Mitch Gould has “retail” in hi? DNA.
A third-generation retail professional, Gould learned thhe consumer goods industry from his
father ?nd grandfather ?hile growing ?p in ?ew Yoork City.
?ne ?f hiss fiirst sales jobs ?as t?king orde?s from neighbors f?r
bagels ev?ry week.
A? an adult ?ith a career that spans more than three decades, Gould moved ?n f?om bagels, cream
cheese, ?nd lox t? epresent m?ny of the leading product
manufacturers ?f consumer ?oods in America: Igloo, Rubbermaid, Sunbeam, Remington, Chapin,
Paramount, Miracle-Gro, Native Remedies, Flora Health,
Steven Seagal’? Lightning Bolt, Body Basix, ?nd Hulk Hogan’? extreme energy granules.
“? st?rted ?n the lawn ?nd garden industry ?ut expanded m? horizons e?rly
on,” said Gould, CEO and founder of Nutritional Products International, ? globl brand management firm based
?n Bocaa Raton, Fl. “I worke? with Igloo,
Sunbeam, Remington -- a?l major brands that
have ?een leaders in the consumerr ?oods industry.”
Eventually, Gould segued intoo nutritional products.
“? relized ?arly tthe nutritonal supplements ?ere m?ch more
than just multivitamins,” Gould sa?d. “American consumers wer?
ready t? take dietry supplements and health and
wellness products ?nto a whole new level ?f retail success.”
Gould solidified his success in the health and wellness industry thr?ugh his partnerships with ?-List celebrities whho anted t? develop nutritional products
aand h?? place inn Amazon history when the online ecommerce retailer expanded ?eyond books,
music, ?nd electronics.
“?uring my career, I attended many galas ?nd charity events where I met diffe?ent celebrities, ?uch ?s Hulk Hogan ?nd
Chuck Liddel,” Gould ?aid, adding th?t
he eventually partnered ?ith several of these famous entrepreneurs ?nd developed nutritional
products, ?uch a? Hulk Hogan’s Extreme Energy Granules.
“?orking ?ith them to create new health andd
wllness products gave me ? fir?t-hand look ihto the burgeoning nutritional sector,” Gould ?aid.
“I realized tthat staying healthy ?as very imp?rtant to
my generation. ?y kids wer? ev?n mote focused on staying fit ?nd healthy.”
Whhen Amazon decided t? add a halth and wellness category, Gould
?as alre?dy positioned to place more than 150 brands and even m?re
products onto the virtual shelves the online giant waas adding ?ver? ?ay in the ea?ly 2000s.
“? met Jeff Fernandez, ?ho was ?n th? Amazon team that was building
the ne? category f?om the ground up,” Gould sa?d.
“? a?so had contacts in the health and wellness industry, ?uch as Kenneth ?.
Collins, ?ho was vice president of operations f?r Muscle Foods,
?ne of th? largest sports nutrition distributors ?n the worl?.
Gould ?aid th?? “Powerhouse Trifecta” ?ould not have as?ed fo? a ?etter
synergy ?etween the thre? of th?m.
“?his w?? capitalism at its ?est. Amazon demanded new high-quality dietary supplements, ?nd w? supplied them w?th more
th?n 150 brands ?nd products,” he a?ded.
?h? “Powerhouse Trifecta” ?orked ?ut ?o well th?t Gould eventually hired Fernandez t? wrk f?r NPI, wh??e
he iss now president of the company, and Collins,
?ho is the ne? executive vice president ?f
NPI.
“W? wor? well t?gether,” Gould added.
Fernandez, who also worked as a buyer for Walmart,
said the three ?f them have close to 75 years ?f
retail buying aand selling experience.
“NPI clients benefit from ?ur years of knowledge,” Fernandez
added.
Gould ?aid product manufacturers ?re unlikely to find three professionals
with ouur experience representing retailers ?nd brands.
“We know ?hat brands need to do, and ?e understand wh?t retailers want,”
Gould ?aid.
After hi? success with Amazon, Gould founded NPI ?nd solidified
his ?lace ?n the dietary supplement ?nd health
?nd wellness sectors.
“?t was timne to concentrate ?n health products,” Gould ?aid, addiong th?t h? has w?rked
w?th more th?n 200 domestic andd international brands
th?t wanted t? launch neww products ?r expand their presence ?n the
largest consumer market in the worl?: the United St?tes.
“As I visited the corporate headquarteers ?f
?ome of the largest retailers ?n th? world, I realized th?t international brands ?eren’t being represented in American stores,” Gould said.
“? realized these companies, eespecially the international brands, struggled t? gain a foothold in Ameriocan retail stores.”
?hen Gould surveyed the challengves confronting international product manufacturers,
he visualized ? solution.
“?hey we?? burning through tens of thousands ?f
dollars t? launch their products,” Gould ?aid.
“By the time they sold their firsst unit, th?y haad eaten aqay at thei? profit margin.”
Goyld ?aid the biggest challenge ?a? learning tw? new cultures:
America ?nd Wall Street.
“Th?? di?n’t understand th? American consumers, and they di?n’t know h?w American businesses operated,” Gould
?aid. “Th?t ?s wher? ? ?ome iin with NPI.”
To provide th? foreign coompanies ith the business support they nee?e?,
Gould developed his lauded “Evolution ?f Distribution” platform.
“I brought t?gether everything brands needed to launch their
products in the U.S.,” he said. “Inste?d ?f ?pening ? new office in America, ? made NPItheir headquarters ?n thhe U.S.
Since I already h?? a sales stadf ?n place, they didn’t
have t? hire a sales teaam wit support staff.
?nstead, NPI didd it for them.”
Gould sa?d NPI supplied everdy service that brands needed t? sell products in America successful?y.
“Since many of the?e products needed FDA approval, ? hired a food scientist ?ith m?re than 10 y?ars experience t? streamline th? approval of
the products’ labels,” Gould ?aid.
NPI’s import, logistics, and operations manager ?orked with new clients to
make sure sipped samples d?dn’t end up in quarantine by the
U.S. Customs.
“O?r logistic team has decades ?f experience importing ne? products ito
the U.S. too our warehouse and then shipping them to
retaail buyers ?nd retailers,” Gould sa??. “NPI offers a one-?top, turnkey solution t?o
import, distribute, ?nd market new products ?n the U.S.”
To provide al? the brands' services, Gould founded ? new company, InHealth Media,
t? market the brands to consumes ?nd retailers.
“? saaw tthe companies wastin thousands
?f dollars on Madison Avenue marketing campaigns that failed to deliver,”
Gould s?id.
Inst?ad of outsourcing marketing t? costly agencies orr building ? marketing team fr?m scratch, InHealth Media ?orks synergistically w?th ?ts sister company,
NPI.
“InHealth Media’s marketing strdategy ?s perfectly aligned with NPI’s retail
expansion plans,” Gould ?dded. “T?gether,
w? import, distribute, ?nd maeket ne? products a?ross the country
?y emphasizing speed t? market at an affordable ?rice.”
InHealth Media ?ecently increased its marketing efforts
?y adding national and regional TV promotion t? its services.
"Lifestyle TV hosts are the original social media influencers,"
Gould said. "Our clients are getting phenomenal coverage that can reach more than 100 million TV households in America. In addition, we are giving them high-quality TV promotions.
Gould said IHM also has increased its emphasis on “earned media,” which is when journalists and bloggers offer coverage for free instead of the pay and play model that exists in many formats today.
“We have access to thousands of media professionals that we reach out to on a regular basis,” Gould said. “Because our clients have created innovative products, we have been able to get them coverage in top trade publications and general mass websites, such as HGTV, Forbes, and Vitamin Retailer.
“You cannot buy this kind of credibility, prestige, and coverage because it is not for sale,” Gould said. “Our team has developed contacts with these major news outlets, which is how they found out about our clients’ products.”
NPI works with large and small product manufacturers.
“We emphasize timeliness and affordability,” he said. “We know all the costs, so there are no surprises. When the brand sells its first product to a consumer, they have the profit margin they set as a goal months earlier.”
Gould is proud of his “Evolution of Distribution” platform.
“I developed it to help international brands succeed,” Gould said.
During the years, Gould successfully used his “Evolution of Distribution” to help new brands, such as Scitec Nutrition and Native Remedies, both of which succeeded in conquering the U.S. market..
“We saw that NPI had lots of experience in helping companies get a good foothold in the U.S. Working together, NPI has been instrumental in introducing us to various key distribution channels (including The Vitamin Shoppe),” said a Scitec Nutrition executive.
Native Remedies also benefited from NPI’s “Evolution of Distribution.”
“We are thrilled to have our products available at these top retailers,” said George Luntz, then president and co-founder of Native Remedies. “It is great to have a business partner like NPI helping to expand our market reach. We expect this to be a banner year for us.”
Gould said he is proud that these companies succeeded with NPI’s help.
“This is what NPI does,” Gould said. “We find innovative and creative health, wellness, and beauty products, and the NPI and IHM teams work together to introduce them to consumers and retailers.”
For more information, call 561-544-0719 or visit nutricompany.com.