Expo West 2014 NEXTY Award nominees: Supplements and ingredients
March 11, 2014
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Mushroom Matrix grows, processes and packages its own USDA Organic mushrooms to create unique, targeted blends, such as the Beauty mix for skin, hair and nails. Each formula is perfect for boosting a morning smoothie and shows the power of owning your own supply chain.
Enzymedica’s new Enzyme Nutrition multivitamin line is an interesting spin on the whole-food supplement category. Using a base of food-grown vitamins and minerals, along with superfoods, botanicals and probiotics, the products are boosted with Enzymedica’s Thera-blend of enzymes to enhance the body’s nutrient absorption and utilization. This product launch highlights the growth and segmentation potential of whole-food supplements at large; on the flip side, it reveals the need for more consumer and retailer education on the category.
NeoCell is another collagen finished-product company with truly elegant design, targeted to capitalize on the collagen market that boomed by 200 percent during the last year. What's great about this company is the collagen comes in fruity beauty beverage shots: orange, blueberry, apple, pomegranate and more. You would never know you were sipping collagen.
Zend is an intriguing flip on the energy shot category—a calming shot. With 500mg of the soothing botanical kava kava in a 2-ounce shot, Zend shows promise as the brand that puts kava back on the map as a go-to relaxation ingredient. Where Dream Water shots are taking melatonin, we expect Zend to take kava.
Helios Corp's EstroG-100 combines three herbal extracts shown in human clinical trials to alleviate 8 out of 10 menopausal symptoms, including hot flashes, vaginal dryness, fatigue, insomnia and bone mineral density. The FDA has conferred a New Dietary Ingredient status upon it, and Health Canada has also approved it. Could be a game-changer in natural approaches to menopause management.
G'day, mates! The kakadu plum is a unique native Australian superfruit that boasts the highest vitamin C content of any citrus, even acerola, and yet is not acidic. The kakadu plum from GoWild Australia can also be used topically in skin-care products to boost collagen levels, is an effective anti-inflammatory, and is a natural preservative. We can't wait to see where this trendy ingredient shows up next.
Two years in development, Garden of Life’s Kind Organics brand is the market's first vegan, certified organic, Non-GMO Project Verified line of whole-food multivitamins. Each certification is impressive on its own, but the three together testify to the amount of R&D behind this product. In addition, each nutrient’s source substance is clearly listed on the Supplement Facts panel, be it vitamin D3 from lichen or vitamin C from guava. Expect this product to hit shelves in April and to retail at a price comparable to Garden of Life’s Vitamin Code raw supplement products.
Mommi is the first prenatal protein shake that gives pregnant women an alternative to choking down gigantic prenatal pills. Two women, Dr. Yvonne Bohn, an OB/GYN, and Erin Schurtz, a new mom, created Mommi Protein to provide an easy-to-take formula with all the protein and vitamins pregnant women need, as well as 300 extra calories for fetal growth. And get this: It tastes great! Bring on bambino.
Korean Ginseng Corp’s (KGC) new shot products are a step forward for the ginseng category. While ginseng shots have been around for years, the company’s new condition-specific line offers differentiation by targeting different needs and complements the evolution of the energy shot market at large. With three aspirational SKUs—Get Focus, Get Slim, and Get Energy— the line could help build renewed interest in the ginseng category.
Niacin is one of the few bioactives—pharmaceutical or otherwise—shown to boost "good" HDL cholesterol. ChromaDex has broken new ground with a no-flush niacin, officially known as nicotinamide riboside. The most impressive thing about this new ingredient? Its health benefits that go beyond cardio health to include obesity, antiaging and mitochondrial function.
Mushroom Matrix grows, processes and packages its own USDA Organic mushrooms to create unique, targeted blends, such as the Beauty mix for skin, hair and nails. Each formula is perfect for boosting a morning smoothie and shows the power of owning your own supply chain.
Mommi is the first prenatal protein shake that gives pregnant women an alternative to choking down gigantic prenatal pills. Two women, Dr. Yvonne Bohn, an OB/GYN, and Erin Schurtz, a new mom, created Mommi Protein to provide an easy-to-take formula with all the protein and vitamins pregnant women need, as well as 300 extra calories for fetal growth. And get this: It tastes great! Bring on bambino.
The simplest pleasures in life are often the most revolutionary. That’s why we love Activz products, which contain one ingredient—USDA Organic vegetables (beet, carrot, kale, etc.) that are dehydrated and crushed using a proprietary method. Consider the potential uses for this product—stir a tablespoon of beet powder into pasta sauce; dissolve spinach powder into a morning smoothie; boost quick-bread batter with mango powder. It’s on-the-go nutrition that people would actually use. Plus, there’s potential to easily supplement school nutrition programs with extra nutrients. Kale pizza, anyone? Want to learn more about what makes Activz so great? Check out this video about supplement trends spotted on the Expo show floor.
Think of Sabinsa's Curcumin C3 Reduct with this analogy: Turmeric is the apple tree; curcumin is the apples; the curcuminoids are the apple skin; and Curcumin C3 Reduct is the healthful apple skin, only without the red. Sabinsa produced this ingredient by taking the healthful parts of curcumin—the curcuminoids—and going one better by identifying and isolating the tetrahydrocurcuminoids, which have the happy side effect of not being bound to that rich yellow curcumin color. For product developers, not having to deal with that yellow is huge.
We have seen algae omega-3 products for years, most notably from Martek, but Qualitas Almega PL stands out for its history. Chief technology officer Isaac Berzin has a biofuel background and hopes to put earnings from Almega PL into reviving those efforts.
Made from wildcrafted brown seaweeds, InSea2 from InnoVactiv is a starch and sugar blocker designed for the blood sugar and weight management categories. Pop a pill 30 minutes before a meal and this organic water extract will reduce post-meal blood sugar naturally, in a safe and convenient way. In one study, it reduced blood-sugar levels by 48 percent.
Turmeric supplements are blowing up in the U.S. market because turmeric’s active and potent constituent, curcumin, helps with the body’s natural inflammatory response. Gaia Herbs is harnessing this knowledge by expanding its Turmeric Supreme line into a variety of condition-specific products, each targeting a different type or occasion of inflammation. For joint discomfort, Gaia offers Turmeric Supreme Joint with Boswellia and Devil’s Claw. For nighttime inflammation, there’s Turmeric Supreme Pain P.M. with feverfew, kava kava and valerian. Building this condition-specific line around an ingredient as promising as turmeric will help elevate the herb into a category all its own, not unlike omega-3s and probiotics.
The collagen market has doubled in the past year, and one reason is Youtheory, which markets collagen directly to men. That's right, men! Collagen is a structural protein good for building awesome nails, hair, tendons, bones, muscle and keeping skin smooth from the ravages of wrinkles (or, in men's case, cragginess). Collagen also contains powerhouse cosmetic ingredient hyaluronic acid as well as chondroitin. Why should women get all that benefit to themselves?
Since Dr. Oz talked up moringa as a "super supplement," sales have taken off. Leaves of the moringa oleifera tree, native to the Himalayas, are extremely nutrient-dense, containing three times more iron than spinach, plus loads of other vitamins and antioxidants including vitamin C, vitamin A, calcium and potassium. Dead Sea Moringa is a mission-driven company that started by helping malnourished children before launching into the product business. We predict moringa buzz will keep growing.
Sports nutrition companies have had a hard time grunting their way out of the weight room into the mainstream and face a particular challenge in reaching women with anything more than a straight protein. Nutegrity’s certified organic Tera’s Whey line was already making that protein sale but their new Tera’s Blends approach the more complex sports supplements we see in athletic circles.
Bitters are back! Urban Moonshine, Vermont-based organic herbal bitters for use as health tonics or in cocktails, come in a variety of innovative flavors, such as Maple and Chocolate, and target different health conditions, such as immunity and longevity. We like Urban Moonshine for bringing a playful twist to the apothecary’s age-old practice of concocting herbal remedies. With their organic certification and unique product positioning, Urban Moonshine is a bright spot in the dietary supplement industry.
Bitters are back! Urban Moonshine, Vermont-based organic herbal bitters for use as health tonics or in cocktails, come in a variety of innovative flavors, such as Maple and Chocolate, and target different health conditions, such as immunity and longevity. We like Urban Moonshine for bringing a playful twist to the apothecary’s age-old practice of concocting herbal remedies. With their organic certification and unique product positioning, Urban Moonshine is a bright spot in the dietary supplement industry.
New Hope Natural Media is pleased to introduce this year's 21 NEXTY nominees in the supplements and ingredients category, listed here in alphabetical order.
Every year at Natural Products Expo West, New Hope's editors and trend researchers partner with the Sterling-Rice Group to find the products and brands they predict will shape the future of the natural products industry. The best of the best receive NEXTY nominations, which recognize the companies that represent not only the most innovative edge of the natural products industry, but also its deeply held social and environmental values. Here's our list of all 105 NEXTY nominees for 2014.
Take a look and then vote for your favorite brands on our NEXTY polling page.
In June, our team of researchers will announce the Editor’s Choice winners in the food and beverage, supplements, and natural living categories. But, our opinions only mean so much; we also want to recognize the brands you think deserve a NEXTY Award! So head over to our NEXTY voting page and cast your vote for those companies you think are doing the most to shape a healthy future for natural products. Voting is now open and closes May 26. Access the NEXTY voting page here.
The Editor’s Choice and Popular Vote winners will be profiled in our 2015 NEXT Forecast report, which publishes in June. We will also have an awards ceremony for the NEXTY winners at Natural Products Expo East, Sept. 18-20 in Baltimore.
The NEXT Forecast report is a joint venture between New Hope and Boulder, Colo.-based Sterling-Rice Group. Check out nextforecast.com to learn more about this premier insider’s guide to where the natural products market is now—and where it's headed.
The NEXTY Awards and NEXT Forecast are part of New Hope's NEXT suite of products, which were created to support and accelerate innovation within the natural products industry. Learn more at nextknows.com.
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