Advertisement

Launch Pad: Easy Pills to Swallow

Click here to read the full article.

Plant People Immune Power

Available at plantpeople.co for $34.99

Plant People, the self-funded hemp brand, has made its first CBD-free foray. Based on mushroom and herb blends found in traditional Chinese medicine and ayurveda, Plant People cofounder Gabe Kennedy sought to make time-tested immunity combinations more palatable to a mass market with Immune Power, a vitamin C-herb combo which launched in May. “What we’re doing is providing formulas that call on inspiration from TCM and ayurveda, and position it in a way that’s digestible for a customer just getting into this category while still being able to deliver efficacious amounts of these products,” Kennedy said.

The intent behind the formula, which combines maitake, coriolus, shiitake, reishi, and chaga mushrooms with vitamin C, is twofold: provide a recognizable immune-boosting ingredient with herbs that also work synergistically. “There is research showing that the inclusion of vitamin C in a mushroom product amplifies the potency and efficacy of all of the constituents within the mushrooms,” Kennedy said. For good measure, astragalus root also contains trace minerals and is thought to move qi in eastern modalities. “All of these formulas originate from somewhere, but the ways we’re putting them together are quite new,” he said.

Anser Healthy Mood, Healthy Sleep, Healthy Weight, and Digestive Comfort

Available at Amazon, shopanser.com for $29.99

Launched in early 2020, Anser, the supplement brainchild of UTA, Tia Mowry and BioSchwartz, was created to cater to a demographic less often pursued by wellness launches. “We did not see many brands that were specifically talking to a multicultural audience, people of color, Black people or understand the issues they were dealing with,” said Tom Mooy, ceo of BioSchwartz. “And I don’t see anyone engaging that group and bringing them into the wellness space.” Now, Anser has increased its repertoire with four more targeted supplements added to its lineup.

Thus came Healthy Mood, Healthy Sleep, Healthy Weight and Digestive Comfort, which launched in June. They were created based on needs the brand was hearing from its consumer base, and are Anser’s third round of releases in the six months since the brand launch. “These ideas came from the community,” Mowry said, emphasizing Anser’s social listening practices. “For example, we were getting so much feedback about people wanting a probiotic.” A result of quarantine-induced health concerns, the four products feature ingredients like melatonin, cordyceps, ceylon cinnamon and prebiotics for Healthy Sleep, Healthy Mood, Healthy Weight, and Digestive Comfort, respectively. Not only has the brand kept the price point low to maintain accessibility, but it has also formed its messaging around the product on the filler-free, binder-free, non-GMO formulas with robust education efforts.

Sakara RX: The Foundation

Available at sakara.com for $120.

After cleaning up and simplifying their clients’ meal plans, Sakara founders Danielle Duboise and Whitney Tingle took on supplements as their next frontier. Enter The Foundation, a vegan-friendly, NSF-certified and nontoxic grouping of supplements, sold in monthly supplies of daily packets that launched in May. “We like to think of this as your nutritional insurance,” Tingle said.

Each packet includes two superfood multivitamins, probiotics, omegas derived from algae, an adaptogenic vitamin B complex, and a macro mineral blend, but Tingle and Duboise also tout the ingredients they avoid as much as the ones they include. Duboise pointed out the general leniency with ingredient lists across the category. “If brands use fillers or chemical solvents, they don’t have to list it under a certain percentage, and if it’s used in manufacturing, they don’t have to tell you at all,” she said.

Another selling point is the straightforward lineup, taking the guesswork out of supplement shopping for consumers. “It can be really overwhelming. What do I take, how much of this, how much of that, is it trustworthy, et cetera,” Duboise said. “We wanted to give complete nutrition all in one, convenient pack.”

Moon Juice SuperBeauty Capsule

Available at Sephora, moonjuice.com, Credo, Detox Market, and Urban Outfitters for $60.

Much like the rest of Moon Juice’s product offerings, founder Amanda Chantal Bacon’s latest launch focuses on overall well-being, and was born out of personal need. After researching the antioxidant glutathione and its effects on sun damage (and a plethora of other positive health benefits), Bacon sought out the most effective way to capture it in a supplement. “Glutathione is a master antioxidant for the whole body, It’s going to be incredible for your immune system, for longevity in general,” she said. After coupling it with other antioxidants vitamins C and E, as well as organic astaxanthin and adaptogenic schisandra, Bacon had a formula with maximum benefits. “Glutathione works inside the cell, and C and E work on the lipid layer. So you’ve got action on different parts of the cell, and the three help to potentiate one another,” she said.

Launched in May, SuperBeauty parallels a similar buzzy beauty ingredient: Bacon likens consumer resonance with the collagen craze. “We’re all comfortable with the collagen story, ‘I see it, it’s in my skin, let me supplement before it depletes.’ Glutathione is a similar story,” Bacon said. “Age, stress, toxins, all of those things rapidly deplete the glutathione supply in your system.”

Friska Digestive Enzyme Blend Supplements

Available at CVS, Whole Foods, Amazon, and getfriska.com for $29.

With a background in retail, most recently heading up Target’s health-care division, Friska founder John Peine saw a whitespace for an integrated supplement that played to the gut-immunity, gut-brain connection. To that end, Friska debuted in May with 10 products combining botanicals, digestive enzymes and probiotics to aid a handful of concerns. “Of the digestive health marketplace, it was a sea of sameness that was intimidating, clinical, and hard for the consumer to build empathy towards,” he said. “Why not have a brand that can connect with the consumer on an empathetic level?”

The Men’s and Women’s Daily formulas are expected to resonate the most immediately with consumers as the brands’ hero products, but other formulas include Immunity Boost, Keto Boost, Mood Boost, Nightly Reboot, Carb Ease, Dairy Ease, Energy Boost and Gluten Ease. The immunity supplement, for example, includes zinc, elderberry and echinacea as a one-stop shop for immune defense, and Friska’s patented strain of probiotics, which underwent clinical testing for efficacy. “Our big thing is we want all of our products to be clinically validated,” Peine said. “We intended for the brand to be category-agnostic, and we’re looking at a 2021 product launch in the beauty space.”

For more from WWD.com, see:

Launch Pad: Products For Millennial Mothers

Launch Pad: Beauty’s Latest Sustainable Sku’s

What Beauty and Wellness Trends Will Survive the Pandemic?

Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.