Industry Leaders Address Challenges, Opportunities at Focus on the Future

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.-- An array of leading industry executives came together for Virgo Publishing's second annual Focus on the Future Executive Conference & Retreat to network and address the challenges--and opportunities--confronting the natural products industry.

"With the industry under scrutiny from the government, media and consumers, it was important to provide a forum for industry leaders to have candid discussions about how our industry can continue the mission of improving consumers' health," said Peggy Jackson, director of publishing for Virgo's Health & Nutrition Division. "These executives took time to get down to business and build stronger connections, while enjoying a relaxed setting."

More than 80 participants, from companies including The Solae Co., Nutraceutical Corp. and NOW Foods, took the time to listen to and learn from the six FutureFocus presentations, sponsored by Kemin Foods. "The educational content was extremely relevant, highlighted by representatives from both FDA and FTC," said Dan Murray, associate nutrition director with Fair Lawn, N.J.-based Lonza Inc. "The level of participation by the industry's executive management at this year's Focus meeting was outstanding."

The conference started off with representatives from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) discussing industry and regulatory affairs. David Elder, director of FDA's Office of Enforcement, Office of Regulatory Affairs, discussed how the industry can stay FDA compliant. He added that industry has to realize that just because FDA doesn't go after a company violating compliancy doesn't mean that company's in the right. "Our resources are limited, and we have to prioritize our concerns," he told the crowd.

FTC's Leslie Fair, a senior attorney in the agency's division of advertising practices, discussed a point of view she felt the industry should always put first: the consumer. "If FTC had a slogan, it would be an educated consumer is our best consumer," she said. Fair went on to discuss deceptive and misleading claims on products, such as those for weightloss. She said that adding "up to," "may" or "might" to a claim did not make it truthful.

In other government news, during the conference Paul Coates, Ph.D., the director of the National Institutes of Health's Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS), announced a new five-year strategic plan for 2004 through 2009. The plan includes promoting ongoing evaluation of existing ODS programs, assessing needs for new programs and prioritizing resource allocation, as well as conducting annual consultative meetings and forming an ODS steering committee.

"The overall message is we still need to do more research," Coates said of the plan, "particularly the why and how people use supplements." He added that although the plan is broad, it allows for accommodations to be made under outlined goals, and Coates encouraged industry to discuss the future goals of ODS. "We like people to feel like they can and should come to us about how and where ODS should be going," he stated.

Following in the steps of last year's media speaker Jane Brody, free-lance journalist Michael Fumento gave the perspective of a general health journalist looking at the natural products industry during his FutureFocus presentation. Fumento is known for his skepticism of many health claims and of the government's regulatory role. "Leave Ephedra Alone," an article he wrote in July 2003 for Scripps Howard, was one of the only pieces that compared the safety of the weight-loss botanical to products such as aspirin or caffeine, and much of his talk focused on the ephedra issue. "Tying ephedra to Steve Bechler's death is like saying his death was avian-related, because he was a Baltimore Oriole and died," he said. "Unfortunately, media scare-mongering drives a lot of these stories, and personal responsibility is not as exciting as blaming corporate America for these deaths. Was the media out to get ephedra? No. There is no bias toward or against the industry--it's Page One versus page 38. It's about selling papers." He suggested industry members be more proactive when dealing with the media to ensure stories are at least balanced: "It's like throwing a rock into the pond to get the ripple effect throughout stories."

Opening the second day of FutureFocus talks, Elizabeth Sloan, Ph.D., discussed the products and conditions the industry should be up on to better sell to today's consumer. For instance, she reported that among the top 10 conditions Americans attempt to treat are weight (for health reasons), cholesterol, weight (for appearance), joint pain and stress.

Sloan added industry should keep on top of trends by seeing what conditions are at the forefront of the pharmaceutical industry. "When the big companies get involved, that's when products become popular," she said.

In the presentation on intellectual property, Nutrition 21's Gail Montgomery and Roger Wyse, Ph.D., of Burrill & Co. discussed developing products based on symptoms and individual genotypes rather than an overall condition. "If we don't step up to the plate in terms of R&D investments, the industry will have no future," Montgomery said. "We're not taking advantage of DSHEA [the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act]. What it offers us is the ability to sell products and get real-life results."

The final FutureFocus presentation gave participants the chance to speak out on the importance of staying involved in industry affairs, with discussion turning to the newly formed Coalition to Preserve DSHEA. "We do a great disservice to the industry if we rely only on scare tactics," said Byron Johnson, nutrition industry relations director, technical regulatory affairs department, of Access Business Group/Nutrilite, a subsidiary of Alticor Inc. "We have to look forward to FDA regulating this industry and having money for that enforcement. This could be a good year, but we all must be committed with our feet and our pocketbooks. Washington isn't cheap."
Joe Bresse, vice president of product development and industry relations for General Nutrition Centers, agreed with Johnson's assessment. He added the general move in health care from treatment of disease to prevention bodes well for nutritional products. "But we have to make sure our products are made right," he said. "The opportunity is there to move into a much larger market."

Outside of the FutureFocus track, a special presentation took place during lunch on Jan. 28, sponsored by E.T. Horn. AOAC International discussed its history in helping industries develop validated testing methods to promote science as a baseline for quality. Jim Roza, director of quality assurance with NOW Foods and chairman of AOAC's dietary supplement task force, gave attendees several ways to get involved with AOAC's work. "These analytical methods are fundamental to what we do," he said. "Whether you serve as a resource, submit methods or become a corporate affiliate, you're helping foster the good work we've begun."

Outside of the seminar sessions, attendees took time to enjoy several networking opportunities, supported by individual sponsoring companies and a general sponsorship from Aloecorp. Evening receptions were sponsored by NSF International, Proliant Health Ingredients and Blue California; each event included hosted beverages and snacks. Continental breakfasts were sponsored by Nutrition 21 and Degussa Food Ingredients, while Unigen Pharmaceuticals and Cardinal Nutrition sponsored session breaks. On Wednesday night, Lonza Inc. sponsored a dinner at the Millennium's Pinon Grill restaurant, complete with steak, salmon and Chocolate Voodoo cake. Thursday's buffet lunch was sponsored by Buckton Scott Nutrition, while that night brought a special dessert and cordial reception hosted by Natural Products Industry INSIDER and HSR: Health Supplement Retailer.

On the last day of the conference, Focus on the Future participants watched for Phil Mickelson from a corporate tent on the 18th hole of the FBR Open (formerly the Phoenix Open) while enjoying 70-degree weather and a catered lunch, with tent and food sponsored by Pharmachem Laboratories. Twenty duffers also came out to Phoenix early to participate in a golf outing on before the conference officially began.

"I thoroughly enjoyed the conference but, more importantly, I benefited from it substantially," Montgomery said. "I enjoyed the longer presentation formats--the depth and breadth of information was helpful and it was good to be able to make direct contact with these presenters." She added she also had the opportunity to schedule a few critical meetings with other industry partners while enjoying the Phoenix sun.
Virgo Publishing's director of business development, Jon Benninger, said the company was pleased with the event. "In this time of both challenge and opportunity, it is inspiring to see industry leaders come together to share ideas and opinions," he said. "These are the people who will lead our industry into its future."

For information, contact Amy Sharman at
480-990-1101, ext. 1543