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Blue Diamond Names McKinney New Creative Agency-of-Record

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This new partnership will focus on expanding the brand’s reach into more US households by showcasing the healthy, flavorful and satisfying product choices within the Blue Diamond portfolio. Aside from being a well-known and loved CPG food brand, Blue Diamond is also an agricultural cooperative owned by thousands of family farms, which makes the successful marketing of its products even more important. Throughout the pitch process, McKinney demonstrated a great understanding of the industry and how purchase decisions are made, ultimately turning simple human insights into attention-grabbing creative work.

“When searching for a new creative agency, we knew we wanted more than just an agency. We wanted strategic partners who shared Blue Diamond Growers’ values and goals. The McKinney team stood out as the best partner throughout this entire process,” said Raj Joshi, Senior Vice President, Global Consumer Division at Blue Diamond Growers. “Working with McKinney will enable us to showcase our commitment to excellence, innovation, and high-quality in visionary and creative ways.”

The opportunity was brought to McKinney through search consultant, SRI (Select Resources International). McKinney participated in a highly competitive, several months-long pitch process alongside some of the top creative agencies in the country, and ultimately won after being one of the four finalists. From its data-driven approach to identifying Blue Diamond’s untapped potential to the social-first strategic thinking to team chemistry, McKinney’s Smarts & HeartsⓇ were on full display.

“We are extremely excited about our new partnership with Blue Diamond,” said Joe Maglio, CEO of McKinney. “We have a lot of passion for the food and beverage category, so the prospect of working with such a great brand and great clients was the perfect mix. There was immediate chemistry between our two sides, and as the pitch went on we already felt like we were one team. Everyone is excited to dive in and help the Blue Diamond brand and business continue to grow.”

The account will be led out of McKinney’s LA office, with support from team members in both its Durham and NYC locations. The first campaign from McKinney and Blue Diamond is set to break in January of 2023.

New FDA Draft Guidance Aims to Increase Safety Information About Dietary Supplement Marketplace

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the availability of draft guidance aimed at increasing the amount of safety information the agency has about the dietary supplement marketplace by providing the industry with an opportunity to submit late new dietary ingredient (NDI) notifications.
The FDA wants consumers who use dietary supplements to know that today’s draft guidance, if finalized, will advise the dietary supplement industry that the agency intends to exercise enforcement discretion, for a limited time and in limited circumstances, to encourage manufacturers and distributors to correct any past failures to submit a required NDI notification. By providing the industry with an opportunity to correct past failures to submit required safety information, the FDA can gain more safety information about the dietary supplement marketplace and better protect public health.

“We remain committed to a flexible framework for dietary supplements that ensures the safety of these products for consumers,” said Cara Welch, Ph.D., director of the Office of Dietary Supplement Programs in the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). “The resulting notifications the agency receives through this period of enforcement discretion will help increase the amount of safety information we have about NDI-containing dietary supplements in the marketplace.”
The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) requires manufacturers and distributors who wish to market a dietary supplement containing an NDI to notify the FDA before marketing unless a legal exception applies. The notification must contain the safety information that a manufacturer relied upon to conclude the dietary supplement containing the NDI is reasonably expected to be safe.  The NDI notification process is the FDA’s only chance to evaluate the safety of a dietary supplement before it becomes available to consumers. For dietary supplements that do not contain an NDI, the law does not require manufacturers to submit safety information to the FDA before marketing. The FDA is aware that in the more than 27 years since the requirement was established, some dietary supplement firms have marketed products for which a premarket NDI notification was required, but never submitted.
The enforcement discretion policy proposed in this draft guidance relates solely to the failure to submit an NDI notification. For example, it would not extend to NDI-containing dietary supplements that are adulterated for safety reasons or that violate any other regulatory requirements that pertain to dietary supplements. This temporary policy also should help facilitate enforcement actions against those that remain out of compliance with the NDI notification requirements after the enforcement discretion period ends.
In a February 2019 statement about new efforts to strengthen the regulation of dietary supplements through modernization and reform, the FDA emphasized the need to ensure that our regulatory framework is flexible yet comprehensive enough to effectively evaluate product safety while promoting innovation. The FDA also stated that fostering the submission of NDI notifications would be key to this effort. This draft guidance is a critical first step toward encouraging those submissions.
If the draft guidance is finalized without change, the enforcement discretion period to submit a late notification would start when the guidance is published, would last 180 days, and would apply only to products on the market when the Federal Register notice announcing the draft guidance was published. Along with this draft guidance, the FDA is also developing a new submission type through the CFSAN Online Submission Module to provide a dedicated pathway for stakeholders to electronically submit their late notifications.

“Draft Guidance for Industry: Policy Regarding Certain New Dietary Ingredients and Dietary Supplements Subject to the Requirement for Pre-market Notification”

CHFA NOW Vancouver: Back and Better Than Ever

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Last month, CHFA NOW (Natural, Organic, Wellness) Vancouver brought the health and wellness community back together with its iconic tradeshow at the Vancouver Convention Centre (VCC), and it’s safe to say it was back and better than ever. After two years of hosting virtual tradeshows, CHFA proved its commitment to delivering a best-in-class live experience. CHFA’s new brand, CHFA NOW, formerly known as CHFA West, delivered a new Member Lounge, new activations, and an overall, fresh, and exciting vibe.

The theme of the event was Rise Together, to generate a sense of excitement for our community finally having the opportunity to get back together after two long years of restrictions. The conference brought engaging speakers such as the keynote, Shane Feldman, who filled us in on how we can harness the power of community to help our businesses succeed.

We were grateful for a beautiful sunny day in Vancouver, which attendees got to enjoy for a lunch break and bike ride along the seawall to Stanley Park. The much-anticipated LaunchPad event capped off the conference day with competitive pitches of recently launched and innovative products – shout out to the winner, Aeryon Wellness for launching Canada’s first 100% boric acid female health product.

On Saturday, the VCC was filled with over 6,000 industry professionals ranging from health and wellness retailers to investors and over 750+ exhibitors. The industry was itching to get back together, network with the best in the business, and get a taste of what’s trending in natural, organic, and wellness. The energy was palpable.

One of the highlights of attending the CHFA NOW tradeshow is spotting these trends and discovering brands pushing the boundaries with new innovative products. Some are more obvious than others, for example, you couldn’t walk past an aisle without seeing a new brand in the non-alcoholic space. From sugar-free mocktails to alcohol-free wine, this booming industry is on its way to dominating the retail space in the near future.

Others take a bit more sleuthing to discover, such as the from the sea category and the upcycled food trend. From food to beauty products, brands have begun to harness life under the sea to create sustainable products we can feel good about consuming. And companies like Susgrainable and Loop are finding creative ways to upcycle foods to reduce waste in the landfill. For a full list of the top trends at CHFA NOW, head to CHFA’s curated list of trends: Our Top Trends We Saw at CHFA NOW 2022 – CHFA NOW.

The CHFA NOW conference and tradeshow are back in Toronto on September 15-18, 2022, with the new theme, Pop of Wonder! We can’t wait to see the exciting events that take place in their new location, the Enercare Centre! Head to chafnow.ca/Toronto to find out more info.

Kaiser Permanente study finds culturally tailored program leads to long-term benefits in adults with hypertension

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Culturally tailored lifestyle coaching can help Black adults with hypertension improve their blood pressure control, new Kaiser Permanente research shows. Improving blood pressure control is key to reducing the risk for stroke, heart attack, and other hypertension-related health problems.

“Black adults have the highest rates of high blood pressure in the United States, and, for reasons we don’t fully understand, it starts at a younger age and results in strokes, heart attacks, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, and other serious hypertension-related health problems occurring at an earlier age as well,” said the study’s senior author, Stephen Sidney, MD, MPH, a research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. “We know how to treat high blood pressure with medication, but there is also a huge role that behaviour change can play in prevention and treatment. This study was a tremendous opportunity to see if we had an intervention that could change behaviours and get blood pressure under control.”

The study, published May 18 in JAMA Network Open, included 1,761 Black adults with high blood pressure who were members of Kaiser Permanente in Northern California. The patients joined 1 of 3 groups: usual care; usual care and 12-month enhanced medication management; or usual care and a 12-month coaching program of 16 phone sessions with a registered dietitian who talked to them about their diet choices and helped them lower their salt intake by adhering to the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) eating plan. Then, the researchers analyzed the impact the programs had on blood pressure control at 12, 24, and 48 months post-enrollment.

Statistical analyses showed no significant difference in blood pressure control among the 3 groups after 12 months. However, at both the 24-month and the 48-month mark, blood pressure control was significantly better among the patients who had received the lifestyle coaching than it was among patients in the enhanced medication management program or the usual care only group. At 24 months post-enrollment, 72.4% of the patients who received lifestyle coaching had controlled blood pressure, compared with 67.6% of the patients in the enhanced medication management program and 61.2% of patients receiving usual care. At 48 months the differences were sustained, with 73.1% of the patients in the lifestyle coaching group showing controlled blood pressure compared with 66.5% of the patients in the enhanced medication management program and 64.5% of the patients receiving usual care.

“We had hoped that a 12-month coaching program could help people learn how to start a healthy, low-salt eating plan,” said lead author Mai N. Nguyen-Huynh, MD, a research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research and the Kaiser Permanente Northern California regional medical director for primary stroke for The Permanente Medical Group. “But what was really eye-opening was learning that after the 1-year program ended these patients continued to have better blood pressure control, perhaps by sticking with the lifestyle changes they had learned — even though we had no contact with them.”

Black adults have significantly higher rates of high blood pressure than white, Latino, and Asian adults, and lower rates of blood pressure control. High blood pressure can cause damage to the arteries throughout the body, increasing the risk of a heart attack, stroke, dementia, or heart failure. The new study was funded through a national effort aimed at developing programs to reduce stroke disparities in racial/ethnic, rural, or lower socioeconomic populations.

The researchers said they believe their findings could lead to the introduction of similar programs that can help Black adults learn about dietary changes that improve blood pressure control. “This research opens up the door for the creation of programs that could be offered on a larger scale that implement the principles of coaching for behavioural change that we have shown can be effective,” said Dr. Sidney.

Added Dr. Nguyen-Huynh: “This is the only trial that has shown that a lifestyle coaching intervention can bring about changes that lead to better blood pressure control long after the intervention has ended. We’ve learned from the participants’ feedback what they felt were the most helpful aspects of the program, and we can use them to guide our next steps.”

Freshlocal Solutions Inc the parent company of SPUD files for creditor protection

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Pursuant to the Initial Order, Ernst & Young Inc. was appointed as monitor in the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) proceeding and will assist the Company in creating a restructuring plan, which is anticipated to include, among other things, immediately commencing a sale and investment solicitation process that would seek to monetize the Company’s core and non-core assets.
Ernst and Young is also set to finalize interim financing arrangements in order to obtain short term liquidity and continue with initiatives that will help streamline and focus the operations of the company — and its subsidiaries.

It has been a tumultuous few months for Freshlocal. Earlier this month, the company announced the resignation of a member of its board. In April, the company said it had entered into a “loan and security” agreement with a group of strategic lenders, which advanced Freshlocal $7 million to “support the company’s ongoing financial and operational transformation, and to ultimately replace Silicon Valley Bank as the company’s senior lender.

Meantime, trading of the company’s common shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange has been halted. It’s expected that the common shares may be delisted since the company has filed for protection under the CCAA.

Walmart Q1 Sales Up, Inflation Dents Bottom Line

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Walmart delivered strong top-line growth globally, reported total revenue of $141.6 billion, up 2.4%, or 2.6%. Although, growth was negatively affected by $5.0 billion caused by divestitures, and $0.4 billion from currency, according to the Bentonville, Ark.-based company. Walmart U.S. comp sales grew 3.0% and 9.0% on a two-year stack, gaining market share in grocery, while e-commerce growth was 1%, or 38% on a two-year stack.
Sam’s Club’s sales were a particular bright spot, with comps increasing 10.2%, and 17.4% on a two-year stack, while membership income increased 10.5%. On the other hand, Walmart International net sales were $23.8 billion, a decrease of $3.5 billion, or 13.0%, which Walmart said were negatively affected by $5.0 billion because of divestitures, and $0.4 billion from currency fluctuations. There were positive comps across all markets, however, and the company’s global advertising business grew more than 30%.

Walmart’s consolidated gross profit rate declined 87 basis points, primarily because of Sam’s Club, and 38 basis points in Walmart U.S. on elevated supply chain costs and product mix. Consolidated operating expenses as a percentage of net sales rose 45 basis points, mainly due to increased wage costs in Walmart U.S. Consolidated operating income was $5.3 billion, a decline of 23.0%, which Walmart said was negatively affected by $0.3 billion from divestitures.

Source: Wammart & progressive grocer

New Report Estimates the Metaverse Could Contribute 2.8% to Global GDP in Its First Decade

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Economic experts at Analysis Group, one of the largest international economics consulting firms, released a report suggesting that if metaverse adoption and impact evolve similarly to mobile technology, it could contribute 2.8% to global gross domestic product (GDP) in the 10th year after the adoption begins. If started in 2022, adoption of the metaverse over the next 10 years could lead to a $3-trillion contribution to global GDP in 2031. Like mobile technology, the metaverse is expected to have far-reaching applications, with the potential to transform a wide range of economic sectors such as education, health care, manufacturing, job training, communications, entertainment, and retail.

Najah Sampson Is Appointed President of Pfizer Canada

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Najah Sampson has been named President of Pfizer Canada ULC, effective May 16, 2022.

Ms. Sampson will be succeeding Cole Pinnow, who has held the position since January 2020.

Mr. Pinnow has been appointed to a position within Pfizer’s global Oncology organization. We sincerely thank him for his contribution to the Canadian pharmaceutical industry and for his commitment to patients. During his time in Canada, Mr. Pinnow made a very big impact as he led the Canadian organization from the beginning of the pandemic and helped bring Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine and oral treatment to Canadians. He was very involved in several life science sector organizations, including as Chair, Innovative Medicines Canada.

Prior to this role, Ms. Sampson was Vice President, Global Genitourinary Franchise Lead for Pfizer Oncology. She was responsible for ensuring global strategy development and implementation for an industry-leading portfolio of innovative brands and pipeline medicines in prostate, bladder and kidney cancers and the Oncology biosimilar portfolio.

In her 20+ year career at Pfizer, Ms. Sampson has held commercial leadership positions at all levels in the organization. Ms. Sampson served as Vice President and Chief of Staff to Pfizer’s Chairman and CEO, overseeing operations to advance enterprise priorities, supporting the Executive Leadership Team and Board of Directors, and coordinating with leaders across the organization to enable a strong corporate culture. Ms. Sampson began her career with Pfizer in the US organization managing a portfolio of quality improvement programs and enabling engagement strategies for managed care and institutional customers.

Notably, Ms. Sampson is the first woman to be appointed as President of Pfizer Canada.

Ms. Sampson holds a BS and an MBA from Florida A&M University. Outside of work, Ms. Sampson an active supporter of healthcare charities and organizations. She is an avid traveller and enjoys time outdoors with her husband and young daughter. She will be relocating with her family to Canada, where she will be based at Pfizer Canada’s head office in Kirkland, Quebec.

The Well Told Company enters into debt conversion agreement

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The company announced the execution of an agreement with an arm’s length service provider to convert $1.44 Million of debt into 4,520,000 common shares of the Company (“Shares”), currently equal to $180,800 based on the current market price of the Shares. 4,000,000 Shares are being issued at a price of ‎$0.355 per Share and 520,000 Shares are being issued at a price of $0.04 per Share. The Company, with the service provider’s consent, is determined to satisfy the indebtedness of these one-time go-public related fees with Shares in order to ‎‎preserve the ‎Company’s cash for working ‎capital.
Monica Ruffo, founder and CEO of Well Told, stated, “We are pleased to have come to an agreement that will serve to lighten our balance sheet and preserve our cash and enable us to move on from these one-time go-public fees without putting pressure on our cash flow”.

The transaction is subject to the approval of the directors of the Company and regulatory approval from the TSX Venture Exchange (the “Exchange”). In addition, all of the Shares issuable pursuant to the transaction will be subject to a four-month hold period following which 4,000,000 Shares will be released from lock-up every four months for a one-year period.

Loblaw Companies Limited has confirmed it has closed the deal

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The Brampton grocery giant has confirmed the closing of the previously announced acquisition of Lifemark Health Group (“Lifemark”) from Audax Private Equity.
Lifemark is a leading provider of outpatient physiotherapy, massage therapy, occupational therapy, chiropractic, mental health and other ancillary rehabilitation services in Canada. With this acquisition, Loblaw through its wholly-owned subsidiary Shoppers Drug Mart Inc., adds to its growing role as a healthcare service provider, with a network of health and wellness solutions, accessible in-person and digitally.

About Loblaw Companies Limited
Loblaw Companies Limited is Canada’s food and pharmacy leader, with a network of more than 2,400 corporate, franchised and Associate-owned locations in communities across the country. Loblaw’s purpose – Live Life Well® – supports the needs and well-being of Canadians who make one billion visits each year to the company’s stores.

Led by Shoppers Drug Mart, the leader in Canada’s retail drug store marketplace and the number one provider of pharmacy products and services, Loblaw offers full-service pharmacies and a range of services like prescriptions, med checks, vaccinations, minor-ailment diagnoses, and nutrition consultations in more than 1,800 locations in 10 provinces and 2 territories, including in Shoppers Drug Mart, PharmaPrix, Loblaw pharmacy, DRUGStore Pharmacy and CENTRESante locations.

About Lifemark Health Group
Lifemark Health Group is a Canadian leader in community rehabilitation, workplace health and wellness and medical assessment services. With over 20 years of service excellence, Lifemark Health Group is a comprehensive and trusted health provider with 3 million patient visits annually and employs over 5,000 highly trained clinicians, medical experts and team members.

As Canada’s largest physiotherapy company, Lifemark is passionate about enriching the health of Canadians through movement. Lifemark’s commitment to health and wellness extends beyond patient care, to the entire team, as evidenced by an award-winning culture.

About Audax Private Equity
Audax Group is a leading alternative investment manager with offices in Boston, New York, and San Francisco. Since its founding in 1999, the firm has raised over $30 billion in capital across its Private Equity and Private Debt businesses. Audax Private Equity has invested over $9 billion in more than 150 platforms and over 1050 add-on companies and is currently investing out of its $3.5 billion, sixth private equity fund. Through its disciplined Buy & Build approach, Audax seeks to help platform companies execute add-on acquisitions that fuel revenue growth, optimize operations, and significantly increase equity value. With more than 30 employees and over 100 investment professionals, the firm is a leading capital partner for North American middle market companies.

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