The global supply chain has certainly seen its fair share of changes over the years. Freemen Nutra Group, a global ingredient distributor, opened its doors in 1995. Over the past 30 years, the industry has faced issues with transparency, quality and pricing volatility. To overcome these challenges, the company has built a team of over 40 product managers across the globe who speak the local languages, visit factories regularly and provide market intelligence to clients. Koffler said this global presence allows them to support their customers through supply chain disruptions and ensure a reliable and diverse supply of ingredients.
“I’m still working on English, you know, so you need those people to be able to translate,” he said. “We’re over 400 different ingredients from 200 different factories. So that’s where definitely those product managers really come in and help. And then with over 75 different countries at this point in time, it’s a pretty big network.”
Freemen Nutra recently announced a strategic partnership with Phoenix, a synthetic caffeine manufacturer based in Cambodia. This collaboration positions Freemen Nutra as a key global distributor of Phoenix’s competitively priced synthetic caffeine, offering businesses an alternative to traditional suppliers.
“Ninety-plus percent of the world’s caffeine comes from China. So pretty much most people are having to deal with these regulations, restrictions, the permits, that sort of thing. So knowing all this and then on top of it, obviously, strategy-wise, knowing that we need to diversify and our customers need to diversify between the geopolitical type of issues, the tariffs….[we] wanted to get something outside of China…”
Freemen Nutra also has expanded its global presence, opening warehouses and offices across regions beyond the United States, including Japan, Korea, Singapore, Europe and Australia, to name a few. The expansion allows the company to move materials out of China and into tariff-free areas when needed, Koffler said. Additionally, they have built strong partnerships with factories to help free up cash flow and access materials from less tariffed regions.
To hear more on Freemen Nutra Group’s supply chain diversification, how customer demand differs among synthetic and natural caffeine and how the company stays on top of the berberine demand, listen to the NutraCast.
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