Major Acquisitions & Changes in Booming Dietary Supplement Industry: Do You Know Who is Behind Your Vitamins?
The vitamin industry is booming, and major players in gene-editing, nanotech, and biotech are eyeing a piece of the action, while several key acquisitions of dietary supplement companies have taken place. The global dietary supplements market is projected to increase from $71.81 billion in 2021 to $128.64 billion in 2028, with an expected compound annual growth rate of 8.68% within that timeframe. The vitamin industry saw massive growth since the Covid bioweapon was unleashed on the world, with a 26.9% increase in 2020 alone. Meanwhile, mega-corporations like Nestle have made major moves in the vitamin industry, such as the acquisitions of Atrium Innovations, The Bountiful Company and Puravida, just to name a few.
The supplement industry is not only growing, but it is also evolving. A new generation of performance enhancing, anti-aging and longevity ‘supplements’ have come on the market, such as FitBiomics. FitBiomics is behind Nella – a genomics-based “next generation” probiotic to enhance performance in athletes. The FitBiomics team states that, “among the athletes who use Nella are two US 2020 Tokyo Olympic medalists: Adeline Gray won silver in wrestling and Krysta Palmer won bronze in diving. In 2021 Nella was also named the official probiotic of St. John’s University, and in 2022 the San Francisco Marathon partnered with FitBiomics.” George Church, who co-founded FitBiomics, is known as “the founding father of genomics,” and is a serial entrepreneur in dozens of gene editing, gene therapy, and biotech companies.
As the dietary supplements industry rapidly progresses, it is important to know who owns your vitamins. NIH hosts a Dietary Supplement Label Database where you can search for any supplement and review the label breakdown. The following list outlines several popular supplement companies, their countries of origin, and in some cases, which companies acquired them.
Company: Atrium Innovations
Country: Canada
Founded: 1999
Acquired By: Nestle Health Science
Acquired Date: 2018
Company: Arizona Nutritional Supplements
Country: United States
Founded: 1996
Acquired By: Endeavour Capital
Acquired Date: 2013
Note: Arizona Nutritional Supplements is a contract and private label manufacturer of vitamins and supplements.
Company: Best Formulations
Country: United States
Founded: 1984
Acquired By: Sirio Pharma Acquired Date: 2023
Company: Biotics Research
Country: United States
Founded: 1971
Note: Family-owned company
Company: BYHEALTH International
Country: China
Founded: 1995
Company: Country Life
Country: United States
Founded: 1971
Joint Venture Agreement With: Kikkoman, partly owned by Master Trust Bank of Japan, Japan Trustee Services Bank & Oriental Land Company Joint Venture Agreement Date: 2005
Company: Doctor’s Best
Country: United States
Founded: 1990
Acquired By: sold to North Castle Partners in 2014, acquired by Xiamen Kingdomway Group Co, China
Acquired Date: 2016
Company: FitBiomics
Country: United States
Founded: 2019
Note: founded by George Church, often called the “founding father of genomics,” and Jonathan Scheiman. They are making Nella – a genomics-based probiotic to enhance performance in athletes.
Company: Gaia
Country: United States
Founded: 1987
Acquired By: merger with SALUS Haus, Germany Acquired Date: 2021
Company: Garden of Life
Subsidiary Of: Atrium Innovations, Canada
Country: United States
Founded: 2000
Acquired By: Parent company Atrium Innovations acquired by Nestle Health Science Acquired Date: 2018
Company: GNC
Country: United States
Founded: 1935
Acquired By: Thomas H Lee Investment group, 1989, then sold to Harbin Pharmaceutical Holding Group Co. LLC, China
Acquired Date: 2021
Company: GSK
Country: United Kingdom
Founded: GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd founded in 1924
Note: Here is an A-Z list of GSK brands
Company: Kirkland (Costco)
Country: United States
Founded: 1995
Note: Kirkland products are manufactured by their partners. Each supplement sold under the Kirkland name may have a different manufacturer. Kirkland labeled bottles have a vitamin information hotline to call for more information. Kirkland supplements are made in the United States with ingredients that may be sourced from other countries.
Company: Klean Athlete
Subsidiary Of: Douglas Laboratories, Canada
Country: United States
Founded: 2012
Acquired By: Parent company Douglas Laboratories acquired by Atrium Innovations in 2005, which was acquired by Nestle Health Science
Acquired Date: 2018
Company: Life Extension
Country: United States
Founded: 1980
Note: The Life Extension Buyer’s Club is associated with the Life Extension Foundation, which changed its name in 2018 to Biomedical Research & Longevity Society.
Company: Matsun Nutrition
Country: United States
Founded: 1992
Note: Matsun Nutrition offers a Private Label Supplement Program for clients to start private label vitamin and supplement companies. Matsun Nutrition provides manufacturing of the vitamins and supplements.
Company: MegaFood
Subsidiary Of: FoodState, United States
Country: United States
Founded: 1973
Acquired By: Parent company FoodState acquired by Pharmavite, a subsidiary of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Japan
Acquired Date: 2014
Company: Metagenics
Subsidiary Of: Alticor, Inc., United States
Country: United States
Founded: 1983
Acquired By: Gryphon Investors
Acquired Date: 2021
Company: Nature Made
Subsidiary Of: Pharmavite, United States
Country: United States
Founded: 1971
Acquired By: Parent company Pharmavite acquired by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd, Japan
Acquired Date: 1989
Country: Nature’s Bounty
Subsidiary Of: The Bountiful Company, United States
Country: United States
Founded: 1971
Acquired By: Parent company The Bountiful Company acquired by Nestle Health Science
Acquired Date: 2021
Company: New Chapter
Country: United States
Founded: 1982
Acquired By: Procter & Gamble
Acquired Date: 2012
Note: In 2018 the founders of New Chapter left the brand citing “’financial pressures to accelerate profits’ meant they could no longer in good conscience continue to associate themselves with the brand.”
Company: Nordic Naturals
Subsidiary Of: Nordic Pharma, UK, which is a subsidiary of Nordic Group, France
Country: Headquarters in United States, Manufacturing by Nordic Pharma in Norway
Founded: 1995
Company: NOW
Country: United States
Founded: 1968
Note: Privately owned by the Richard Family
Company: Nutranext
Country: United States
Founded: 1986
Acquired By: The Clorox Company (subsidiary of P&G)
Acquired Date: 2018
Company: Nutrisystem
Country: United States
Founded: 1972
Acquired By: Kainos Capital in 2020, then merged with Adaptive Health in 2021 under new parent company, Wellful, Inc. in 2021
Acquired Date: 2020
Company: OLLY Nutrition
Country: United States
Founded: 2013
Acquired By: Unilever
Acquired Date: 2019
Company: Pentavite
Country: Australia
Founded: 1940
Acquired By: Roche in 1991, Bayer in 2004, then sold to BYHEALTH, China
Acquired Date: 2018
Company: Puravida
Country: Brazil
Founded: 2015
Acquired By: Nestle Health Science
Acquired Date: 2022
Company: Pure Encapsulations
Subsidiary Of: Atrium Innovations, Canada
Country: United States
Founded: 1991
Acquired By: Parent company Atrium Innovations acquired by Nestle Health Science
Acquired Date: 2018
Company: ReNew Life
Country: United States
Founded: 1997
Acquired By: Swander Pace Capital and Triangle Capital in 2008, then acquired by The Clorox Company (subsidiary of P&G)
Acquired Date: 2016
Company: Ritual
Country: United States
Founded: 2016
Partner Date: 2022
Company: Royal DSM
Country: Netherlands
Founded: 1902
Note: DSM has subsidiaries and equity interests in hundreds of companies all over the world, ranging from biotech companies to nutritional product companies.
Company: Schiff Nutrition
Country: United States
Founded: 1936
Acquired By: Reckitt Benckiser with operations in over 60 countries, and headquarters in the UK, Singapore, Dubai and Amsterdam
Acquired Date: 2012
Company: Seeking Health
Brand Of: Healthy Goods
Country: United States
Founded: 2011
Note: Seeking Health was a product line within Healthy Goods, then launched as a separate online company in 2011. While Healthy Goods was sold in 2012, Seeking Health remained under original ownership.
Company: Solaray, Inc.
Country: United States
Founded: 1973
Acquired By: Nutraceutical International Corp in 1993, then acquired by HGGC private equity firm
Acquired Date: 2017
Company: Source Naturals
Country: United States
Founded: 1982
Owned By: Threshold Enterprises, Ltd., a manufacturer and distributer of over 450 brands
Company: Standard Process
Country: United States
Founded: 1929
Partnership Agreement With: Integria Healthcare, Australia
Partnership Agreement Renewal Date: 2020
Note: Family-owned company
Company: Swanson Health Products
Country: United States
Founded: 1969
Acquired By: Swander Pace Capital
Acquired Date: 2016
Company: The Better Health Co. (TBHC)
Country: New Zealand
Founded: 2008
Acquired By: CDH Investments, China in 2016, then acquired by Nestle Health Science
Acquired Date: 2022
Company: The Clorox Company
Country: United States
Founded: 1913
Acquired By: Procter & Gamble
Acquired Date: 1957
Company: Thorne
Country: United States
Founded: 1984
Merged With: Onegevity under new parent company Thorne HealthTech in 2021, whose largest shareholders are Kirin Holdings Co. Ltd, Mitsui & Co., Ltd (a Berkshire Hathaway Co.) and Helsinn Holding S.A.
Note: Onegevity is a “health intelligence company” that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning for healthcare applications.
Company: Vital Proteins
Country: United States
Founded: 2013
Acquired By: Nestle Health Science
Acquired Date: 2020
Company: Zarbee’s, Inc.
Country: United States
Founded: 2008
Acquired By: Johnson & Johnson
Acquired Date: 2018
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