The company is focused on growing its business internationally in the U.S. and China, targeting $1 billion (CAD) in revenue.

Number of Employees: 1,200+

2022 Revenue: $547.4 million CAD (+21.4% vs 2021)

Brands: Jamieson, Youtheory, Progressive, Iron Vegan, Smart Solutions, Precision

Company Description/Mission: “Jamieson Wellness is Canada’s leading branded manufacturer, distributor and marketer of high-quality natural health products. Established in 1922, the Jamieson brand is Canada’s #1 consumer health brand, available in more than 45 countries globally. Jamieson Wellness also offers a variety of innovative VMS products to consumers with its youtheory, Progressive, Smart Solutions, Iron Vegan and Precision brands. Jamieson’s vision to improve the world’s health and wellness includes the wellbeing of the environment and its communities, and as a proud participant of the United Nations Global Compact, the company adheres to its principles-based approach to responsible business.”

Canada’s oldest and largest manufacturer of natural health products, Jamieson Wellness was founded in 1922 by Claire Edwin Jamieson with an initial focus on pharmaceuticals. The company was sold to New York businessman Henry Margolis whose son Eric, a writer and journalist, inherited and ran the company before selling it to private equity firm CCMP Capital Advisors, LLC in 2012. The company then went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2017 with a $300 million IPO.

Expansion

The 100-year-old company is intent on international expansion. Jamieson acquired the U.S. company Nutrawise, and its youtheory brand, in 2022.

“The United States is the world’s largest VMS market,” said Mike Pilato, who took over as president, CEO, and board direction in 2021. “With our mission of becoming the world’s most successful and trusted vitamin company, having a presence in this 40+ billion-dollar market is critical. When we looked at the best way to enter this market, we knew that the Jamieson brand did not resonate in the U.S. in the same way that is does in Canada. To build and accelerate a scaled presence, we looked to acquire an established and growing consumer brand that played in multiple categories and demonstrated consistency with our Jamieson quality commitment and values. The youtheory brand perfectly met these requirements, and we knew we could export our 100 years of operating excellence to grow it exponentially over time.”

More than a year into the integration process, Pilato said Jamieson has realized “many operational synergies to date” and has started launching new products in the U.S.

“We will continue to drive growth through innovation, entering new categories, channel and distribution expansion, e-commerce growth, and international opportunities,” he added.

China Investments

Along with the U.S., a strong presence in China is a key part of Jamieson’s growth strategy.

“China is the second-largest VMS market in the world, and the fastest growing,” Pilato noted. “After multiple years of strong growth in China leveraging a distributor partner, we carefully considered how best to set ourselves up for success long-term in this market, keeping in mind its very different culture and complexities. The Chinese consumer over the years has shown an affinity for the Jamieson brand and what it stands for, and our goal is to leverage this demand to scale this business to new heights.”

Discussing the company’s strategy in China, Pilato said the company made a “conscious decision” to invest by bringing in “top talent on the ground direct in the country to ensure we have a full understanding of the consumer, of the category, and of the various channels we need to be successful in to scale the business.”

The company added a board member based in Shanghai who has experience growing businesses in China. “We purchased the assets of our distributor partner to take on ownership of the full value chain of the brand,” said Pilato. “We are building a local team with a local GM that runs the day-to-day operations on the ground in China. This team of over 40 strong today is continuing to fuel our growth for the long-term.”

The company also entered a strategic partnership with international private equity firm DCP Capital, which has a track record of success in China. “With local expertise, experience, and knowledge, DCP is working side by side with our team to scale this business. They are focused on innovation, category and distribution expansion, and e-commerce growth,” said Pilato.

According to the deal announced in February, DCP was to contribute about $35 million USD in capital in exchange for a 33.3% share in the ownership structure of the company’s Chinese operations. DCP would also subscribe for about $75 million USD of preferred shares in Jamieson.

“As of April 2023, we have all of this in place. The growth opportunity in China is large, and this team is working together to ensure our long-term success, leveraging a brand that perfectly meets the main purchase criteria of the consumer there,” said Pilato.

‘A Transformative Year’

According to the company, 2022 was “a transformative year” for Jamieson Wellness, as it celebrated its 100th year of “improving the world’s health and wellness.”

“Throughout 2022, we saw consistent growth in our brands in Canada, as our elevated base of Canadian consumers post COVID-19 continued to trust Jamieson for their health and wellness needs,” said Pilato. “In July of that year, we closed on our acquisition of the youtheory brand, providing us with a strong platform and premium brand offering in the United States. And in November, we announced the pending acquisition of our Chinese distributor’s assets. This acquisition, which has since closed, is helping us get closer to the consumer and take control of the full value chain in China. All these advancements set the stage for us for years to come in each of our key strategic growth pillars of Canada, the U.S., and China, while continuing to leverage strong distributor partnerships in other key countries around the world.

Overall, following explosive growth in demand for dietary supplements in 2020 and 2021, growth rates have moderated and returned to pre-pandemic levels. However, Pilato said it’s important to note current growth is now based on an elevated consumer baseline, “as a significant amount of new consumers that entered the category during the pandemic looking for immune support have stayed in the category, and even expanded their supplement usage outside of the immunity category.”

As a result, growth today, across a broad base of categories, is driven by a heightened awareness among new consumers, Pilato suggested, noting standouts categories like sleep, stress and energy support, as well as the beauty from within category.  “We are finding this to be consistent across most geographies and see the category continuing to grow for the long term behind ongoing consumer tailwinds related to an aging population and a younger demographic more committed to health and wellness,” he said.

ESG and DEI

According to Pilato, Jamieson has been working to embed diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and Environment, Social, Governance (ESG) principles into its decision-making processes.

“We actively engage with various stakeholders to ensure our policies and disclosures are best in class,” said Pilato. “We are particularly proud that the Globe and Mail’s rankings of TSX public company boards has Jamieson Wellness in the top third of all issuers.”

From a sustainability perspective, the company set goals to reduce Scope 1 & 2 emissions in half by 2030, “and the development of a plan to reach Net Zero by 2050.”

“There are many programs in place to support this, such as waste, packaging, and ingredient conservation projects,” said Pilato. “We have committed to publishing our emissions data annually, starting with our 2024 data.”

All of these targets and initiatives are tied into the short-term incentive plans of our leaders at the director level and above to further encourage accountability for action,” he added.

Expectations

Overall, Jamieson intends to shift from a Canadian company with business around the world, to a truly global operation, headquartered in Canada.

“You will continue to see us at the forefront of health and wellness globally, with innovative products to help our consumers live their best lives. You’ll see us reach and exceed our target of earning $1 billion (CAD) in revenues, and share how we are achieving it while taking ownership of our responsibility to grow in a way that is equitable and sustainable for our people, our planet, and our communities,” Pilato said.