Kelatron: Forging A New Paradigm
When people talk about mineral supplier Kelatron, Ogden, UT, these days, company president and CEO Victor Moreno would like them to put the word “new” in front of the company name. “We are the ‘new’ Kelatron,” he said. “We are changing the paradigm of how we do business and working to let all our customers know about it.”
Kelatron has been in business for 25 years, but remained a small company. To accelerate its growth, Dr. Moreno, who joined the company in January 1999, began to change the business model by adapting the concept of “category management”—used by leaders in consumer packaged goods—to the marketing of raw materials to the nutraceuticals industry. According to Dr. Moreno, “Mineral compounds used in human nutrition is a coherent category and is very attractive because it is already large, but still underdeveloped, and is currently without leadership.” He continued, “Moreover, minerals are recognized by consumers as important to contributing to their well-being and health.”
Dr. Moreno described the new paradigm as providing Kelatron customers with scientific and technical expertise, product innovation and a one-stop shop for all minerals used in human nutrition. This paradigm is unique for our industry, said Dr. Moreno, adding, “In today’s market, marketers need to have a comprehensive knowledge of the biological benefits and technical attributes of the technologies available to satisfy the increasingly complex nutritional needs of consumers.”
Kelatron’s scientific and technical expertise is based on a literature review for each mineral, going back 15 years and with continuous updating of the database. Kelatron is also working hard to get this information to its customers with the creation of three publications. “Minerals at a Glance” summarizes all that is known to date about a particular mineral, while “Info Focus” provides more extensive data on an important biological property of a mineral, for example, the effect of magnesium on the cardiovascular system. Finally, “New Research” provides an update on the latest research on a mineral.
Product innovation is the next step, said Dr. Moreno, and this is fostered by funding and encouraging scientific research and developing, alone or in partnership with other parties, new mineral compounds.
In terms of specific minerals, Dr. Moreno reported the recent focus has been calcium. Kelatron has introduced “BioLactical,” a new calcium product extracted from milk, a soluble calcium product for use in beverages and a new line of low-lead calcium products, For the future, Kelatron is keeping its eye on magnesium, selenium and iron, areas where Dr. Moreno predicted important research will provide for significant impetus in market expansion.
Kelatron has also considerably improved its service to its customers. It opened a warehouse to speed up reaction time from order to delivery and has personalized customer service by adopting the “Sales Executive” approach. The company has also opened an international sales office in San Diego, CA and works along with its customers to provide scientific and technical expertise for product formulation.
Dr. Moreno summed up. “Kelatron’s new paradigm has been well received by our customers and we feel empowered to assume the technological leadership for the human mineral nutrition category. This bodes well for Kelatron, its customers and their consumers.”
—E.S.
Kelatron Corporation
1675 West 2750 South
Ogden, UT 84401
Telephone: 801-394-4558
Fax: 801-394-4559
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