Aging baby boomers seeking alternatives to traditional medicine
translate into a healthy bottom line for Nutravim Nutraceuticals Ltd.
of Moose Jaw, Sask.
The two-year-old company, which employs 21 workers, is poised to double
its building space from the current 9,000 sq. feet. Its workforce is
also expected to grow to more than 30 by fall.
Brad Grimes, president of Nutravim, said the boomers are driving the
nutraceutical industry.
“They’re getting old and sick,” said Grimes, adding this group also has
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more disposable income than previous generations.
Recent expansions to Grimes’ $2.5 million plant have enabled the
processing, packaging and labelling facility to add more specialized
equipment for filling bottles and producing capsules and tablets.
Nutravim produces a variety of herbal, vitamin and mineral products.
Glucosamine is used for joint pain while flaxseed oil helps reduce
cholesterol.
Client companies, which hold the licences on the formulations, supply
most of the raw materials.
In future, Grimes would like to move from this type of contract
packaging to adding private label manufacturing. That would allow
Nutravim to buy raw product from local growers, process and package
products for customers like chain stores, and increase its own
profitability.
Sales to the United States now account for half of Nutravim’s business.
“We can be competitive with the low Canadian dollar when American
customers can save 40 percent off the top,” said Grimes.
He worked in the pharmaceutical industry in Toronto for 13 years before
returning to his home province of Saskatchewan.
His company received support from the Western Economic Diversification
Fund and the South Central Community Futures Development Corp. More
assistance came from the Moose Jaw Industrial Development Corp., which
provided 10 percent of the start-up and equipment costs in equity
investments.
Grimes said Nutravim is already profitable, something he called “quite
an accomplishment” for the young company.
The industry’s growth has been pushed recently by demand for sport and
weight loss products, said Kelley Fitzpatrick, president of the
Saskatchewan Nutraceutical Network.
Nutravim is seeing some of that, she said, noting a number of those
products can be supplied by Saskatchewan.
In addition to the company’s access to local markets, she said it also
benefits from its close proximity to central U.S. markets.
Nutravim also features a facility making products at a high volume and
under good practices, manufacturing at a pharmaceutical level.
“The marketplace is demanding high quality with a guarantee of safety,”
she said.
Globally, nutraceutical and functional foods account for $140 billion
US, with growth pegged at close to 10 percent annually. That compares
with a growth of one to three percent a year for conventional foods.
Fitzpatrick said Nutravim seized opportunities at the right time and
supplied Saskatchewan with something it did not previously have.
“We had all of this good high quality material but no way of
manufacturing it to the standard necessary for the nutraceutical
industry, especially in the U.S.,” she said.
