On December 29th, a professional soccer player died on the field of heart failure, as reported by ESPNsoccernet.

This may bring added attention to the high levels of stimulants in energy drinks and some dietary supplements in the United States as the Beijing Olympics grow near.

This should be concerning to U.S. nutritional ingredient manufacturers and suppliers keeping an eye on developing trends in the energy market. NBJ subscribers will recall NBJ’s September Sports Nutrition & Weight Loss issue contained commentary and analysis on the energy market.

Specifically, NBJ research indicates that energy drink and caffeine consumption…or rather over-consumption…may become a consumer health issue in 2008. A few publicized events like this may push the energy & caffeine consumption issue over the threshold in the consumer press.

The growth of Starbuck’s and certain energy drinks, including Red Bull and Hansen’s Energy, has been incredible, but reminiscent of other fast growing products that flew high, and fell hard.

Something to think about in the new year.

-Patrick

Registration is now open for Nutrition Business Journal’s Supplement & Nutrition Industry Raw Material & Ingredient Supply Webseminar. We’ll begin the live online event on December 4th, 2007 at 11am MT.

I think that this webseminar will be highly educational for any executive in or interested in the supplement & nutrition industry supply chain. So much has impacted this business in the last year - rising fuel costs, poor weather producing poor crops, currency fluctuations and China…to name a few. We’ll discuss all of these issues on December 4th, completely reviewing our November RMIS issue.

NBJ is one of the few research firms that dives deep into the supplement & nutrition industry’s supply chain in any significant way. Issues to be discussed will include: pricing, imports, exports, leading players, nutritionally enhanced flavors, sales and growth forecasts…and how they all relate to the complex and ever changing supply chain.

I highly recommend you sign up for this webcast.

-Patrick

What’s the saying - no good deed goes unpunished? It’s easy to forget that wisdom when you’re trying to save the world. Case in point - the local food movement. Popularized by Berkeley professor Michal Polland and a few other passionate and observant thought leaders, local food is not only sweeping through your natural and health food stores, but it’s also invading conventional grocery.

Today, however, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Bill Moseley highlighted another ethical food movement at odds with the local - fair trade. His article is entitled, Farmers in developing world hurt by ‘eat local’ philosopy in U.S.

William’s conclusion follows: “While the local food craze is all well and good, we should not be so quick to denounce organic and fair trade foods that are imported from the developing world. By shunning these products, we do not encourage local markets to flourish in these countries, but we condemn these farmers to the ills of conventional production for the global market (the only other real alternative at this time). We should remain open to such products in the short term, but also work for broad scale changes in the rules of the global market place to ensure that even conventional agricultural production is safe and fairly compensated.”

I tend to agree.

Improving the world we live in is never easy. Hopefully an open discussion of the issues will help these two movements find common ground.

I do my best to keep an eye on the popular press. I read Time, The Economist & BusinessWeek every week…as well as reading about 10 enewsletters on a daily basis.

Today, I came across an article in USA Today entitled: Got Omega-3? Not so much

It’s an interesting article and worth reading if you are in the business of the nutrition industry. The consumer press can do alot to swing product sales one way or another.

For more information on Omega-3 fatty acids, go to the website for the Global Organization for EPA and DHA omeag-3s www.goedomega3.com

This group is led by Adam Ismail, one of the leading analysts in the nutrition industry, and a close friend of mine. Enjoy!

Two announcements from Nutrition Business Journal

NBJ Business Achievement Awards

Nutrition Business Journal is now accepting nominations for the 6th annual NBJ Business Achievement Awards. To link directly to the survey, click this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2b9pLOGdR8CAVuGMMl11_2b3w_3d_3d Nominations will be accepted online via nutritionbusiness.com through Tuesday, November 27th.

Nominations should describe distinguishing achievements such as revenue growth or profitability gains; turnarounds; new science or product; entry into a new sales channel, market segment or geographic area; noteworthy management initiatives; diversification, acquisition or integration achievements; or initiatives on behalf of consumer education or the industry in general.

Nominations should be written testimonials of no more than 1,000 words. You may nominate your own company and make more than one nomination.

NBJ Raw Materials & Ingredient Supply Industry Survey

Nutrition Business Journal is also undertaking its annual review of the nutrition industry’s raw materials & ingredient supply segment. This one-of-a-kind survey is a benchmark for the performance of this critical industry segment. Please take 5 minutes to fill in this survey if your firm supplies nutritional ingredients or raw materials to the supplements, personal care or food industries. NBJ will share a free copy of the aggregate survey results with you as a thank you for participating. Please click on this link to participate:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=FxriGK4YGgPHBF6ct7JMJQ_3d_3d