The Change Makers

Makers Nutrition rewrites the supplement manufacturing narrative

The red-hot dietary supplement market is attracting scores of startups and incumbents eager for a dose of success. With the global industry expected to grow to $210.3 billion over the next six years at a compound annual growth rate of 6.4 percent, there’s plenty of potential to go around. Unfortunately, small upstarts with great ideas and market approaches can be easily deterred by competition from large pharmaceutical and food companies. In reality, there are plenty of entry points for startups. Here’s how KPMG sees it:

“Big pharma and big food companies are not known for being nimbly entrepreneurial, so they will have to do a number of things that go against their corporate cultures: be bold, supple and patient, all at the same time.”

While the marketplace waits for big CPG companies to move on that message, smaller firms can make their mark in the sector but only if they choose the right partner to bring their product ideas to fruition. Jason Provenzano and his crew at Makers Nutrition want to be that partner.

Makers Nutrition is a first of its kind full-service manufacturer, offering a one-stop solution covering every aspect of dietary supplement manufacturing, quality assurance, labeling, and fulfillment. Headquartered on Long Island, Makers Nutrition boasts a 177,000-square-foot state-of-the-art FDA- and GMP-registered manufacturing facility, and two laboratories for cGMP-mandated raw material testing, label analysis, and final product quality assurance.

“We've leveled the playing field for small investors in the industry in several key ways,” Provenzano explained. “One, we offer very low minimum order quantities (MOQs). To this day a lot of manufacturers don't want to touch you or your product unless you’re making 5,000 or 10,000 bottles.” Makers Nutrition accepts quantity requests as low as 1,500 bottles, and in Provenzano’s view, it’s worth the effort to give new players an opportunity to make their dreams a reality.  “I'm OK with admitting I don't have a crystal ball to understand if a company is going to make it. Hopefully when a client succeeds, they will stay with us because we shared the risk with them and paved the way to their success.”

Risk is something Provenzano handles well, having created the supplement manufacturing industry’s first privately owned such company, Nutricap Labs. Acquired in 2015 by Twinlab Consolidated Holdings, Nutricap proved an ideal launching pad for Makers Nutrition.

“We really encourage startups in the industry. It's what we specialize in. What sets Makers Nutrition apart from other providers is our trust factor.  Budding entrepreneurs need a partner they can trust not only with their investment, but with their customized formulas. Unlike the larger labs, we will work with small investors and unlike the larger labs, we do not compete with our clients. With us, clients have the peace of mind, security, and confidence that their entire project is in safe hands.”  Providing excellent customer experience involves helping customers navigate the complexities of the industry, including strict regulatory requirements, labeling, and packaging.

“We serve as the supply chain for our customers in various ways. In addition to providing services related to manufacturing, we offer state-of-the-art fulfillment services, and include full-service warehouse management, inventory control, tracking and reporting.

“Unlike our competitors, here at Makers Nutrition, we provide backup manufacturing services for our established clients, which means we can have product manufactured in advance of receiving new orders.” Makers Nutrition also specializes in forecasting. “We don’t do typical manufacturing here. If a customer calls and says they need a product in three weeks or in a rush, often the problem is inexperienced forecasting by the client. While it’s not uncommon and stems from not knowing how much and how fast they were going to grow, it is something in which we are most experienced and something about which our product specialists are quite adept at educating our clients.  Proper forecasting can really protect and even save a small company.”

Not only can Makers Nutrition help with formulation and ingredient sourcing, they also offer over 100 private label products available with fast turnaround times and MOQs as low as 500 bottles. “The investment can be so small with a private label order that a customer can experiment, to see if they can move a product. That way, customers can see if their marketing is going to work before committing to a larger investment. If the marketing is effective and the client’s feedback suggests alterations to the formula would increase success, the client can enhance the formula to their own custom blend and still face only a 1,500 bottle MOQ. Even the smallest investor can enjoy volume pricing using our private label line. You don't have to have $30,000 anymore; you can invest $4,000 to test your idea.”

At Makers Nutrition, customer experience rules the day. “Each of our clients is assigned a product specialist to guide them seamlessly through the process. Clients can submit a formula through our website or through a sales team member, the ingredients are sourced and priced out and we can hold the pricing for about 30 days… if they decide to move forward we source and procure the material, get it tested, the product ingredients get staged for mixing and the batch sheets are sent to the client for approval.  At that point we are underway.  The client is always kept in the loop and asked to sign in approval at every step of the process so there are never any surprises or costly misunderstandings.

“This is what we do better than anybody else. We hold the client’s hand during the process. A novice wouldn't understand what to expect,” Provenzano explains. “With other manufacturers, projects can fall through the cracks because a new client may not constantly ask them about where it is and what’s being done at every stage. Our clients’ product specialists serve as in-house client advocates, keeping the client informed and keeping the project always moving forward.

It’s very important for an investor, whether small or large, to choose the right manufacturing services partner. When I say choose, make sure you choose a respected, FDA-registered, NSF-audited cGMP company like Makers Nutrition. You can't settle for less.”