Recently, I had a conversation with a healthcare practitioner who was surprised to learn that one of the brands of dietary supplements she was recommending to patients was owned by Nestlé Health Science.

In researching and compiling information for our Top Dietary Supplement Companies and Brands report, I wondered how many consumers would be surprised to know that Nestlé is also a majority owner of Orgain, or that Unilever owns Olly Nutrition and Smarty Pants, or that Burt’s Bees is a subsidiary of The Clorox Company, or that Reckitt Benckiser sells both condoms and krill oil.

There’s an old joke that only a handful of large corporations own 99% of products in the world, and that choice is an illusion—in the end you really only get Coke or Pepsi. With corporate structuring and maneuvering, consumers often only come face-to-face with the brand, and can have a hard time seeing who’s behind the product, especially with a steady stream of mergers and acquisitions.

There are several large, multinational consumer healthcare and CPG companies that acquire and hold top dietary supplement brands in their portfolio. But there’s also quite an assortment of legacy brands, private, and family-owned businesses, mission-driven companies and entrepreneurs who have fueled the estimated $50 billion marketplace over the last 30+ years.

Consolidation is natural, especially when large companies have wads of cash to dole out to stay ahead of their competitors and keep shareholders happy.

But it’s encouraging to be able to see through corporate structuring and read publicly-available social and environmental impact reports from some private companies. It’s refreshing to see businesses differentiate by being honest and forthcoming with consumers who want to know what companies are doing to be accountable to the planet. I expect these sorts of businesses to establish and build credibility, and grow market share, across industries. 

Who will be the winners of the future? How many companies can get to Net Zero Emissions and Zero Waste? Consumers, especially young people, care about these efforts. And if they’re comparing brands, and are able to see your efforts, that builds trust, and trust builds loyalty.

Our reporting in our October edition is an introduction of sorts to some of the biggest players in today’s market. It includes a small set of company profiles that we’ll be building on in the future. If you have a story you want to share, let me know, let’s chat, and let’s have a race to the top …