03.01.08
Ethical Naturals: Doing the Right Thing
Ethical Naturals, San Anselmo, CA, is not even two years old, but Cal Bewicke, founder and president, already sees it becoming a permanent fixture in the nutraceuticals industry in the years to come.
Mr. Bewicke has always maintained a deep interest in the connection between plants, botanicals, people and health. In addition, he has run a successful business development and consulting company for two decades. But building a company that supplies raw materials is a relatively new experience for him.
Although in its infancy, the story behind Ethical Naturals actually began over 25 years ago. In the 1980s, Mr. Bewicke was just starting to plant the seeds of his company while working with an importer of standardized ginkgo biloba extract. Intrigued by the expanding botanical market in the U.S. in the 1990s, but standing firm on his commitment to quality, Mr. Bewicke knew what had to be done should he decide to form his own enterprise. And so the name Ethical Naturals was born, and the purpose was clear: To be a highly reliable source of top quality natural ingredients backed by a rigorous raw material testing program.
Supported by the credo “Nature Verified by Science,” Ethical Naturals’ ProfileProven testing and validation system is one answer to the dietary supplement industry’s rising questions about quality. Through the ProfileProven system, every batch of every product is fully tested for all stated active components, heavy metals, microbials, known adulterants and solvents. Each batch is also guaranteed pesticide-free.
As far as its ingredient portfolio goes, Ethical Naturals supplies a wide range of botanicals to the food, supplement and beverage industries. This includes basic commodity extracts such as ginkgo, saw palmetto, echinacea, and many others. What makes these extracts so reliable and distinguished is that each must stand up to the scrutiny of the ProfileProven QA system.
In addition to commodities, the company also offers specialized products like GreenGrown Glucosamine. One of its newest offerings, GreenGrown Glucosamine is completely vegetarian and comes in both the HCL and sulfate form. Produced through a unique proprietary corn fermentation process, the purity of the material is equal to that found in premium shellfish-based material—without the risk of shellfish allergens. “With new uses for glucosamine in the beverage and food markets, combined with the expanded, ongoing demand for joint care supplements, the unique qualities of GreenGrown Glucosamine are already attracting a substantial amount of interest in the supplement industry,” said Mr. Bewicke.
One of Ethical Naturals’ other specialized ingredients is ORAC-15,000, a proprietary grape extract that the company claims has the highest known antioxidant ORAC value of any supplement ingredient on the market. The versatility of this ingredient enables it to be included in both beverage and supplement formulations.
Speaking about the future, Mr. Bewicke said, “The products supplied by our industry—joint care, mental acuity and other long-term health support categories—are all used by the expanding Baby Boom generation. The range and sophistication of products now available in thousands of mass market outlets also continue to grow.”
For these reasons, Mr. Bewicke believes there is a strong rationale for robust growth of the industry going forward. “The only caveat is the question of the quality of the products we produce,” he said. “As nutritional supplements are used by increasing numbers of people, the reliability and quality of raw material becomes more important to consumers’ health, as well as the health of our industry.”—R.W.
Ethical Naturals
330 Sir Francis Drake Boulevard
Suite H
San Anselmo, CA 94960
Telephone: 866-459-4454
Fax: 415-459-4391
E-mail: info@ethicalnaturals.com
Website: www.ethicalnaturals.com
