5.4
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2020, rate per 1,000
MAY 2021 newhope.com | 21 NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
way the nutrition industry approaches incredibly impressive,” says Heather Smith demic industries like sports and music that communities of color. Thorne, Partner at TPG, where she leads know how to reach his consumer. He wants Those changes could start where they consumer investing for two major funds, to see retailers throw more of their market- are needed most, not in the healthier, al- TPG Growth and The Rise Fund. “They’ve ing muscle behind BIPOC-owned brands, ready converted cadres of natural food made business model, product, and brand and more bankers investing in their growth. shoppers. “It’s hard to ignore,” says Cook. pivots, while still remaining true to the Cook wants to protect his clarity of vision “We’ve been touched directly by this. Most mission and core ideals of the business. I and the spirit of disruption that got them Black people I know have suffered loss think their potential is incredible.” this far. “We got into Whole Foods early, during COVID, and that’s not necessari- but didn’t know the repercussions of that,” ly true for the white people I know. All of Cracking the code says Cook. “We don’t know the rules of this this is a perfect storm for a company like us It’s common in the natural products industry, and we don’t particularly care to.” to be there, to receive the message and do community to highlight the philanthrop- This February, Naturade landed in 40 something about it.” ic efforts of a brand that’s reached enough Costcos across the U.S., the first Black- scale to give back. It’s common to applaud owned company to ever be sold in the The journey so far Naturade is a company approaching its 100-year anniversary, but its modern incar- nation is a vision set by Tellis and Cook. “I think it’s time to take a big step forward in the The two met as undergraduates at Duke University, then joined forces to launch a wake of George Floyd and this cultural moment. healthy vending machine company in Los Angeles. Within two years, they’d changed These are big problems that require big solutions, and the law to kick soda and junk food out of the schools and won the contract to sup- you need equity capital to make this sustainable.” ply every one of those public schools in the district. – Claude Tellis, Naturade This kind of success at the local level got the pair national attention when President Bill Clinton and Governor Mike Huckabee invited them to the table to discuss child- corporate mission statements that support plant-based nutrition aisle. “Naturade is hood obesity at the launch of the Alliance the earth or personal health, or advocate for special, first and foremost, because it’s a for a Healthier Generation. From there, alternative paths to health. What’s entirely great product, period,” says Smith Thorne. Tellis and Cook set their sights on Natu- uncommon is a story like Naturade’s, the “One thing investors know about this space rade, acquiring the brand in 2012. They got story of a Black-owned business targeting is that products can have amazing claims, to work resetting the company’s focus on Black consumers with the same quality of but if they don’t taste good, consumers prediabetes and retargeting the message for nutrition products typically marketed to won’t buy repeatedly.” communities often left out of the nutrition very different demographics. discussion. “Naturade is targeting a mission that Making it cool “In the last three years, we’ve found our isn’t commonly approached by other So, how to deliver on such a bold mis- inspiration around that vision and mission,” brands,” says Smith Thorne. “Yet that mis- sion? Think differently and create a move- says Tellis. “People have stopped look- sion has a massive total addressable market, ment around healthy eating in underserved ing for a magic pill. If we lose 10% of our and this creates a mismatch of supply and communities. Naturade partnered with bodyweight and shift to a plant-based diet, demand. Simply by focusing on this space, fitness expert John Lewis, also known as we can see 60% reversals in type 2 diabe- I think Naturade has covered a lot of new Badass Vegan, to launch its popular Veg- tes. That’s the kind of clear understanding ground.” Add to that Tellis and Cook’s anSmart line. As the company has grown between food choices and health outcomes knowledge of and connection with their in reach and sales, it’s also attracted some we need to drive home.” core consumer, and Smith Thorne thinks heavy hitters as investors, including former In case it’s not clear already, the secret to they can crack the code. NBA stars Magic Johnson and Grant Hill. recent success at Naturade falls squarely at To do it, Tellis talks about approaching “Magic Johnson brought corporate the feet of Tellis and Cook, but that’s hard- business in a different way, and Cook talks America to urban America,” says Tellis. ly a secret across the industry. “I’ve known about breaking the rules of convention. Tel- “He’s a sterling example of speaking to these two for over five years, and the ded- lis wants to see supplement companies hir- that urban consumer, and Grant was the ication to the growth of their business is ing from Black colleges and from non-en- oldest player ever in the NBA when he
MAY 2021 newhope.com | 22 NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
retired at 40. He attributes a lot of that longevity to diet and nutrition.” These partnerships are already bearing fruit, with “I’ve lost two aunts and two cousins. Magic’s smiling face front and center on pack in the Costco SKUs. The failure of this industry to reach these These are more familiar tactics for sup- plement brands—partnering with spokes- communities is real and tragic. It’s people that connect to a target demo- graphic—but Cook and Tellis are aiming time to seize this moment.” their messages in directions the industry has ignored. Naturade uses media chan- – Kareem Cook, Naturade nels and event marketing in ways unheard of for nutrition brands. Take the Essence Festival in New Orleans, an event that attracts more than 500,000 attendees and marks a cultural mecca for many Black needs to be too, Tellis and Cook say. to take a big step forward in the wake of women. The idea is to put the product in “My dad’s a doctor, and he’s got pre- George Floyd and this cultural moment,” front of the people who need it but might diabetes too,” says Tellis. “This is not just says Tellis. “These are big problems that not otherwise see it. about food insecurity. It’s cultural, it’s require big solutions, and you need equity “We want to bring Whole Foods qual- habits passed down. That’s why ball play- capital to make this sustainable.” ity to a Walmart consumer,” says Cook. ers are an opportunity. You have to make Funds with stated mandates around “To do that, you have to disrupt. Every- this the cool thing to do. The athletes and ESG (environmental, social, and corpo- one’s going to the same place in this in- entertainers spread this message to the rate governance) would seem like a per- dustry, selling to the same consumer. That’s younger generation.” fect fit for companies like Naturade, but that’s not yet the case, according to Tellis. “It’s missing companies like us,” he says. “If these firms are looking for companies that do well by doing good, that money “Naturade is targeting a mission that isn’t should find us.” When asked about the company’s fu- commonly approached by other brands. Yet that ture, Cook is most energized by seizing that cultural moment. He speaks of the mission has a massive total addressable market, and upcoming documentary from Keegan Kuhn, the producer behind Cowspiracy this creates a mismatch of supply and demand. and What the Health, that explores the intersections of diet and disease with Simply by focusing on this space, I think Naturade poverty, racism, and includes some pow- erful voices from hip hop. The film is has covered a lot of new ground.” called They’re Trying to Kill Us, and Tel- lis and Cook were interviewed. In fact, – Heather Smith Thorne, TPG their business partner John Lewis is a principal filmmaker and narrator. “These documentaries force conversations,” says Cook. “It’s going to be powerful.” Chalk it up as another milestone in the steady march toward health, regardless of why that 86 million number of prediabet- A brighter future income, location, or race. It’s a march that ics hasn’t gone down. At Natural Prod- “We’re focused on the urban consumer, might just be further along than the industry ucts Expo, we’re one of 15-20 companies but we’ve found support and allies from the recognizes. “Grant [Hill] came through for doing what we do. At Essence, we’re the industry already,” says Tellis. The missing the NBA All-Star Game in LA,” says Cook, only company there.” link is fundraising, and Naturade is working “and he asked me to dinner. Where’d we go? The problem is pervasive in communi- hard these days to bring the lens of impact Gracias Madre in West Hollywood. That’s a ties of color, and the messaging and brand investing into their world. “I think it’s time happening place, and it’s all vegan.”
MAY 2021 newhope.com | 23 NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
NBJ Award: Stewardship and Sustainability HowGood aligns an entire industry on science-backed sustainability standards
By Bill Giebler
roduct formulation is problem solv- providing “the ease of decision making and a ing, where the problems are story known quantifiable understanding.” Initially NBJ Takeaways problems ranging from new ingredi- for one client at a time. ent introduction to matching a competitive » As the definition of sustainability P Compilation grows increasingly diverse and mandate or reformulating existing goods to align with corporate sustainability objec- HowGood was founded by Gillett and complicated, brands need tools to support sincere efforts tives. A recipe emerges, moves to sourcing, his brother Arthur 15 years ago. The latter works its way toward marketing and, if all Gillett was living in London at the time, » HowGood’s SAAS tool brings goes well, the market. working in the heart of the city’s financial sustainability and innovation into From a sustainability standpoint, there world creating systems to evaluate financial alignment from the beginning of the product development process are two flaws with that system, suggests impacts. The former was working in the Merijn Dols, global director of open inno- New York business world. Both shared a » With a centralized database, CPGs vation and circular economy at Danone. passion for understanding social and envi- are no longer compiling same or First, he says, the sustainability team is ronmental impacts throughout human sys- similar data in parallel; rather, the learnings from one participating usually brought in at the tail end of the tems. Initial conversations sparked an idea company benefit all the others process, at a point when they have little-to- that began to focus on food systems and the no design freedom. Second, as these teams company was born. identify and research ecological and social “Environmental goals are typically lofty ent data sources, 200-plus experts, thou- sustainability indicators, they are siloed and amorphous while financial goals tend sands of research and journal articles … from others tasked with parallel challenges to be concrete,” Gillett says. HowGood, he and harmonizing it into one database: the in other companies. This is especially true believes, is moving the system towards con- world’s largest product and ingredient sus- among the large CPGs. crete understandings and goal setting. “It’s a tainability database.” “Danone could define its own indica- platform that allows CPGs to do that, too.” Since its conceptual beginnings, the tors, just like Nestlé could, just like Uni- The two began compiling data, pull- HowGood database has grown into a size- lever and General Mills could,” Dols says. ing together existing life-cycle analyses able and subscription-deployable SAAS “But then we’re starting to compete over (LCAs) and other scientific data into a sin- used by brands including Applegate and something that should not be competitive.” gle database. “We wanted to centralize not corporations like Danone and Walmart— What if these companies, and smaller just the data but the understandings out of in many cases bringing data with them and startups, too, could work together to de- that and make it simple for people to make making the tool more robust. “The product velop sustainability standards, and what if decisions that positively impact the system that you’re seeing now is based on 14 years of those standards could land at the front of as a whole,” Gillett says. working with industry experts and bringing the R&D process, not the end? But it goes way beyond LCAs, says in these different sources,” says Gillett. These are among the questions that How- HowGood Chief Innovation Officer Good, recipient of this year’s Stewardship Ethan Soloviev, because those miss things Collaboration & Sustainability award, are answering. But like animal welfare, biodiversity and labor In basic terms, the HowGood tool al- not necessarily on purpose. The organiza- risk. “It’s a small, useful part of the whole lows design teams to plug in various in- tion started by compiling science and data input,” Soloviev says, “and we usually look gredient combinations, in strokes broad into a single database, a value proposition at the whole lifecycle. But in terms of the or fine, and watch as a sustainability score co-founder Alexander Gillett today sees as specific data, we’re pulling from 550 differ- shifts and changes.
MAY 2021 newhope.com | 24 NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry
With that in place, formulators can understand the difference, for instance, not just between pea protein and soy but “I don’t think we need to teach or between different pea proteins based on growing region, farming practice and more. tell our people to design for a positive As the tool sharpens, the already useful generalities fall away, and an increasing impact. I think we need to give them volume of science-backed specifics, all the way down to the producer, come into play. permission to do so and the tools to do so.” “This gives designers a very simple un- derstanding of where they are now, what – Merijn Dols, Danone their options for change are and what the impacts of those changes would be,” says Gillett. Some of these big CPGs have up- wards of 1,000 people reformulating prod- ucts, he adds, and almost none of them can simultaneously have expertise in water im- tool connects all the dots, balancing them ers in a room. No, it’s by giving the tools pact and labor impact and greenhouse gas along the way, and gives designers the cre- to the people that actually create the food.” and biodiversity. “You can’t train them all ative freedom to knowledgeably include on all those things. Goals get set at the cor- sustainability in the story problem right up Ever evolving porate level, and how do they do it?” front. “I don’t think we need to teach or tell As more organizations utilize How- And even knowledge in some of those our people to design for a positive impact. I Good’s tool, it continues to get sharper, areas can be detrimental to the others, says think we need to give them permission to do and as the HowGood team grows, it can Dols. “The thing with these complex sys- so and the tools to do so,” says Dols. bring more elements into the database. tems is that you can have reverse effects if Furthermore, adds Dols, now the vision Elements like diversity. “We’ve been starting to design metrics with input from indigenous and BIPOC leaders on what metrics would look like that would actually uplift and support the empow- erment of what we would call the global “We wanted to centralize not just the majority,” Soloviev says. These nascent metrics would help peo- data but the understandings out of that and ple inside client companies make decisions about who they’re sourcing from. Not just make it simple for people to make decisions to buy from a Black-owned businesses, he says, (“that’s a good thing,” he says, “we that positively impact the system as a whole.” should definitely do that”) but, for instance, support African smallholder farmers across – Alexander Gillett, HowGood West Africa. “When you do that, there’s a multiplier effect in the empowerment of the global majority, that channels resources back to those communities.” It’s easy to imagine areas of inclusion and the metrics therein continuing to grow you try to optimize based on a subset of can move from the end of the development overtime, along with the HowGood client indicators,” he says. For instance, designing cycle to the very beginning. “What this list. In fact, Gillett names “growing as fast with water usage, child labor and carbon does is it puts impact at the heart of the de- as we can” among the chief challenges for footprint in mind is great, “but if I’m not sign brief. It has changed the conversations the organization. looking at the local economic multiplier on and education of internal teams,” he says. “There’s so much to do in this space,” says the social side or I’m not looking at biodi- There are millions of people designing Gillett. “We’re happy to be a part of it, and versity, with the best of intentions I might food on a day-to-day basis,” Dols says. “If we’re happy to partner.” And about those be creating reverse effects on those indica- we can put that power into their hands, who are equally excited, whether to come tors that I’m not looking at.” then we can really unlock that system tran- work with HowGood or to use the data, he At Danone, Dols says, the HowGood sition. Not by a small group of elite think- adds, “We want to talk to them.”
MAY 2021 newhope.com | 25 NBJ 2021 Awards Issue Strategic Information for the Nutrition Industry 2021 Editorial Calendar
2021 ISSUES (11 issues per year) • The Guest Editor Issue • Finance • Active Lifestyle • Global Market Overview • Market Overview • Branding & Marketing • Awards • Supply Chain Innovation • Condition Specific • Digital Issue • Changing Consumer
2021 REPORTS • Hemp Report 2021 • Herbs & Botanicals Report • Personalized Nutrition Report 2.0 • Global Supplement Business Report • Active Lifestyle Report • Special Report on a 2021 hot topic • Supplement Business Report • Condition Specific Report
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