Catalina Lifesciences Inc. is a practitioner supplement firm that I’ve had my eye on this year—and apparently, I am not the only one impressed with the innovative business model behind the company’s brand Bariatric Advantage, a nutritional supplement line designed specifically for weight-loss surgery patients. On August 20, the leading practitioner supplement company Metagenics Inc. announced it was purchasing Catalina Lifesciences for an undisclosed amount.

Helping meet the unique nutritional needs of the 230,000 Americans who undergo weight-loss surgery each year was the impetus behind the creation of Bariatric Advantage in 2002. “After undergoing bariatric surgery, a patient requires special nutritional attention for the remainder of his or her life,” Thomas Kinder, president and CEO of Catalina Lifesciences, told Nutrition Business Journal earlier this year. Once a weight-loss surgeon introduces his or her patient to the Bariatric Advantage line of products, that person could ostensibly be a customer for decades, Kinder added. “The average age for [bariatric] surgery is 40, so it’s a relationship that we could maintain for many, many years.”

The Bariatric Advantage business is a “perfect fit” with Metegenics’ mission of using therapeutic nutrition to combat chronic illness, said Metagenics CEO Fred Howard. “Working together, Metagenics and Bariatric Advantage will shape the market in the rapidly growing bariatric nutrition field,” said Howard (who took over as CEO on August 16, when Metagenics Founder and CEO Jeff Katke became the company’s chairman). “We will continue to invest in scientific validation, new product development and distribution to support these programs.”

Both Metagenics and Bariatric Advantage have successfully sold conventional medical doctors on the benefits of nutritional supplementation—which I believe will play a key role in growing and strengthening the legitimacy of the dietary supplement market moving forward. In the case of Bariatric Advantage, Catalina Lifesciences has relied on practitioner education to bring the majority of bariatric surgeons operating in the United States on board with its supplement products.

“Even though they are doing these invasive procedures that can cause nutritional problems, bariatric surgeons don’t receive nutritional training or generally know much about nutrition,” said Jacqueline Jacques, ND, chief of scientific affairs for Bariatric Advantage. “The more we increase what we do with education and support services, the better our [surgeon] retention is and the more we continue to experience accelerated growth, even in a down economy.”

Bariatric Advantage also uses the Internet to support its surgeons’ sales. According to Kinder, the company has built e-stores for more than 500 of its bariatric surgeon customers, who typically sell Bariatric Advantage supplements as a value-added service for their patients. “Obviously, the e-commerce component helps with sales, but it also enables patients to stay in contact with their doctor and learn about changes to the nutrition protocol for this category,” Kinder told NBJ. Thanks to help from the Internet and customers who require specific nutritional supplements for the rest of their lives, nearly 60% of Bariatric Advantage’s sales are generated via auto-ship programs set up on the web, Kinder said.

Under the Metagenics’ umbrella, Bariatric Advantage will retain its branding and continue to be run by Kinder and his leadership team. Said Kinder, “The additional resources provided by Metagenics’ research, business systems and global presence will expand our ability to bring the advantages of our products to a much broader audience of bariatric patients and healthcare professionals worldwide.”

For more on recent M&A transactions within the nutrition industry, check out NBJ’s Finance and Investment issue (which is hitting subscriber mailboxes now).

Related NBJ links:

2010 Direct-to-Consumer Selling in the Nutrition Industry Report

2010 Archived Practitioner Supplement Sales Web Seminar

April 2010: MLM & Practitioner Sales in the Nutrition Industry

In a little over a week, nutrition industry executives from all over the world will be gathering in Anaheim, California, for the 2010 Nutracon Conference and Natural Products Expo West tradeshow. The Nutrition Business Journal team will be there to meet with industry participants, peruse the massive tradeshow floor, and bone up on the latest issues and trends shaping the global nutrition industry during the Nutracon and Expo West education sessions. We’ll also be presenting our annual NBJ State of the Industry session, during which we will share some of NBJ’s proprietary market data and get down to the “nitty gritty” with a panel of experts about some of the key strategic issues affecting dietary supplements, natural & organic products, and functional foods and beverages. Details about the session are below. We hope to see you there!

NBJ State of the Industry

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., Friday, March 12, Room 204AB

We’re changing things up a bit for this year’s NBJ State of the Industry presentation, which has become a must-attend education session for many industry executives at Expo West. NBJ Publisher and Editorial Director Patrick Rea will open the presentation with an analysis of how sales of dietary supplements, natural & organic products, and functional foods and beverages fared in 2009 and what we are expecting for 2010. Then, I and Nancy Coulter-Parker, editor in chief of Delicious Living magazine, will interview a panel of industry experts about key issues affecting supplements, natural & organic, and functional products.

On the panel will be:

• Julie Smolyansky, CEO of Lifeway Foods

• Todd Norton, chief operating officer at A.M. Todd Botanical Therapeutics

• Laura Batcha, chief of policy and external relations at the Organic Trade Association

• Mark Fergusson, CEO and chief financial officer at Down to Earth, Hawaii’s only vegetarian natural & organic food store chain

The questions we will be posing to our panelists (and the audience) include:

• Since the election of Barack Obama, the FDA and FTC have stepped up their enforcement of the label claims being used by food and beverage companies. Is this ultimately a good thing for the functional food and beverage industry? What are you expecting in 2010?

• If passed, what ramifications would McCain’s Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010 bring about for the industry and consumers? Would the bill do what is needed to weed out the bad players?

• In a statement defending his bill, McCain Dietary Supplement has said that, despite what opponents of his proposed legislation are claiming, “If you take a vitamin now, this bill will in no way restrict your ability to take that vitamin.” Is this true?

• McCain’s bill would require retailers to obtain written evidence from supplement manufacturers documenting that products are registered and adhere to all new FDA requirements. Would such a rule affect a retailer’s ability to offer a wide variety of legitimate supplements?

• The functional food and beverage industry continues to grow at a healthy pace, with new food and beverage products being launched every week. The problem is, however, that some companies will put just a small amount of a functional ingredient into a product just so that they can charge a price premium and promote the ingredient on the product’s packaging and label. How big of a problem is this for the functional food and beverage industry? Is “pixie dust” dosing a common practice? What are the ramifications for the functional food and beverage industry? What’s the solution?

• What really happened to organic during the recession? How did organic sales fare compared to natural sales in 2009, and what is expected for 2010? In what ways were consumers able to save money and still buy organic?

• In 2009, several organic companies introduced a “natural” product or dropped their organic content all together. Do you believe there was a large scale shift from organic to natural, or were these isolated examples?

• Even if only a few companies moved from organic to natural, how do these actions impact consumer perception of the value of organic compared to natural? Some organic companies I’ve spoken with have said consumers are so confused that they believe, in some instances, that natural is actually superior to organic. What are your thoughts on this?

• Does having multiple standards and certifications for natural & organic personal care result in too much consumer confusion?

Is there a question or issue you would like to hear NBJ and our panel of experts address during the State of the Industry presentation? If so, e-mail the question to cmast@nutritionbusiness.com.

Related NBJ links:

Global Supplement & Nutrition Industry Report 2010

February 2010: Functional Food and Beverage Issue

Organic Is Not Immune to Recessionary Woes

A literature review article published February 1 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology demonstrated once again how deep the misunderstandings over herbal supplements and how these products are regulated runs in the United States—and how important the work of industry trade groups, such as the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), to refute such misunderstandings is today. The article, titled “Use of Herbal Products and Potential Interactions in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease,” warned that herbal supplements may be dangerous for people taking heart disease medication. It also argued that there is a general lack of science proving the safety and effectiveness of herbs.

CRN quickly responded to the review article, which triggered a round of negative mainstream news stories on the risk of herbal supplements. “This article represents a biased, poorly written and contrived attack on herbal supplements,” said Douglas MacKay, ND, vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs at CRN. “We question how a peer-reviewed publication would even accept an article such as this, given the fact that the authors make conclusions about ‘herbal remedies’ based on their own uninformed, inaccurate, and outdated interpretation of the law which covers dietary supplements, including herbal supplements. The article contains sweeping generalizations, often not backed by relevant citations, and copious factual errors, including a reference to products—some of which are not actually herbal supplements—that produce adverse effects on the cardiovascular system.”

CRN went on to point out how U.S. supplement regulations have been strengthened by the implementation of good manufacturing practices and the serious adverse event reporting law for all dietary supplements. “In the first full year that the law requiring manufacturers to report serious adverse events was in effect, FDA reported receiving 1,080 adverse event reports, only 672 of which were considered serious—for all dietary supplement products,” MacKay noted. “For the same year, FDA received over 526,000 adverse event reports related to drugs and biologic products, over 300,000 of which were considered serious, including close to 50,000 deaths.”

In a bit of good news for the industry, CRN’s communication efforts on this article reached reporters, many of whom included at least some of MacKay’s comments in their news pieces. It is this type of outreach that earned CRN a 2009 Education Award from Nutrition Business Journal. Media education was a key focus last year for CRN, which engaged with reporters and responded to inaccurate stories about the industry or the safety of supplements.

Such efforts help address a major concern for responsible supplement companies: protecting and enhancing consumer confidence, said Randi Neiner, director of market research for Shaklee Corp. “CRN has taken a responsible, fact-based approach to informing writers about the supplement industry and to correcting communications that misrepresent the industry,” Neiner told NBJ. “They continually correct the misunderstanding that our industry is not regulated and respond to misrepresentations of research results that are inconclusive or not representative of the totality of available data. They cite good science that supports responsible supplementation, while at the same time communicating our industry’s ongoing concern over questionable ingredients, studies and claims. This serves not only our industry but the consumer as well.”

Related NBJ links:

2009 Education Award: CRN

Fitzgibbon: Research Bar Being Raised for Supplements

Will JAMA Study Linking Folic Acid to Cancer Affect Consumer Sales?

Top 50 Herbs in the U.S.: 2000-2008 - Chart 83

I have some very interesting news.

Daniel Fabricant, Interim Executive Director of the Natural Products Foundation, has agreed to join the NBJ Sports Nutrition & Weight-Loss webinar and present an expert review of the September 29 Senate Subcommittee hearing on steroid products being marketed as supplements, the FDA’s recent raid on Bodybuilding.com, the Hydroxycut recall and other regulatory-related events pertinent to dietary supplements, particularly sports and weight-loss products.

Our goal is to provide webinar attendees with an intelligent and realistic view into the current regulatory situation for supplements in the U.S. and Daniel is one of the most informed, if not the most informed, regulatory expert on this situation

To accommodate for Daniel’s schedule, we will be moving the webinar to 3pm ET/1pm MT/12pm PT on October 27th.

We hope you are as excited about Daniel’s involvement as we are.

To register for this event, please go to http://nutritionbusinessjournal.com/supplements/web-seminars/9-15-sports-weight-loss-seminar-nbj-supplement/

The 2009 Natural Products Expo East starts tomorrow, September 23, in Boston, and Nutrition Business Journal is hosting two educational events at this year’s show.

The NBJ Summit Extension: Internet Sales & Marketing

8 a.m.-10 a.m., Thursday, September 24, in room 254A

Every nutrition industry company knows it must harness the Internet to position, promote and, in many cases, sell its products, but not many companies know how to turn this idea into reality and effectively use the Web to maximize revenues and profits. In fact, best practices in Web marketing and e-commerce for dietary supplement, natural & organic and other nutrition-related companies are only now just emerging. NBJ will explore these best practices during the 2009 NBJ Summit Extension: Internet Marketing & Sales seminar, which will be held from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Eastern time on Thursday, September 24, in room 254A of the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.

As the name implies, this seminar will serve as an extension of the content presented during the 2009 NBJ Summit, which featured a panel titled Successfully Navigating the New Online Media World. Feedback on this session from the more than 300 CEOs and other nutrition industry executives in attendance at the 2009 NBJ Summit was so positive that NBJ decided to offer a similar session for those who could not attend the Summit.

Five nutrition industry and Internet marketing and sales leaders will present during the NBJ Summit Extension: Paul Hanamm, founder of Bright Green Marketing; Roy Bingham, head of e-commerce at RenewLife Formulas; Devin Ryerson, founder and CEO of PurePrescriptions.com; Patrick Rea, NBJ publisher and editorial director; and Tom Aarts, NBJ co-founder and editorial advisory board chairman. Among the questions they will answer are:

• How can the Web be used to complement and strengthen your existing sales and marketing programs?

• What resources are required to grow your online sales?

• Should you outsource online sales and marketing or build these capabilities in-house?

• How do you protect and grow your brand equity online?

• Where should you direct your investment in the social media space?

• What are the rules of engagement with online consumers?

• When is the best time to invest in online sales and marketing?

• What resources exist that can help you get up to speed?

• How can you best track your online sales and marketing investments, and what ROI should you expect?

Session attendees will also receive a review of their company’s online marketing and sales strategies and tactics. Cost of the session is $295 per attendee. Space is filling up, so register today.

If your nutrition industry company is not already, now is the time to get serious about Internet marketing and sales. According to NBJ estimates, the Internet was once again the fastest-growing sales channel within the U.S. nutrition industry in 2008. Total U.S. nutrition industry sales via the Web grew 22% to $1.4 billion last year, adding approximately $250 million in new sales.

Gluten and Other Allergies 101: Everything You Need to Know

10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m., Friday, September 25, in room 252A

NBJ Editor Carlotta Mast will moderate an education panel focused on one of the fastest-growing product categories in the U.S. nutrition industry: gluten- and allergy-free foods and beverages. The session—which will be held from 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Friday, September 25, in room 252A of the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center—will cover every aspect of the gluten- and allergy-free foods spectrum: from finished product manufacturer to distributor to retailer to consumer.

Experts presenting during the session and available to answer questions are:

MaryJo Marks, UNFI’S natural and organic category specialist: MaryJo Marks brings 28 years of retail experience to her seminars. Before joining UNFI, MaryJo’s career included a variety of positions in both natural & specialty product stores. She has worked in both large and small stores and has been involved in store management, new store openings, purchasing, merchandising, staff education and training and many other aspects of retailing.

Ronnie Alicea, RD: Ronni Alicea is a Registered Dietitian specializing in food allergies, food intolerances and celiac disease. She has a private practice, consults for gluten-free/allergen free food companies and provides clinical services to health care facilities. She writes and speaks nationally on managing specialty diets and how to prepare foods properly. Most recent articles in professional and consumer media address residential care facilities and gluten-free diets.

Scott Mandell, president and founder of Enjoy Life Foods: As the founder of Enjoy Life, Scott Mandell has become one of the most experienced entrepreneurs in the allergy-friendly / gluten-free food industry. By creating innovative and functional ways to serve food-sensitive consumers, Mr. Mandell has become a thought-leader in the allergy-friendly and gluten-free markets. He is a fixture on allergy-friendly and gluten-free expert panels, and as a keynote speaker has been able to take an informational / educational perspective, while introducing the Enjoy Life™ brand to consumers and the industry. Mr. Mandell serves on the following outside boards: the Gluten Free Certification Organization, the American Celiac Disease Alliance, and Tula Foods Inc.

Susan Welsh, grocery buyer and category manager for Sprouts Farmers Market: Susan Welsh has been in the food industry for most of her life. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Arizona State University with a degree in Agribusiness and a minor in Organic Food Manufacturing. Her experiences after college included owning a small natural foods market in Cave Creek, Arizona, working at Whole Foods Market in Tempe, Arizona as a Grocery Team Leader and then working as a sales rep for The Hain Celestial Group, covering the Arizona and Utah markets. Currently, Susan is the Grocery Buyer and Category Manager for Sprouts Farmers Market. She has been in her position for four years and sincerely enjoys the fast pace and growth that Sprouts has been experiencing for the last two years. Susan is married and has a 20 year old son who goes to school at UCDavis in Northern California.

What else can you expect to find at the 2009 Natural Products Expo East? More than 1,000 exhibiting companies occupying 1,500 booths and a plethora of educational and networking events. NBJ hopes to see you at the 2009 Natural Products Expo East.

Related NBJ articles:

E-marketing: A Recession Essential for Every Company

E-commerce Is Now a Must for Nutrition Firms

Gluten-Free Foods Continue Reign as Fastest-Growing U.S. Grocery Category