Industry Insider: March 2014Industry Insider: March 2014

The first few months of 2014 have been busy in the natural products world. Here's the latest news on people, companies, research and associations within the industry.

People

Terry Lemerond, president and founder of Green Bay, Wis.-based EuroPharma, was recognized by the Natural Product’s Association Southeast (SOHO) for his long-standing commitment to natural health and his significant contribution to the natural products industry. NPA Southeast President Karen Greenway presented the award at the annual meeting in December.

Guinevere C. Lynn joined Brevard, N.C.-based Gaia Herbs in the newly created position of director of sales. She assumes responsibility for all revenue within the retail channel and reports directly to Gaia Vice President of Sales Operations Angela McElwee. A 17-year veteran of the natural products industry, Lynn’s background includes key leadership roles in sales, operations and customer relations management including top management positions at Sun Chlorella and, most recently, at Vega, where she achieved year-over-year growth of more than 60 percent.

The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) named Bret Scholtes, president and CEO of Omega Protein, as a member of its Board of Directors. CRN’s Board of Directors is comprised of 36 member company representatives, including Scholtes and CRN President and CEO Steve Mister.

Aloha Natural Brokers, which covers the Hawaiian Islands, promoted Arianna Feinberg to director of natural sales and Andrea Thayer to director of foodservice sales.

New York-based Roland Foods named James Wagner chief executive officer. Charles E. Scheidt, a member of the company’s founding family and chairman and CEO of Roland Foods, remains with the company as chairman. Before joining Roland Foods, Wagner served as chief operating officer at The Chefs’ Warehouse, where he held a number of positions including chief commercial officer, director of Business Development and vice president of the West Coast operations.

Paul Jarrett, CEO and co-founder of Bulu Box, a startup sampling platform for health, nutrition and weight loss products, was named Pipeline’s 2013 Innovator of the Year Award by the Pipeline entrepreneurial fellowship program.

Company

Hunger Mountain Coop packed and donated $45,000 in groceries for its annual Holiday Grocery Pack. Northfield Savings Bank, its co-op member-owners and customers who donated at the registers in November and December, and local and regional food vendors who donated product supported the program that distributes the holiday food bags through several local organizations.

Executive Women of New Jersey (EWNJ) honored the Vitamin Shoppe at A Seat at the Table: Celebrating Women & Board Leadership breakfast. The Vitamin Shoppe was one of 16 companies to receive EWNJ’s 2014 Corporate Board Gender Diversity Award recognizing publicly held companies headquartered in New Jersey that have at least three women on their boards.

Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Market announced its Local Producer Loan Program reached the initial goal of funding $10 million in low-interest loans to local and independent food businesses, and has now committed up to $25 million in funding. The Local Producer Loan Program has provided 184 loans to 155 companies since its inception in 2007.

The Celestial Seasonings B Strong Ride presented by Subaru raised $115,000 for the Boulder Community Hospital Center for Integrative Care. Celestial Seasonings is based in Boulder, Colo.

Uncle Matt’s Organic of Florida and MegaFood of Derry, N.H., teamed to offer Ultra C-400 and Complex C, supplements sourced straight from the grove. The new line of Non-GMO Project Verified vitamin C products are made with Navel and Hamlin oranges grown by Uncle Matt’s Organic. Four additional MegaFood formulations will incorporate Uncle Matt’s Organic oranges.

Dallas-based Essential Formulas’ line of Chia Omega formulations earned the NSF Certified for Sport designation from NSF International.

Research

A published study in the Journal of Cancer Science and Therapy showed BCM-95 Curcumin offered a radio-protective effect in patients with prostate cancer who undergo radiation therapy by reducing the severity of radiotherapy-related urinary symptoms.

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a study titled, “Vitamin E, Memantine, and Alzheimer Disease.” The study results suggest the use of synthetic vitamin E—a daily dose of 2,000 IU— by patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease slows functional decline and reduces caregiver time in assisting.

On average, organic farms support 34 percent more plant, insect and animal species than conventional farms, say Oxford University scientists who looked at 30 years of data and found that this effect has remained stable over time and shows no signs of decreasing. The study, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, looked at data from 94 previous studies covering 184 farm sites.

Association News

The Natural Products Association launched a monthly 2014 Wednesday Webinar Series. Some sessions are tailored to retailers, while others address manufacturing and regulatory issues unique to suppliers of dietary supplements, food, cosmetics and more. The association also announced its annual Natural Products Day takes place April 8. For more information, visit npainfo.org.

Supermarket operators may soon have a way to monitor how and where customers shop their stores, using aggregated data from the shoppers’ own smartphones. That’s the major takeaway from a test of the concept in two supermarkets last year undertaken by the Center for Advancing Retail & Technology and the National Grocers Association, the national trade association for independent grocers and wholesalers. “Knowing how customers actually move around a store, and having insight into where they spend their time versus just passing through, are two key benefits of this system that will help retailers improve product merchandising, store layout and their customers shopping experience,” says Schuyler Hawkins, Vice President of Research Engineering for CART. Copies of the “Discovering Shopper Behavior through New In-Store Metrics” can be downloaded at advancingretail.org/birdzi-case-study/

The Board of Trustees of the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) named Ron Piervincenzi as chief executive officer of USP and chairman of USP’s standards-setting body, the Council of Experts. Piervincenzi was a partner and leader in McKinsey & Co.’s Global Pharmaceutical and Medical Products Practice for 12 years where, among other responsibilities, he launched McKinsey’s global drug safety, medical and regulatory service line. Dr. Piervincenzi earned his M.S. and Ph.D. from Duke University in Biomedical Engineering with research focused on protein engineering.