Vitamin Packs changes name to Persona, expands algorithm and questionnaire

06-Aug-2018 - Last updated on 06-Aug-2018 at 15:41 GMT

One-year-old personalized nutrition company Vitamin Packs has changed its name to Persona. It also added specificity to its recommendation algorithm, said CEO and founder Jason Brown.

The name change was more than just a re-brand, Brown told us. “We also rebuilt the entire algorithm and our questionnaire now has further personalization so that when you fill out the questionnaire, it’s more dynamic than the one that we originally launched,” he said.

Persona, which offers a recommendation of supplements to users based on results from a lifestyle questionnaire, now asks its users whether they have used DNA services like 23andMe. If the answer is yes, they’re then given a new set of questions related to those results.

“So you’ve done the DNA component with 23andMe, and it has given you select information that you will know because of your assessment with 23andMe,” Brown explained. “[Our new questionnaire] asks you questions about that. So that if you completed a DNA test, and it talks about macular degeneration, you would know that that was a problem that you may have in the future.”

New name better matches service

In line with the improved questionnaire, the name change was intended to communicate the personalization aspect of the company which previous name ‘Vitamin Packs’ didn’t offer.

“There are many people in the industry that are trying to figure out how to personalize things, make a recommendation and if it were 100 people in the room, there might be 10 different recommendations that all 100 people might get,” he said.

“Whereas in our company, we have 5 trillion different combinations, so we wanted a name that would personify that and make it clear that what we do is made specifically to who you are.”

Persona is one of the few start-ups in the emerging personalized nutrition space that offers vitamin subscriptions based on lifestyle choices. As a differentiator in the category, Persona also includes questions about drug use in its questionnaire in an effort to help its users avoid adverse effects based on drug interactions.

Since its launch last year, it has received cash injections from various high profile investors, including L Catterton and BrandProject. A press release from the company boasted that it is positioned for 3,000% growth this year over 2017.

“We really felt that it was important to make it clear that what we do is unique. It’s not personalized nutrition; we actually take your persona. We take who you are, and we make a unique pack that’s only for you,” Brown added.