Nature’s Way acquires personalized nutrition pioneer Baze
By combining supplements from Nature’s Way and the patented feedback loop created by BAZE, a better personalized nutrition experience will be developed for consumers, according to Nature’s Way and Baze.
Nature’s Way now has full ownership of Baze, a company that offers an at-home blood test and a monthly vitamin subscription program. The company uses the test results to recommend and provide custom supplements and food plans that target identified nutrient deficiencies.
On a roll
Just over a year ago, Baze announced it had received FDA approval of its at-home blood test kit that measures nutrient levels.
Among the supplements offered through the subscription program are choline, chromium, copper, magnesium, omega-3, selenium, vitamin B12, vitamin D, vitamin E, and zinc. Most recently, Baze expanded its test panel to include vitamin A. Baze said the approach has been shown to eliminate 73% of customers’ nutrient deficiencies within three months.
“Coming together with Nature’s Way is an exciting and logical next step for Baze, as we continue on our mission to provide our customers with products to improve their health and wellness through evidence-based, personalized nutrition,” said Philipp Schulte, co-founder and CEO of Baze. “We strongly believe in the transformative impact personalized nutrition can have on our lives and are looking forward to being part of the Nature’s Way team.”
Strategy
For those that have been following Baze’s journey, the acquisition may not come as a surprise. Nature’s Way has been fans of the company since their launch in the United States in 2018.
In 2019, Nature’s Way led Series A funding for Baze, who raised $6M in that round. At the time, Nature’s Way called it “A long term strategic investment.”
When asked if the acquisition was always the intention, Schulte told NutraIngredients-USA, "while there was no explicit plan like that, we did believe from the start that a strong partnership between Baze and Nature’s Way made a lot of sense based on our shared values and focus on developing quality products. The 2019 investment allowed Nature’s Way to assess the potential of both Baze and personalized nutrition. Now, at the conclusion of this assessment, the acquisition was the logical next step."
Personalized nutrition: An immense opportunity
Some experts predict that supplements sold through the personalized nutrition channel will surpass $4 billion in sales by 2023.
Indeed, Mike Devereux, CEO of Nature’s Way, said personalized nutrition is an “immense opportunity” for the company to expand their mission of helping people live healthy lives. “Combining the uncompromising quality of our products, with the industry-leading personalization capabilities at Baze, will create an outstanding new approach for anyone looking to further their health and wellness. Our teams are fully committed to continuing our leadership roles in quality and innovation in this growing consumer space,” added Devereux.
Schulte said the move makes personalized nutrition more accessible to the everyday consumer, adding "This is great news for personalized nutrition as the entry of one of the leading supplement companies will further build awareness, product innovation, and quality in the space. There is a lot of exciting work ahead of us."
The acquisition closed on December 23, 2020. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
