NBJ Award 2023: Leadership and Growth

This article originally appeared in the Nutrition Business Journal Awards issue.

To succeed in today’s hypercompetitive natural products market, companies need to win consumers’ hearts along with their dollars. Offering differentiated, desirable products is a great start, but brands must also demonstrate mission, values, drive, integrity and authenticity—attributes typically instilled from the top down.

All three Leadership and Growth Award recipients have nailed this formula. Led by remarkable founders and CEOs, these mission-based businesses are both forces to be reckoned with and forces for good.

Established company: Aloha

“This just feels so weird! I’m not used to winning. I have founder shellshock.”

That’s how Brad Charron, “re-founder” and CEO of plant-based protein products brand Aloha, reacted to the news of this accolade. His Minnesota-nice humility is no act. He expresses genuine surprise that his retooled Aloha, once on death’s door, is now racking up wins, including the NBJ award and Whole Foods Market’s prestigious Supplier All-Star Award 2023.

Charron’s turnaround of the floundering food-tech company is already the stuff of legends. Back in 2017, Aloha was $7 million in debt, had $65 million in losses and was teetering on bankruptcy. Charron, formerly head of marketing at Chobani and an executive at Nature’s Bounty, who’d earned his stripes at PepsiCo and Under Armor, was recruited to rescue the brand.

Related:NBJ Awards 2023 sharpen the focus on good works and big successes

He torched everything—products, people, culture—and built up a sustainable, efficient, focused food company from the ashes. Aloha is now debt free, profitable and on track to be a $100 million business by year’s end.

“Brad has brought an aggressive challenger-brand mindset to the business,” says Maura Mottolese, a longtime food industry executive and Aloha board member since 2020. “His continuous focus on margin improvement and making smart, sustainable investments has enabled a … business today that is the fastest-growing protein bar in the country and has doubled sales year over year, achieving 500% revenue growth from 2020 to 2023. So his track record is pretty amazing.”

Aloha 1.0 was founded in 2013 by a serial entrepreneur who, according to Charron, had zero experience in U.S. commerce or the food space. But the guy had charisma, connections and a knack for courting investment.  

“Aloha raised a bunch of money from a who’s-who collective of private equity and venture groups,” Charron says. “The cap table is long and famous: people from “The Social Network” movie, venture celebrities from Boston and Silicon Valley, rich European family offices, even a prince.”

Despite deep pockets, Aloha tanked. “They tried to do too much and weren’t great at anything,” Charron says. “They were in nine or 10 product categories; their products weren’t good or novel; they hired too many people; it was a toxic culture. Oh, and they had negative product margins in some cases. They never ran a P&L. Over four years, they blew through almost $70 million.”

Ironically, Aloha first asked Charron to come onboard as chief marketing officer in 2015. He took the meeting but was unimpressed: “I told the head of HR that this company would be dead in a year.” That feedback got back to Aloha’s lead investor. Then two years later, that investor, now friends with Charron, asked him again to help. This time Charron said yes.

But why? “Because I’m an idiot,” he laughs. “No, the company wasn’t worth saving, but the idea of aloha was worth fighting for. I knew a bit about Hawaiian history, and aloha is such a positive, wonderful word, so as a brand marketer, that interested me.”

As a concept, aloha is very spiritual, says Charron, encompassing humility, optimism, harmony, truthfulness, community and fairness. “If we can be a better food company that actually shares aloha, then we’re doing a small part to make the world a better place,” he says. “As a marketer, a father, a human, I can get behind that—big-time.”

Charron also understood the protein bar and supplement spaces thanks to his experience at Nature’s Bounty and consulting work with Kind. The “big market share opportunities” enticed him. He was also excited “to set the culture, tone and direction while creating a purpose-led company.”

Despite “everyone and their mother telling me this was a bad idea,” Charron followed his heart and partnered with the lead investor on Aloha 2.0. “I fired everyone, got rid of physical offices—and this was pre-pandemic, when that was weird—and got rid of every product,” he explains. “I said, ‘We’re going to build this up the right way, as a better food company, focusing on plant-based protein bars, drinks and powders.’”

Charron also transformed Aloha into an employee-owned company and put it on a path to becoming a Certified B Corporation and Certified Climate Neutral.

None of this was easy. “It was more of a dumpster fire than I’d realized, but what do you do?” Charron says. “You just put out the fire and move on.”

By summer 2019, Aloha was gaining positive momentum on Amazon and with a few retail accounts. “I started to believe I had true proof of concept,” Charron says. “I thought I had enough viability to recruit a good executive team who’d see through the allure of a startup.”

Poaching high-level talent from ­Siggi’s, Justin’s, General Mills and other top CPGs, Charron assembled a leadership team that’s still intact today. “We drove priorities and focus that would, over time, build us up from a position of relative strength into a position of widespread strength,” he says. “It’s like a tortoise versus a hare approach.”

The proverbial tortoise has now entered the winner’s circle. “We’re number one digitally in a lot of places—Amazon, Thrive Market, Vitacost,” Charron says. “Our repeat rates are much higher than our competition’s, which means consumers are taking the brand on their backs and espousing it themselves, which is a wonderful, virtuous cycle.”

Though two-thirds of Aloha’s business remains online, the brand is in about 13,000 retail doors, with more to come. The brand stands out in store after store. “We’re the number-one most productive brand—and number-three brand overall—at Whole Foods,” Charron says. “We’re number one in growth three years running in regional grocers like Wegmans, Harris Teeter and H-E-B.”

Underlying it all, “we run a sustainable, efficient business,” Charron says. “Before it was fashionable to think about EBITDA, we were thinking about it, and we’ve been profitable for a number of years now. This is where employee ownership really helps. We’re beating the big-name brands, which have teams and budgets at least 10 times what Aloha has.”

Growth aside, Charron is particularly proud of the company’s mission-based work, including its special-edition protein bars made from ingredients grown regeneratively on small Hawaiian farms. Aloha also partners with Hawaiian nonprofit Kupu, which empowers youth through environmental stewardship opportunities.

Although Aloha “did not need or search for any funding,” says Charron, growth equity firm SEMCAP Food & Nutrition recently invested $68 million of secondary capital to buy out early angel investors, giving it a minority stake in the company.

“This is SEMCAP buying into everything that we stand for,” Charron explains. “I’m still chairman and CEO; I still have the board; we still have employee ownership. People ask what’s next? I say more of the same: focus, focus, focus.”

Scaling company: Supergut

As the nation goes crazy for blockbuster drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro, nutrition companies are jockeying to catch the windfall. And why not? Right now, roughly 5 million U.S. consumers take a GLP-1 agonist to treat Type 2 diabetes or obesity—or just to slim down—and up to 70 million may use one by 2028, per some estimates. Nutrition products can help users manage the medications’ severe side effects, from gastrointestinal woes to lean muscle mass loss, and ensure their nutritional bases are covered.

Supergut, purveyor of clinically validated gut-healthy prebiotic shakes, bars and powder mixes, is just starting to reap the rewards of the GLP-1 trend. Founded by longtime health and wellness executive Marc Washington, a veteran of Beach Body and The Wonderful Co., the digitally native brand had achieved relative success since its 2020 launch. But once Supergut started touting its products’ ability to boost GLP-1 naturally, the company has clocked 4X growth from Q4 2023 through today.

Supergut’s novel GLP-1-related positioning has nabbed retailers’ attention too. After debuting at SoCal hot spot Erewhon in January, the brand had scored placement in roughly 3,000 doors by the end of Q1, making it one of the fastest rollouts of any new food product in 2024. Then in April, GNC announced that each of its 2,300-plus stores nationwide now features a section devoted to nutritional support for GLP-1 agonist users, naming Supergut as the anchor brand.

But smart marketing isn’t the only driver of Supergut’s recent success, and 4X growth isn’t its greatest achievement to date.

“By far the most significant milestone was in January 2023, [when] the prestigious scientific journal Diabetes and Obesity Management published a peer-reviewed study showing that Supergut reduces blood sugar levels, helps people lose weight, increases energy levels, improves sleep and even improves mood,” says Rachel Konrad, Supergut board member and consultant and a lecturer at Stanford University’s business school.

“The study also found that Supergut’s unique formula increases GLP-1, the hormone that Ozempic and other weight loss drugs increase synthetically,” Konrad continues. Instead of pharmacological ingredients, Supergut, she adds, relies on resistant starch and other fibers to boost the hormone without severe side effects.

The story of Supergut begins with the founder’s personal loss. Though Washington always felt that he’d someday scratch the entrepreneurial itch, “what really got me to start this company, and do it as an entrepreneur, relates back to my sister Monica.”

Underneath her “colorful personality,” Monica was clinically obese and lived with diabetes and hypertension, says Washington. “We talked about health a lot. I shared tips and sent products, but nothing ever stuck or helped her get better control of her health.” Tragically, Monica and her unborn son died in childbirth from complications of metabolic syndrome.

“I was devastated,” Washington says. “I was a health and wellness executive helping people live healthier lives, so to have this tragedy in my own family struck me deeply. It caused a lot of soul searching.”

It also lit a fire, he says, to start a company that could “fundamentally change public health and give people more power over their health—and do it through nutrition, in an unbelievably functional way. I consider Supergut to be an homage to her legacy.”

Inspired, Washington dove into research. “I credit my seed inventors, The Production Board, for connecting me to the science and the gut microbiome as a pathway to activate this vison,” he says. “I saw just how critical the gut is to metabolic health and all of the conditions I wanted to do something about.”

This brought him to prebiotics, essential for a healthy microbiome yet woefully lacking in most Americans’ diets. “That was mind-blowing to me,” Washington says. “I said, OK, let’s find the most potent prebiotics and find ways to get them into tasty functional foods. We found specific prebiotics backed by compelling clinical evidence and combined them into our own unique blend, which we showed had a disproportionate synergistic effect.”

That proof of efficacy enabled Washington to patent the blend and formulate it into the company’s first product: a clean, low-sugar protein shake containing as much prebiotic fiber as protein. The company debuted commercially in 2020 under the brand name Muniq (Monica + unique), initially targeting people who, like his sister, struggled with their health and sought substantive change.

Muniq provided just that for many users, who shared their successes with the company. “I consider that first phase a successful proof of concept,” Washington says. “We saw better blood sugar levels, appetite control and weight management, in addition to digestive and other ancillary benefits.”

But Washington wasn’t about to rely just on anecdotal or historical data. “It was always part of our ethos to validate our product clinically as well,” he says. “So, we invested heavily into a gold-standard randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study with close to 200 participants. It took a lot of time, effort, expense and heartache, but it was foundational to the kind of business that I wanted to create.”

Science moves slowly, so results wouldn’t emerge for some time. Meanwhile, the company ticked along, but the Muniq name confused consumers and was hard to pronounce. Also, with gut health trending, Washington knew there was a much broader audience for these products than he’d targeted thus far. In summer 2022, the company rebranded as Supergut, “putting gut health in the forefront, with the side benefit of better blood sugar and appetite control,” Washington says.

The rebrand drove sales, but Washington still felt the brand identity and message were muddled. “At the same time, we’re watching GLP-1 drugs take off,” he says. “We were talking about GLP-1 four years ago, about how prebiotics naturally regulate the production of hormones in your gut, which influences appetite control, blood sugar, insulin response and healthy weight.”

Fast-forward to today and, thanks to Big Pharma, everyday consumers are talking about GLP-1 in some form or fashion. “It was like, ‘Guys, perhaps this should be the main thing we talk about,’” Washington says. “It’s difficult to do all that storytelling when you’re the only one speaking about it, but now we can ride on the momentum created by the pharmaceutical giants.”

By this time, Supergut’s study was published, giving the brand more regulatory leeway to discuss the proven benefits. So, in Q4 2023, “given the surge of interest in Ozempic and other weight loss drugs, we began marketing our study and, specifically, the benefits of GLP-1,” Konrad says. “That’s when sales began their stratospheric ascent.”

Along with surging DTC sales, Supergut’s Amazon debut in late 2023, plus the first retail accounts in early 2024, fueled its monster sales growth. 

“Retail was always on the horizon, but it’s coming on faster than we anticipated,” Washington says. “Now we’re launching with Fresh Thyme, Central Market, Bristol Farms and Gelson’s and are in additional conversations to expand our retail footprint.” 

As for the nationwide GNC rollout, that was “accelerated and amplified based on our unique GLP-1-related positioning,” Washington says. “We both agree that this is a tidal wave, and it’s not just limited to pharma.”

What’s next for Supergut? “Fully getting caught up and out front of the opportunity, from a supply chain and operations standpoint,” Washington says. “I have a big, broad ambition. But within that, as a Black founder, I feel driven for my business to help multicultural communities, which are disproportionately negatively affected by diabetes, obesity and heart disease.”

“Our goal is to extend retail distribution to the world’s largest chains and displace sales of conventional bars and food products that fuel our metabolic syndrome crisis,” Konrad says. “Also, Supergut was formed to have a widespread positive impact on public health, so we must extend the brand to more categories of food.”

Emerging company: Winged Women’s Wellness

Today, women’s wellness is a hot topic of conversation and a top priority for the nutrition industry, but just a few years ago, neither was the case. Until fairly recently, female shoppers were hard-pressed to find supplements formulated specifically for their bodies that could address low mood, stress, sleep troubles and other pressing health concerns.

Jess Mulligan discovered this marketplace gap after experiencing debilitating anxiety for the first time ever. Weathering a series of significant life changes in short order, “I felt really uncomfortable in my skin,” says Mulligan, then a sales and marketing leader at collagen pioneer NeoCell. “It manifested and affected my work, my relationships and all facets of my life. Part of my self-therapy was asking the women in my life if they’d ever gone through the same thing.”

Over and over, the women said yes. “So many women were feeling bouts of anxiety and overwhelm almost every single day,” Mulligan says. “A lightbulb went off that this is a widespread issue for women, and there wasn’t support available specifically for it.” A deep dive into the research confirmed for Mulligan that women are twice as likely as men to grapple with anxiety disorders, depression and insomnia.

Mulligan believed strongly in natural products’ potential to support emotional wellness, and she took several supplements routinely. However, she felt that many of her health needs could be better addressed with a single product designed for women—except that no such supplement existed. 

“I realized that nobody was formulating products specific for a woman’s body,” Mulligan says. “Companies would just take a supplement designed for and studied for a man’s body, halve the dosage, throw a pink label on it and sell it as a product for women. Bottom line is women are not small men. Our bodies are completely different, and the cycles and life stages we go through make it imperative to have products formulated for us.”

Mulligan decided to make this a reality, co-founding supplement brand Winged Women’s Wellness in 2019 along with former NeoCell formulator Tim Mount. She knew women were hungry for natural products that promote emotional well-being—and given her passion, drive and career experience, she knew she could deliver.

Winged board member Jack Minski, managing partner of Futura Capital, an early investor in the brand, agreed wholeheartedly.

“Our relationship with Jess predates the founding of Winged,” Minski says. “When we were approached with an early look at the business plan, it was a relatively seamless decision for us [to invest]. Beyond the compelling plan, we understood Jess’s strengths and believed strongly in her ability to build a thriving brand in a category that really needed it. All of it is coming true.”

When Winged unveiled its first supplements in July 2019, CBD was the star ingredient. “We always planned on being a women’s wellness brand, first and foremost,” Mulligan says. “But we put CBD front and center at first because, besides being part of my personal health journey, it made a lot of sense from a market perspective at that time.”

Unlike most brands today, Winged launched heavily into retail to start, direct-to-consumer later, because that’s where Mulligan’s experience lies. The company scored some pivotal retail successes, including with The Vitamin Shoppe and Wegmans. “Some very important retailers believed in the brand early on and provided a platform for brand awareness,” Minski says. “This has provided a halo effect on the brand in other channels.”

But many other retailers were reluctant to stock Winged CBD products. Even though many told Mulligan they loved the brand and that “products formulated for women were needed and wanted,” the legality of selling CBD was a constant concern.

“Then when COVID hit, we realized that something was going awry with the CBD market,” Mulligan says. With CBD sales cratering industrywide, Winged went back to the drawing board.

“I am proud of our team for responding quickly,” Mulligan says. “We worked hard on innovation to deliver on the same promise: to help women with emotional and hormonal wellness—we just kept CBD out of it. That was the smartest thing we could’ve done.”

In early 2021, Winged debuted a new line of supplements that did not contain CBD, which got the brand into multiple retailers, chiefly Whole Foods Market. “I am so proud of the robust, amazing partnership with Whole Foods,” Mulligan says. “Year over year, we’re up 111% in sales.”

As the company has grown, it has continued to develop new products. “Initially, we were centered around emotional wellness, so sleep, mood and stress,” Mulligan says. “We’ve now expanded into different life stages, filling gaps in the market for perimenopause, general hormonal balance and libido. Our Love Bites, according to IRI, is the No. 1 libido gummy.” The brand’s ongoing innovation has turned heads at Natural Products Expo West and East, where Winged has won four NEXTY Awards in five years: Love Bites, Expo West 2023; Chilled Out Powder, Expo West 2021; Relaxation Chocolates, SPARK Change 2020; and CBD Relaxation Gummies, Expo West 2020.

Meanwhile, new retail doors keep opening. Last summer, Winged launched in 2,700 Walmart stores. “They created a women’s health category and approached us to be part of it, which was an amazing surprise,” Mulligan says. “It is so exciting to have this accessibility.” In May of this year, Winged launched a test run in 350 Target locations. If that goes well, Mulligan hopes to expand chainwide next year. 

Though retail accounts for 60% of Winged’s business, Amazon sales have been doubling annually. And across all channels combined, the company’s revenue grew an impressive 70% from 2022 to 2023. But business wins aside, Mulligan is perhaps proudest of her company’s philanthropy. “We’ve helped provide gap funding to 29 young women to go to college.”

Clearly, as the brand’s success proves, women want emotional and hormonal wellness products designed for their bodies. While Winged was one of the first supplement companies to focus primarily on women’s health, several other female-focused brands have emerged since 2019. This brought more competition for Winged, which Mulligan says she welcomes.

“Other competition is phenomenal—it means there is more conversation about women’s wellness,” she says. “There is a huge shift right now, and I am here for it. I am so excited.”

Currently, Winged is in the process of raising money. The company plans to grow awareness and velocity of its existing SKUs, says Mulligan, while fostering its robust innovation pipeline.

Minski knows that Mulligan is the right woman to continue growing this brand. “A key strength is her ability to lead with humility,” he says. “Navigating a growing brand has challenges. Jess is quick to engage her network of thought leaders within the industry to aid in making tough decisions. Her networking skills and ability to build relationships in the trade are unmatched. That goes a long way in the early stages of building a brand.”

The NBJ 2024 Awards issue is available at no cost at the NBJ store. Subscribe today to the Nutrition Business Journal.