The popular press regularly publishes investigative reports on the dietary supplement industry. Often they are of a critical slant. It’s not difficult to see why. The regulatory status of the dietary supplement industry is practically flimsy with a post-market regulatory structure but little funding to support oversight by the FDA. As a result, unscrupulous or honestly unaware manufacturers and marketers at times launch adulterated, unsafe and mislabeled supplement products into the market. Consumers play a role too. They believe what they want to believe - extrapolating curative effects from structure-function claims and anecdotal successes stories.

Today, the New York Times published an article exploring this three pronged problem that the dietary supplement industry struggles with. You may read the article titled, Potential for Harm in Dietary Supplements here.

I encourage your comments below.

-Patrick

Michael Pollan, author of “Omnivores Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food”, gave a riveting keynote speech at Natural Products Expo West 2008. I was fortunate to hear it in person, but if you were unable to make the Mr. Pollan’s speech, you’re in luck.

I am delighted to inform you that Michael Pollan has allowed New Hope to post his keynote address on www.expowest.com.

Click on the link by the words “audio recording” on this page

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Please feel free to comment on his speech via the comments function below.

I started my career in the nutrition industry as a financial analyst with Health Business Partners (HBP) ten years ago in 1998. I’m not sure there could’ve been a worse analyst to hire, but I think I did a good job pulling the wool over on the HBP guys at the time. Anyway, at the time (1998), the industry was booming, VC money was readily available and we were looking at 5-6 investment opportunties a week.

10 years later, VC interest in the nutrition industry is back. Interest in organic, personal care, pet care and the underlying technologies behind the nutritional ingredients category spurred the creation of the Nutrition Capital Network, an investor/entrepeneur forum founded by the founders of Nutrition Business Journal - Grant Ferrier & Thomas Aarts.

If you are an investor interested in the nutrition industry, I encourage you to consider attending to the Nutrition Capital Network meeting in New York April 17.

I know NCN’s screening committee has come up with some interesting deal flow for the event

and last October’s meeting was also good for networking with both other investors and the entrepreneurs.

Last week, I was able to get a preview of the deals that will be presented in more detail at the New York event. Here it is:

-$60-million assemblable meal franchise in 200 locations

-$30-million functional beverage company

-$20-million organic convenience foods retailer

-$10-million patented medical foods company

-$10-million organic fiber products company

-$2-5 million topical pain relief company

-$2-5 million supplier of specialty ingredients for organic foods

-$2-5 million leader in natural hemp foods

-$1-2 million proprietary anti-inflammatory supplement

-$1-2 million patented medical foods company

-$1-2 million natural oral care company

-$1-2 million frozen natural pasta company

-$1-2 million natural household cleaner with patented refill system

-Proprietary probiotic ingredients for food and animal feed

-Proprietary nanotech supply process for functional food

-Patent-pending biopesticides and organic weed control

-Proprietary process for mineral suspension for cosmetic and functional food ingredients

-Product and proprietary process in frozen convenience treats

-Data and support service to allow ‘carbon neutral’ or other claims on products

-RTD/powdered tea-based sports & energy drink

-Unique dissolvable tablets for hyrdation beverages

Again, I hope to see you there.

-Patrick

I’ve definitely overused the saying, “Happiness is a journey, not a destination.”

Often it’s used sarcastically when we’re nearing the completion of an issue and realize we still have a long way to go. It breaks the tension, if only for me.

With any herculean effort, there will be moments when frustration levels grow so high, disagreements so intense and positions so immovable that one has to wonder…will progress ever be made. Of course, this lockup is usually indicative of a highly worthy cause.

The organic movement is such a cause.

Because of its growth, interest in the organic movement has swelled to an all time high. Blackberry-addicted investment bankers and globe-trotting CEOs are cutting deals with hippie entrepreneurs, trying to capture a little bit of the magic that is the organic movement. Not everyone is happy about it.

Issues of responsibility, sustainability and transparency are being hotly debated in the organic industry, and for good reason. These principles form a critical part of the foundation for the organic movement. Without them, organic really isn’t organic…or is it? This organic industry is certainly going through some growing pains.

Last year I attended the inaugural Organic Summit. It was an eye opening experience. The energy was intense. Every attendee had something significant to say about the organic movement, where it came from, where it was headed and what needed to change. It was one of the best conferences I attended in 2007.

I will again attend the Organic Summit, June 25-27th at the St. Julien in Boulder, Colorado to experience this energy. This year’s timely theme is “Cultivating Innovation and Transparency in the Organic Community”.

For more than 30 years, organic leaders have been changing the landscape of the U.S. food industry. This fringe movement has grown from its counter-culture roots into a broadly adopted market representing over 3% of total retail food sales in the United States, growing between 15-20% annually.

I strongly encourage anyone in, or interested in, the business of organic products to attend this special two-day event in Boulder. You will walk away with the most up to date information on the organic industry. You will walk away having met the most important leaders of the organic movement. But most importantly, you will walk away with a very nuanced understanding of how to be successful in the U.S. organic products industry.

To register, go to: http://www.theorganicsummit.com/register.cfm