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Success Down Under – How They Did It
Vital Greens is Australia’s top-selling dietary supplement in its category and sales are growing at a phenomenal annual rate of 30 per cent. To understand the success of Vital Greens, it helps to know a little of its history and the real nature of the product.
Developed by Sydney naturopaths/medical herbalists Stephen Sprada and Shane Sullivan, Vital Greens is much more than just a “greens” or a “multi-vitamin”. It combines 76 all-natural ingredients into a high quality, very potent supplement; in essence, it’s an all-in-one, easy-to-use, once-per-day, complete nutritional support solution. And that’s not just sales talk. Stephen and Shane set out from the start to make a difference to people’s lives.
“You can be sure that what is on the label is in the jar and that it is very high quality” says Shane. “We go to extraordinary lengths to source ingredients and they are all laboratory tested. There has been no skimping in any quarter.”
Vital Greens grew literally from the kitchen bench over 10 years ago when the two naturopaths were trying to achieve better therapeutic outcomes for the patients at their clinic.
Stephen and Shane reasoned that not only did their patients need a comprehensive nutritional support base to achieve better health, but the product had to be pleasant and easy enough to take so that the patients continued to take it; getting patient compliance is an underestimated challenge.
So, with mortar and pestle in hand, Stephen and Shane took to mixing and blending their own formula. They tested and improved it with hundreds of patients and over several years of clinical practice. There was no business plan, no marketing budget and no business experience; just the desire to make a difference.
Their aim was formulate a “one-stop-shop”: all essential nutrients in a single serve, with no more gulping dozens of different capsules and tablets and gagging on foul-tasting liquid herbs. They wanted patients to be able to take the guesswork out of choosing the right mix and to make supplementation easy.
A simple multi-vitamin is not the answer”, says Stephen. “It would take many tablets or capsules per serve to get the quantity and variety of ingredients required to meet optimal nutritional needs. Add to that the fact that digestion of tablets can be a real issue for many people – and that it would be very difficult to keep enzymes, co-factors and probiotics all intact to ensure efficacy – and you can understand that the “multi” route was not a viable solution to meet our objective.”
Now they have a highly soluble powder; a blend of an incredible 76 all-natural, very high quality ingredients which is easily mixed and absorbed as a once-per-day routine and which provides all essential minerals, vitamins, enzymes, co-factors, adaptogenic herbs, prebiotics and probiotics, essential omegas, antioxidants and trace elements. Whew, that’s quite a feat!!
“Because it is an all-natural formula, the body recognises it as food and absorbs it more easily at the cellular level. Vital Greens is carefully balanced so that everything works in synergy to maximise the benefits provided by each nutrient. Furthermore, it is cold-blended, so all the essential co-factors and enzymes remain intact and alive, adding to its efficacy.”
Stephen and Shane did not start out to make a supplement to sell to the general market. The commercial blending of the product came from demand through patient referrals to family and friends; there were also increasing requests from fellow practitioners for supplies of the formula. The two naturopaths found themselves spending more time with the mortar and pestle than they did in their practice. Eventually, they decided to formally take Vital Greens to market. The rest is history.
“What about the pleasant bit?” you might ask. “Don’t all greens products taste like a mouth full of soil?” Well, that’s the surprise. Shane and Stephen have come up with a natural way of making their greens taste very pleasant indeed. Maybe it’s not as good as some of that red wine from South Australia (or Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough) but we think it’s a gold medal winner.
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