The UK-based brand sells a nine-strong range of capsule supplements, largely focused on supporting women’s priority health goals, ranging from sleep and anxiety support through to joint health and UTI control.
While high quality, science-backed ingredients have always been top priority, the brand’s co-founder Dan Waterfall-Chapman said there is a spectrum of bioavailability awareness across users and there is increasing attention to this among savvy shoppers.
“We are seeing a lot of people asking about the absorption of our supplements, wanting to know how much of the active ingredient their body is actually getting,” the entrepreneur told NutraIngredients. “We’ve seen the superb job brands like Valerie have done with liposomal technology to improve absorption of nutrients and this is very effective, but it tends to come with a higher price point.
We are looking to allow customers to get the most out of our full range of products through a universal drink.”
Set to enter the market this summer, the team has developed a patent-pending ready-to-mix powder formula which can be taken alongside other supplements, leading to better nutrient absorption.
Brand evolution
Dan co-founded the company with wife and fellow marketing expert, Toni, who had long suffered from insomnia.
“She had tried taking all sorts of different medicines and supplements but we couldn’t find an effective, long-term, natural option,” he said.
Keen to create a better solution, the couple spoke to researchers, nutritionists, manufacturers and other nutraceutical experts, and developed their flagship sleep aid supplement Sleepee.
The capsules contain 11 key ingredients, including passionflower, magnesium, CherryPURE cherry extract, L-Tryptophan, lion’s mane mushroom and lemon balm, plus vitamins and minerals.
Drawing on their previous e-commerce and marketing expertise, the duo quickly grew sales online. They found their key market demographic was older females and started to receive requests for products targeting other health concerns such as joint health and menopause.
The couple then launched a second line, featuring a joint health product, named Flexee, containing Ovomet eggshell membrane, alongside MSM, glucosamine, turmeric, Boswellia and black pepper, which has become their best-seller.
Since then, the range has been extended to include collagen, multivitamin, anxiety support and vegan omega-3 products, and more.
In order to get closer to their customers, the team recently opened a retail outlet in Bath, Somerset, with TV presenter and women’s health advocate Cherry Healey leading the official unveiling.
Breaking the bladder taboo
In an aim to address some of the most prolific women’s health concerns, the team is formulating a UTI supplement, and with 44% of the female population suffering with recurring UTIs, the brand hopes this will give the topic the attention it deserves.
“UTIs aren’t a sexy subject, and they aren’t something people discuss openly, but they affect so many women, and there are so many who feel side lined and let down by their GPs,” Dan said.
The standard course of treatment prescribed by doctors is antibiotics, he said, but this is not a long-term solution and leads to poorer gut health as well as contributing to the global issue of antibiotic resistance.
The new solution’s hero ingredient will be D-Mannose, the monosaccharide found in plants such as cranberries.
“D-Mannose has been shown to be extremely effective in supporting bladder health, but the problem is the dose required means taking huge horse-size pills,” Dan said. “We are looking to provide the ingredient in an efficacious dose in a drink format, alongside specific bacteria which support vaginal flora, as well as cranberry extract.”