We are at all times on the lookout for the latest in health and wellness products. However, we want results, not just keywords and classy packaging. We sat down with Cameron Fischer, co-founder of VitalFit Nutrition, a viable plant-based protein supplement company headquartered in Boston, MA. VitalFit Nutrition creates nutritional supplements with whole plant foods, such as pumpkin and sour cherries, that help individuals fight external stressors, (mental and physical), recover efficiently, and help achieve optimal performance.
VitalFit Co Founders, Cameron & Alfred
Our interviews are sure to pique your interest in learning how to add nutritional boosts to improve your health and lifestyle.
OR: How did you come up with the idea for VitalFit Nutrition?
CFs: We started VitalFit as part of our graduate school thesis project at Babson College. What grumbles with assigned sales clerks, flashy marketing and an absence of industry accountability, turned into our full time venture. However, it was a back injury from playing basketball that actually led us to our first product. Sick of taking ibuprofen and having no luck finding natural alternatives, we feel like something is missing. Finally, we came across Tart Cherry juice, which turned out to be very effective and we started attempting to find the best way to bring about its effect and apply it to the health and wellness space. At the same time, we see a gap between performance and lifestyle products. There are a lot of products for athletes and general health and few meet in the middle for the fitness conscious working professional. All of these events contributed to us moving forward in creating VitalFit Nutrition.
OR: How is your company different from other supplement companies?
CFs: We’ve created a range of natural recovery products rooted in preventive optimization, homeopathy, and naturopathy—ways to get your mind and body back on course with the right fixes, not the quick ones. At VitalFit, we want to basically change the way supplements are designed—and we do not just discuss increasing transparency, using quality ingredients, and staying gluten-free, which we do. Our intention is to turn around the product development process by inviting the healthcare community into our design process to create products we not only need, but are comfy using every day.
OR: With the fast-paced lifestyles and busy schedules that almost all of us engage in, it can be difficult to manage optimal nutrition. What do you recommend?
CFs: With all that goes on in a day, I believe the most vital thing to remember is that optimal nutrition is more than an act or individual nutrition, it is a collection of choices and ingredients working together. That said, a salad here, a grain bowl there, and exercise in between are all great starts, but they’re all that determine nutrition and overall health. Try taking a couple of minutes to reflect at the end of every day or week and see which individual decisions were most helpful to yourself and try to incorporate more of them next week.
OR: Which of your VitalFit products has been the best seller so far and why?
CFs: VitalFit Tart Cherry was not only the first product we launched, but it remains our best selling product. I believe there are two main reasons why it is selling so well; (1) raise awareness around the negative effects of anti-inflammatory drugs and (2) Tart Cherry is a fast-acting natural anti-inflammatory that works very similarly to ibuprofen (or other over-the-counter Non-Cons). steroidal Antiinflammatory, NSAIDs), but without side effects.
While there is no scarcity of buzzwords in the health and wellness industry today, inflammation is not one of them. Acute inflammation is something we all need to deal with when injured. However, chronic inflammation is not. Side effects include fatigue, digestive problems, joint pain, brain fog and anxiety. Physical and mental stress (from exercise to the day at work) can increase markers of inflammation. I believe because people are more aware of the causes and symptoms of inflammation, they’re looking to treatments aside from ibuprofen and aspirin because they’ve enough side effects themselves.
Tart Cherry is an incredible natural alternative to existing inflammation treatments and has been shown to have the highest anti-inflammatory properties of any food, acts comparatively quickly (generally 1-3 hours after taking it) and has virtually no side effects. They are easily digested by the stomach. Whether or not you are sore from working out, recovering from an injury, or waking up with a stiff neck, Tart Cherry can really help.
OR: Where are your products sold?
CFs: Apart from our website, we sell our products together health food/natural supplement stores and wellness studio boutiques. We choose our partners carefully. We spend as much time getting to know our retailers who examine their products as thoroughly as we examine our ingredients. Our goal is to work with retailers where we think customers should shop irrespective of whether or not they buy our products or not.
The same goes for the fitness studios where we work. Wellness studios aren’t sellers of traditional nutritional products. We work with many studio instructors to help us develop and test the product, basically bringing the studio into our design process and turning it into a robust sales funnel.
OR: Who is your target market?
CFs: Our customers are modern recreational athletes. They are health conscious users who care about their fitness but do not train for anything particularly. Because of this, we have customer training for endurance-based events like marathons or long-distance cycling. Most of our customers are ordinary people who have integrated health, wellness and wellness into their lifestyle and are attempting to find natural products to help improve rather than change them. Products that provide a little extra boost during a workout or fitness class—a natural remedy to help their bodies recover from their daily grind.
OR: How do you stay fit and healthy?
CFs: There aren’t many constants in terms of starting your own company, every day is a little different. Because of that, I try to make staying fit and healthy a constant. No matter how the day went, I made sure to do my practice and take a step back from everything that was happening. I generally arrive around 7pm or 8pm. I found an empty spot in my house and worked out for about 50 minutes. I hurt my back over a year ago, which really led us to find Tart Cherry, so no big weight for me. All of my workouts incorporate intervals and body weight training. Functional fitness is unquestionably another buzzword right now, but I’m a big believer in it.
OR: We love your packaging! Please tell us about the design. Is it recyclable?
CFs: Thank You. I believe packaging says a lot about who you are and what you represent. There are too many flashy labels and too many white plastic bottles. We take pride in the products we make and we want our customers to be pleased with what they get, so we design our jars to look better on the counter than hidden in a cabinet. Plus, glass containers are reusable and environmentally friendly.
OR: Who is on your advisory board?
CFs: We have put together a really knowledgeable advisory board. While we are health and wellness enthusiasts, I would not say we are the experts, which is why it’s so important that we surround ourselves with a board of specialists to help formulate our products. Our board includes integrative medication specialists, naturopathic doctors, natural products experts and a group of fitness instructors. We basically go into the field, identify the problems our customers are facing and then work with our advisors to create a safe, carefully assembled product that solves them. The whole process is very collaborative.
OR: What inspires you?
CFs: One of our first retailers, Cambridge Naturals, was a real inspiration for me. They are an excellent natural food and supplement store that has been in business for over 40 years. Between the emergence of massive box retailers and e-commerce, they’ve managed to set themselves apart with a really original approach to doing business in the health and wellness space. It’s not about quick sales and sky-high profits. It’s about building relationships and helping people overcome the noise, values we have made an integral part of our business.
OR: If you were not a manufacturer of plant-based supplements, what do you think you would do?
CFs: Definitely helping other entrepreneurs turn their ideas into something great. I still have a lot to learn but the idea of helping someone refine their vision and bring it to market excites me.
OR: What would you say to your 8 year old self?
CFs: Do not forget to reflect on your achievements. One of the toughest parts of starting your own company is the absence of structure. Just because there is not at all times someone there to pat you on the back does not imply you are not making progress or doing a good job. It’s easy to undergo a few weeks and not realize how much you have accomplished. That accomplishment gives you the impetus to keep pushing. Of course, it is just as important to reflect, not dwell on your mistakes. There are learning opportunities in each and the quicker you reflect, identify and adapt, the stronger you will be.
OR: Thank you Cameron for taking the time to share your knowledge with us. I wish you continued success and that I look forward to receiving my products.
CFs: With pleasure Olivia and look at the post. I look forward to our next interview.
To learn more about VitalFit Nutrition and to order supplements, please visit: https://vitalfitnutrition.com
You can even follow VitalFit on social media:
https://www.facebook.com/vitalfitnutrition/
https://www.instagram.com/p/Be1MgCTliIs/?taken-by=vitalfit_nutrition
