Driving Innovation in Supplements

NutriScience is a leading global developer and supplier of high-quality ingredients used in a range of industries, including dietary supplement/nutraceutical, functional food and beverage, animal health and personal care. Its branded and specialty ingredients provide unique formulation solutions to customers striving to create products that are one of a kind and benefit both human and animal kind alike.

We sat down with Alan Yengoyan, NutriScience president & CEO, to talk about the convergence of trends in the human and pet supplement categories.

Our purpose is to develop innovative ingredients to make animal and humankind happier and healthier – and we do that in three primary ways. We scour the earth for compounds from nature that have health benefits that can be backed by science. We provide the best support and expertise available. And then the third component is, and something that I really valued in the ingredient partners I had when I was on the branded side, is to inspire the brands we work with to be truly innovative.

Alan Yengoyan, President & CEO

Key Takeaways

Quality Ingredients Fuel Industry Innovation

NutriScience focuses on developing innovative, science-backed ingredients to make humans and animals happier and healthier. Through its products and services, the Company acts as an exceptional ingredient partner to brands across the pet space. “We also try to keep abreast of where the market is going, both on the human side as well as the companion pet side, whether it’s immune health, stress relief, cognitive health, beauty from within, sports… a lot of these things on the human side translate to the pet side,” said Yengoyan.

Trends in Human and Pet Supplements are Converging

With the ongoing humanization of pets, trends in both human and pet supplements and nutrition are beginning to converge with the pet category increasingly beginning to mimic the trends in the human category. Yengoyan shares, “We do see a commonality in terms of benefit areas that are interesting to pet owners, as well as to humans...things like muscle, joint and bone strength. Pet owners are concerned about things like arthritis … as are humans.” The beauty category is an example of the connection between human and pet trends. Yengoyan elaborates that “there is a big trend in beauty from within for human nutrition [with] the idea that you’re consuming something that’s actually going to make your hair, skin and nails look better as opposed to topical agents. And with pets, it’s similar. You’re seeing a lot of products designed for skin and coat health coming to the forefront that are dietary supplements.”

Supplements Space Under Pressure – But Pet Category is Resilient

Supply chain and inflationary pressures have challenged the supplements space. As Yengoyan said, “As a longtime member and participant in the dietary supplement industry, it's an industry that held its hand up high for, ‘We're inflation-proof or recession-proof…’ but not recession-plus-inflation proof.’ … And what you realize, is that certain categories are not immune to inflation, especially because supplements, unlike 15 years ago, are much more ubiquitous.” Despite the impact of inflation on consumers’ wallets, they are still showing a willingness to spend money on their pets – helping the pet category remain resilient through current economic challenges.

Supplement Brands are Re-Focusing on Innovation Within Their Product Pipeline

Despite some uncertainty in the industry and economic outlook, supplement brands are focusing on the future. “What I'm seeing in 2023, is the brands are out there trying to recommit themselves to figuring out what their innovation pipelines look like, both on the pet and human side, which is good. That is a tailwind, … and I think in 2023 we'll start to see this in the fall. I think it's still germinating now, but 2023 I think will turn out to be a very good year,” said Yengoyan.

“2023 will present itself based on a lot of macroeconomic things we can't control, but we're going to focus on things we can control, which is launching great products and building the team and helping our customers that are interested in launching products this year.”

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