Dear Friends,
If you find shopping for supplements challenging, I’m right there with you - it’s the reason we originally started NatureCity many years ago.
You have so many options to choose from and it can be confusing or even overwhelming trying to figure out who to trust and what supplements or brands to buy.
After 24 years in this industry I’ve learned a few things that I want to share with you.
Today we’ll be discussing my Tip #3 for buying dietary supplements. In previous letters, I’ve discussed my first two tips:
#1 - Choose branded supplement ingredients over generic ingredients, and
#2 - Know the contract manufacturer a brand uses to make its products
My goal with these tips is to help you avoid making a mistake or wasting your money, and instead find and choose high quality supplements that can make a difference in your life and the lives of your loved ones too.
Here’s the good news - there are a lot of good supplement brands out there.
The bad news is there are many more companies making products I wouldn’t feel good about putting in my body – or are just flat out making fraudulent or counterfeit supplement products.
As you may know, this has become a larger problem with the growth of supplement sales online, and the influx of products being made overseas.
Contrary to what some say, dietary supplements are a regulated industry. Earlier this year, I heard someone summarize it this way – supplements are not the least regulated drug, they are the most regulated food.
Nonetheless, it’s still relatively easy to start a supplement brand for anyone with some capital to spend. And candidly, many people enter the business not so much to help you, but to help themselves make a quick buck.
Here’s the bottom line – bad people with bad intentions are always going to find a way to screw you.
No matter what new rules or regulations are put into place, bad actors find a way around them. And that is not only true of supplements, it happens in every business category.
When it comes to supplements, I have frankly yet to hear any practical regulations proposed that bad actors likely can’t circumvent.
That’s why my supplement shopping tip #3 is knowing who owns and runs the brand and determining why the brand exists.
Founders Motivation
Founders are usually proud to tell their story and motivations for the brand on their website and elsewhere online.
It’s usually pretty evident if there’s a real passion to bring you great products and do the right things.
If it’s just a generic “corporate mission” or something anyone can write, then I’d question how committed and principled they are to serving you, versus just maximizing sales and profits.
Also, how long have they been around? How much experience do they have?
As you can tell from some of the tips I’ve been discussing, even if a brand has good intentions, it’s easy to be burned by someone in the supply chain who doesn’t.
Frankly, it took many years of making mistakes for us at NatureCity to figure out who we could trust and who we couldn’t, and who prioritizes their interest over ours – and
I’m including you, when I say “our” interest.
This led to the current standards, relationships, and processes that we use to make good on our promise to offer you the best supplements we can make.
But without that experience it’s hard to avoid the many pitfalls – especially when you’re making many different products.
Transparency Matters
If the owners and executives aren’t willing to be transparent about telling you who they are and how they do business, move on, and take a pass on that brand.
From the start, Beth and I have always tried to be as transparent as possible – beginning with why we started NatureCity, to sharing the specific sources of our ingredients and who manufactures our products.
That’s the main reason why I do the NatureCity Podcast each week - to give you a better understanding of the ingredients in our products so you can be informed about what you’re putting into your body.
Plus, you see each ingredient and the amount you get on our supplement labels – we don’t bunch ingredients into “proprietary blends”, which is code for “we’re hiding something from you.”
Related to this, what type of money back guarantee does the brand offer? 30 days is not nearly long enough to evaluate most supplements.
If they only give you 30 days, you have to wonder why the brand doesn’t believe in their own products.
That’s why we offer a 365-day money back guarantee. This lets you put our products to a true test. A brand can only do this if they are confident in their products, like we are at NatureCity.
Has Brand Ownership Changed?
Last, you have to be wary of when a brand is sold or maybe gets a big new investor.
Usually, motivations change, and the financial analysts go to work, trying to increase profits by using cheaper ingredients or changing processes. This happens a lot.
Recently, I was discussing this with an industry colleague. A mutual friend of ours sold her company, and the new owners completely changed her formula. Not surprising, it doesn’t work as well, which is upsetting customers.
Even though she doesn’t own the company anymore, the brand still uses her name and likeness, and of course she’s upset about endorsing a bad product. A messy situation – but stuff like this often happens in the health and wellness business, companies change.
So you have to get to know the current brand owners and their motivations.
It’s something I worry about – at some point down the line, we’ll have to retire -and I worry, where will I get my supplements from?
Hopefully, we can leave NatureCity in good hands, but not to worry, we’re not going anywhere anytime soon!
Yours for Good Health,
Carl Pradelli
P.S. Subscribe to our YouTube channel or podcast to discover more about nutrients that can make a difference in your health!
