MEET THE WINNERS: NutraChampion Judy Blatman

Blatman was, until her recent retirement from the role, the senior vice president of communications for CRN. She was given the award at the first annual NutraIngredients-USA Awards event earlier this month in Chicago.

Passion pervades industry

Blatman, who came from outside the dietary supplement industry to CRN, said she has seen a high level of commitment with this sector.

“Companies are passionate about their products and consumers are passionate about these products, too,”​ she said.

“There is strong innovation within the industry and there is a willingness to listen to consumers about what kinds of products they are looking for,”​ she said.

In her time at CRN Blatman participated in many communications initiative to boost the profile and trustworthiness of the industry. One of which she was especially fond was the “Life Supplemented” initiative. That program, which ran for more than five years, educated consumers about dietary supplements as one of the components of a healthy lifestyle to go along with a healthy diet and exercise.

Quick response to negative studies

Blatman said she believes she left CRN in a strong position in terms of its communications capabilities and strategy. One in particular was a way to deal with the negative or null studies that so often gets picked up by the mainstream media and reported on as if they were the last word on the matter.

“CRN always had a very good reputation for science. What I was able to do was to build up the communications piece to capitalize on that. We developed a way to approach negative studies in a rapid response fashion,” ​she said.

Blatman was quick to point out that the honor she received would not have been possible without all of the support available at CRN.

“We have a great team​—a great science team, great management, and I had a great team in communications. But I would not have been able to do what I did if I did not have a president in Steve Mister who believed in the importance of communications,”​ she said.

Blatman said she leaves the organization with no regrets and sees great potential for the future.

“After 16 years, I felt that I had done all I could do there and wanted to do something different. I was very energized to see that they brought in someone from outside the industry to fill my role who can bring a new perspective,”​ she said.