During the week of October 4th, I attended my second CRN Conference at the Hyatt Tamayo Resort & Spa, just north of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Including speakers, sponsors, attendees and staff, 160 people joined together to network, enjoy themselves and attend sessions lead by an impressive list of industry leaders.

The Council for Responsible Nutrition out did themselves this year, producing a conference that I feel was an improvement upon a very good event last year in Arizona. The networking began Thursday evening, but the education sessions began Friday morning with a keynote from David Acheson, the Associate Commissioner for Foods at the FDA who outlined their Food Protection Plan introduced in November 2007. With an emphasis on prevention, FDA hopes their new plan will allow them to get ahead of food contamination and adulteration issues that have plagued the U.S. in the last 48 months.

Following David was Dr. Josephine Briggs, the Director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) who presented the results of the new National Health Interview Survey. Surveying 30,000 households and 75,000 people, NCCAM asked about CAM use in 36 therapies and across 81 conditions. The results found that the use of CAM has increased from 36% of the population in 2002 to 38.3% of the population in 2007. Non-vitamin and non-mineral dietary supplement usage remained relatively flat during this time. Interestingly, among other things, the found that CAM use strongly correlated to advanced education, even with income corrections. Most common CAM use was in the western part of the U.S., while consumers in the South were the least likely to use CAM.

One of the most interesting sessions for me was the consumer research panel staring Thom Blishcok of Information Resources Inc. and Maryellen Molyneaux of Natural Marketing Institute. Thom talked mostly about the dynamics of the greater economy in crisis, while diving deep into the surprisingly strong performance of dietary supplements in the food, drug and mass merchandiser markets. Maryellen presented NMI’s 10-year consumer panel research with a focus on defining the “Dr. Me” health opportunity in the United States. Randi Neiner finished up the session presenting CRN’s annual Consumer Confidence Survey that found supplement usage trends flat at 65% versus last year with a small rise in confidence most likely reflecting a drought of negative media coverage of supplements in 2007.

Saturday’s speaking highlight was Dr. Mimi Guarneri of the Scripps Institute for Integrative Health, who presented a holistic review of health and health conditions in the United States. Dr. Guarneri is a true thought leader in the medical field when it comes to integrative health and it shows in her pragmatic and open approach to healthcare, not sickcare.

The 2008 CRN Conference was great for networking and content and I thank the staff at CRN for producing another great event. I look forward to next year’s event, which is rumored to be moving to the West Coast.

Below are a few videos from the event, including a testimonial from Steve Mister, President & CEO of the CRN.

-Patrick

If you are a subscriber to Nutrition Business Journal, you can now access all of the 2008 Nutrition Industry Overview online at nutritionbusinessjournal.com. No need to sort through your over flowing mailbox, search your desk and interrogate your co-workers for your copy of NBJ. Just go to nutritionbusinessjournal.com.

To see all the articles, go to the current issue page. Here you will see the entire overview issue laid out in an expanded table of contents view. From here you can link to every article if you are signed in as an NBJ subscriber.

If you do not know your NBJ subscriber username and password, call Rachel Dederich, NBJ’s Subscriber Services Coordinator, at 303.998.9263.

-Patrick

I would like to introduce you to the new website for Nutrition Business Journal - www.nutritionbusinessjournal.com.

Alot has changed in the world of web design since we first launched NBJ’s website in 1998, so you will notice MANY changes in the look, feel and efficiency of the new nutritionbusinessjournal.com.

NBJ’s mission has always been to deliver strategic business information, analysis and market data to those in or interested in the nutrition industry to fuel better business decisions and promote healthier lifestyles. The new nutritionbusinessjournal.com is our new way of delivering on this mission.

I welcome your feedback and suggestions, via this blog or via my email prea@nutritionbusiness.com

Enjoy!

-Patrick

I find the development of the Chinese economy fascinating. The BBC reports today that the Chinese governement has issued price controls on consumer goods to curb inflation. Apparently, the hundreds of millions of low-income Chinese families spend 30-50% of their income on food.

Right before the holidays, I was honored to speak a the UNPA’s China II Seminar in Salt Lake City, UT. It was a very educational one day event hosted by Loren Israelsen and his competent staff.

One noteworthy presentation detailed a A.M. Todd’s efforts to find a manufacturing partner in China. They spent $2 million on this search, visiting 25 facilities when they had originally planned on visiting only 7-8 facilities. The executives from A.M. Todd presented a great slideshow from their travels and what struck me was how much the quality and cleanliness of the facilities vary in China. Surely, one can find significant differences in the quality and cleanliness of facilities in the United States, but the point was driven home….to insure the quality of your finished product, you need to know the quality of your supply.

China is amidst an industrial revolution and it will continue to hit potholes in the road it travels, but one thing is for sure - China’s manufacturing capabilities are improving rapidly and will overtake those offered in the United States sooner than we probably think.

For more on the Chinese Nutrition & Supplement Industry, please read NBJ’s report on this dynamic market.

-Patrick