Sheldon Baker06.25.10
Peter Leighton is a principal at Natural Discoveries LLC, which recently launched a novel ecommerce site, www.abundahealth.com, featuring new and innovative functional health products based on sound science. In addition, a business-to-business web portal www.nutritionalfinds.com locates and advances the commercialization of novel bioactives, technologies and nutraceuticals. Leighton has been responsible for the development and launch of several leading nutraceutical products on the market. He has held senior executive positions with companies such as Advana Science, Natrol, Galileo Laboratories, Weider Nutrition and InterHealth Nutraceuticals, and is also the founder of Copernican Associates. Leighton’s supplement industry blog is available at www.leightonpost.com.
Health E-Insights: What is your ecommerce site, Abunda, all about?
Mr. Leighton: Abunda comes from the word abundant. AbundaHealth.com is a discovery site where early adopter consumers and retailers eager to find new and innovative products can find qualified health and wellness products. Any product featured on AbundaHealth.com must be unique, functional, scientifically validated and provide some innovation. There is no other website like AbundaHealth.com that discovers, qualifies and aggregates health and wellness products.
Health E-Insights: Can visitors to your website only find those products on AbundaHealth.com?
Mr. Leighton: Most of the products we source for AbundaHealth.com cannot yet be found in many locations. That’s the reason for Abunda—to discover and advance these novel products. Our goal is to bring these novel products to an elite audience, propagate them and advance them into greater distribution. We feel it’s important to share new ideas. We offer free products so visitors can try them and provide their feedback. Often, based upon that feedback we decide whether to sell an item or not.
Health E-Insights: What is your company’s competitive advantage?
Mr. Leighton: Natural Discoveries was founded on the idea of driving science, technology and innovation into the market and circumvent those interests that prefer to subvert it. AbundaHealth.com searches out new discoveries, novel bioactive compounds, innovative technologies and products with proven safety and efficacy, and we deliver them to the market. Many of the products use new technologies or bioactive ingredients, which were discovered through NutritionalFinds.com, our B-B portal designed to identify, qualify and commercialize innovations and promote them to industry. Our team includes leaders from the nutrition industry who have profound knowledge and contacts. The principals have been responsible for some of the most successful companies, brands and products in the natural health and wellness sector over the past 25 years. We are fortunate to have some of the leading experts in the nutrition industry working with us to find and qualify innovations.
Health E-Insights: If you could improve an area of your company what would it be?
Mr. Leighton: Since we are just launching, we have not executed any significant marketing. As we have been tweaking the technical components of the site, we will soon be focused on building qualified traffic and increasing the product offerings. Ironically, we are already drawing increased traffic and interest, and should be at breakeven within the year. Innovation and efficacy drive our industry. Because of consolidation and the weighted economic influence of a few players, the nutrition industry has not been well-served in being able to capture these innovations. It takes a lot of money for an entrepreneur to get a novel product on the market. That’s why we feel it is important to have AbundaHealth.com. We are trying to democratize the industry so core consumers and retailers can discover these valuable products, so that ultimately everyone wins. It’s time to stop impeding consumer interests for the sake of short term profit. We are uniquely focused on targeting the highly engaged brand advocate instead of offering something for everyone. I am very passionate about the nutrition industry and changing the way we do things. I started a blog on these kinds of issues (www.leightonpost.com) because I was tired of yelling at television newscasts.
Health E-Insights: As president of Abunda, what keeps you up at night?
Mr. Leighton: As a partner in a start-up business, the only real concern I have is sufficient capitalization. We are self-funded and are not looking towards the business as a “cash cow,” rather we are dedicated to the objective. Yet at some point we will need to hit critical mass for our goals to be realized, and that requires continued capitalization.
For more information and interview consideration, contact Sheldon Baker at sbaker@bakerdillon.com or visit his website at www.bakerdillon.com.
