Mar 6, 2015 There were some big moves in the fitness nutrition sector this week:
Capstone Nutrition – a leading turnkey developer and manufacturer of high quality nutrition and OTC products and MusclePharm Corporation – a scientifically driven, performance-lifestyle sports nutrition company – announced the signing of a set of multi-year strategic supply agreements between the two companies. The agreements provide MusclePharm long term access to Capstone’s extensive high quality development and manufacturing services, expand the production capacity at Capstone to meet additional requirements, and provide MusclePharm with certain warrants and options.
“MusclePharm has long been one of our fastest growing customers, and we are thrilled to expand our relationship to help fuel their future growth and innovation,” said Greg Horn, CEO of Capstone. “Their vote of confidence in Capstone as their long term primary supplier is a validation of our commitment to quality, and of our strategy to work closely as partners with our customers.”
“MusclePharm and Capstone have had a long term relationship since MusclePharm’s founding,” said Brad Pyatt, CEO and Founder of MusclePharm. “With more than two decades of experience manufacturing high-quality products, Capstone is the ideal partner for MusclePharm.” Richard Estalella, President of MusclePharm added, “These agreements bring MusclePharm advantages in quality and innovation and dual supply in both the eastern and western U.S. while providing us with many of the advantages of vertical integration.” The initial term of the agreement is 7 years, and MusclePharm has committed to produce a minimum of $90 million of its powder and capsule business with Capstone each year after a scale-up period during 2015.
Elsewhere in the fitness nutrition field, FitLife Brands, Inc. , an international provider of innovative and proprietary nutritional supplements for health conscious consumers marketed under the brand names NDS Nutrition Products™ (“NDS”) (www.ndsnutrition.com), PMD® (www.pmdsports.com), SirenLabs® (www.sirenlabs.com) and CoreActive® (www.coreactivenutrition.com) announced the planned introduction of several new products designed exclusively for the GNC franchise system. Expected to begin shipping in the first quarter, the new products build on the Company’s commitment to create innovative and differentiable products as a core element of its growth strategy.
“I am pleased to announce several new product introductions for 2015 that build on our strong trend from 2014, which included the introduction of 27 new SKUs including eight new products, 16 reformulated products and three new flavors,” said John S. Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of FitLife Brands. “Each year, we strive to generate approximately 25% of our revenue from new products introduced in the past 12 to 18 months. In addition to being a key element of revenue growth, new product innovation demonstrates our commitment to our GNC franchise customers. This approach has helped firmly establish FitLife as the leading third-party vendor within the GNC franchise system and these new product introductions are just the first wave of what we expect will come throughout 2015.”
New products include the following:
- SirenLabs Isolate Protein in Vanilla and Chocolate. Isolate protein is the purest form of protein available and offers superior bio-availability in a robust formulation that also boasts BCAAs and glutamine. Moreover, the addition of protein further solidifies SirenLabs as a premium brand with a complete suite of products capable of addressing the total needs of the customer.
- NDS Nutrition Amplify Smoothies in Chocolate, Cinnamon Roll and Vanilla flavors. Besides the addition of Cinnamon Roll as a new flavor, the reformulated smoothies highlight all natural flavors and sweeteners, as well as a greens blend that addresses growing demand from the end consumers.
- PMD Fuel360. Available in two flavors, Fuel360 is a powerful and comprehensive post-workout product offering a premium formulation targeted at recovery and repair for the serious athlete.
- PMD Amplify XL. Building on an already outstanding formulation, improvements include a single scoop serving size and the addition of a hydro greens blend.
“In addition to the above, we remain very excited about the near-term launch of our new brand, Metis Nutrition, for the GNC corporate store opportunity,” continued Mr. Wilson. “First shipments of the initial product are on track for later this month with another 2 or 3 SKUs to follow shortly thereafter in the second quarter. The initial scope of the planned launch is greatly exceeding our expectations. We are excited and confident about this major milestone, which could in the long-term prove transformational to our business and be a key driver of future revenue and profitability growth for FitLife.”
