Best Formulations: The ‘Best’ in Nutraceutical Solutions

In 1984, Best Formulations, City of Industry, CA, began as a product formulations laboratory and specialty ingredient supplier. Having been a chemist, formulator and technical director of a large dietary supplement corporation, founder Charlie Ung had the strong credentials and reputation necessary to build a small base of reputable customers.

For Charlie, the nutraceuticals industry was a perfect fit, according to his son Eugene, director of marketing. “Charlie has always been a health conscious individual. In fact, he started working in the industry almost from day one. In the beginning, he focused primarily on formulations and supplying a few specialty raw materials. But eventually he saw the need for manufacturers who cared about the quality of the products, and not just about getting product out the door.”

As quality became essential to doing business, Charlie decided to bring blending services under the same roof, instead of contacting with other companies. This is when he decided to purchase a warehouse and his first blender, so he could oversee the manufacturing processes and personally guarantee the quality of his products. Today, Best Formulations has grown up to become a full-scale contract manufacturer of nutra­ceuticals, dietary supplements, dietary teas, and over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription drugs.

The company’s main strengths lie primarily in soft gels, probiotics and teas. “These three areas are fairly unique, and there are not a lot of manufacturers who handle these products well,” Eugene said. “For soft gels, we are well known in the industry for being able to handle difficult ‘paste’ products (paste products refer to soft gels that contain powder and oil mixture in the fill).”

Probiotics, on the other hand, are delicate because they are living organisms that are extremely sensitive to temperature and moisture. To ensure the integrity of these sensitive ingredients, Best Formulations’ manufacturing facility has design elements in place to guarantee the viability of the bacteria throughout the manufacturing and production process.

In working with teas, taste is of critical importance, Eugene said. That’s why the company has developed special methods to infuse flavors into the leaves, resulting in excellent tasting tea beverages.

Best Formulations has positioned itself for long-term growth by investing a lot of time and money in its infrastructure from a quality and operational efficiency perspective. To that end, the company recently expanded its soft gel facility. “With our new building, we will be able to more than double our capacity in soft gel output,” Eugene explained, adding, “In our original building, we will also be able to expand our powder filling, encapsulation, tableting and blending capabilities.”

But it doesn’t stop there. Best Formulations is also doing a lot of work on the research and development side to come up with unique formulations and new delivery methods. “We have a number of projects that we’re working on that we feel would be welcomed by the end-consumer because they address issues in relation to improved absorption and do­sage viability,” he said. “It’s these types of product innovations that will continue to propel the industry forward and attract new consumers to the market.”

Eugene considers the nutra­ceuticals segment to be one of the most rewarding, interesting and fun industries. “We’ve developed a number of great relationships in this industry, and have seen the natural products category evolve and change. It’s been a great ride for the past couple decades, and we are very excited for the future,” he said. “As mainstream acceptance of supplementation continues to increase, more scientists and re­searchers will be looking to make new and interesting products, or work to improve existing formulas.”—R.W.

Best Formulations
17758 Rowland Street
City of Industry, CA 91748
Telephone: 626-912-9998
Fax: 626-912-8881
E-mail: info@bestformulations.com
Website: www.bestformulations.com