Omni-Pak: A One-Stop Shop For The Nutraceuticals Business

With over two million square feet of manufacturing and packaging facilities, it is no wonder that Omni-Pak, A­na­heim, CA, sees itself as a one-stop shop for companies involved in the nutraceuticals arena. Supported by its global network of partners and resources, the company markets products in over 72 countries worldwide and is proficient in all packaging types including bottles, jugs, canisters, blister packs and powder packs. In addition to the company’s packaging capabilities, it also manufacturers tablets, capsules, powders and soft gels.

Today the company is owned and operated by NBTY, Bohemia, NY, however, this a recent development. The company was actually formed over 20 years ago to service mostly companies involved in the network marketing arena. Discussing Omni-Pak’s roots was Scott Slade, senior vice president of sales. “The company was established in the early 1980s to manufacture tablets and capsules for customized products and companies that specialized primarily in the network marketing side of the business,” he said. “In 2001 the company filed for bankruptcy and NBTY came in and took over the company. NBTY purchased most of the assets including the name of the company and most of the machinery and facilities.”

NBTY purchased Omni-Pak for two reasons. First, the company wanted to get into the contract manufacturing side of the nutraceuticals business. “There are a lot of products out there that we wouldn’t be able to sell to a lot of companies because there is a lot of technology and science that we develop here that we can’t put in our own brands,” said Mr. Slade. Second, the company wanted to expand its capabilities to the West Coast. In this way, Mr. Slade said, “We have a lot of efficiencies that other companies cannot provide. However, we are still flexible enough to provide a start-up company the services that it needs, in terms of smaller batches and flexible packaging lines to do smaller runs.”

Also a part of its well roundedness is the company’s staff of approximately 125 people that work on new product development. Whether it’s packaging design, looking for new ingredients or developing new products, Omni-Pak has the ability to provide its customers with innovative products, according to Mr. Slade. “We are truly a one-stop shop for our customers, which is what differentiates us from other companies in this business,” he said.

Most recently, the company automated a lot of its packaging lines and manufacturing areas. “We have put in place new machinery for tableting and two-piece encapsulation and we revised our blending processes,” Mr. Slade said. “We put a high premium on quality and want to make sure that each tablet, capsule or can of powder has the nutrients that are claimed on the label.”

As for the company’s testing capabilities, Mr. Slade said the company is very advanced and will have no problem meeting the proposed GMPs should they become final. “Each of the company’s facilities have analytical and microbiological testing capabilities,” he said, adding, “We are also a lot closer to adhering to the proposed GMPs than most companies and should the proposed rule became final, we would not have to stop production for a day.”

For the future of the company and the industry, Mr. Slade predicted, “I see growth for the future of Omni-Pak because we are partners with all of our customers. We work with them to grow their business and if they are successful then we are successful too.” For the industry, he said, “The companies that put forth the money to build science behind products will be the market successes of the future.”—R.M.W.


Omni-Pak
5115 East LaPalama Avenue
Anaheim, CA 92807
Telephone: 888-306-2096
Fax: 714-765-7055
E-mail: sales@omni-pak
Website: www.omni-pak.com