The Benninger Blog  |
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 Jon Benninger
is the director of business development at Virgo Publishing, with responsibility for industry outreach and new business development. Benninger entered the natural products industry in 1990 and joined Virgo in 1995 as the founding editor of HSR magazine, now Natural Products Marketplace. He is an active member of many associations, including the American Botanical Council (ABC), American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) and Natural Products Association (NPA). He also serves on the board of directors of the Natural Products Foundation.
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08/26/2008
NPA, Virgo offering Advanced GMP Course before SupplySide West
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08/25/2008
Will 2009 be "the year of stevia"? Find out at SupplySide West workshop
Each year it seems that one botanical or other natural/healthy ingredient steals the show. Past champions have included fish oil, St. John's wort, hoodia, melatonin, etc. For 2009, stevia looks like the big winner. Granted, there are still regulatory hurdles, but with the muscle of companies like Coca-Cola, Cargill, Pepsi and others behind it, those hurdles seem to be getting lower. Another indication is the media coverage. In fact, it was media coverage that really drove the sales explosions for those ingredients listed above. Click here to see an article about stevia in today's LA Times. Of more concern than the regulatory hurdles is the potential for industry to make mistakes like it did with St. John's wort and other ingredients. Once the market takes off, some will be tempted to take regulatory or quality short cuts, which damages the market for everyone. Let's hope industry has learned from past mistakes and can handle this opportunity properly. Recognizing that stevia is hot topic right now, we have developed a pre-conference workshop on the subject to take place Oct 22, 8:30 - 11:30 am at SupplySide West in Las Vegas. The event is titled "Stevia Update: Regulatory Status, Market Potential and Product Development", and it is only $25 thanks to sponsorships from Blue California, MTC Industries, and SweetLeaf Sweetener. To learn more or to register, click here.
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08/22/2008
FDA, all 6 NIH Botanical Research Centers, Estee Lauder among 90+ sessions at SupplySide West
Details of the SupplySide West education program sponsored by Cognis Nutrition and Health have been posted online and sent out in our Show Planner, and what a program it is. We've added a 5th concurrent track that includes sessions from the Research Chefs Association and sessions on Animal Nutrition (a very exciting area for functional ingredients). In fact, we now offer more than 90 sessions covering science, regulations, market trends and more. We have confirmed speakers from FDA, all six NIH-funded Botanical Research Centers, Estee Lauder, International Food Information Council, Tufts, Mintel, Packaged Facts, Sloan Trends, and many many more. We also have more than 40 company-sponsored presentations on specific ingredient science ( click here for schedule). And, we have in-depth pre- and post-conference workshops focused on stevia, probiotics, and essential fatty acids. And, there is the 2-day GMP Training Event provided by the Natural Products Association, as well as the Natural Marketing Institute's Nutritional Trends Workshop. There is no other event that offers so much information about the dietary supplement, functional/healthy food and beverage, and cosmetic industries. I'll see you there!
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08/21/2008
INSIDER is now available in digital format, and you can subscribe for free
Another new service we are happy to offer is the digital edition of Natural Products Insider magazine. This digital edition is exactly like the printed magazine. Click here to see the Aug 18 edition. And if you want a free subscription to the digital magazine, click here. The digital edition is also accessible through the Insider web site. This digital edition is great for those of you outside the United States because it arrives so much faster than the printed edition. Check it out, and let us know what you think.
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08/20/2008
New "Search SupplySide" tool helps attendees find what they are looking for
Just today, we went live with a new tool to help you find what you are looking for at SupplySide West. With more than 1100 booths, navigating the show floor can be a challenge. The new "Search SupplySide" tool allows you to search by company name, brand name, keyword and ingredient/service. To try it out, just click on the "Search SupplySide" option in the top menu of the SupplySide site. You can get detailed information about each company, organize your list by booth number, and print your lists to take to the show. This service will also be available at the show itself. Now, you can arrive at SupplySide with a well-organized "shopping list" and make the best use of your time. If you have any questions or need some help, just email me or give me a call at (480) 990-1101, ext 1108. Enjoy!
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08/19/2008
INSIDER site now offers improved "Search" and more daily news posts
I am pleased to report that our latest upgrade to the INSIDER website is now available. The improved "Search" tool now provides even more relevant results from our nearly 10 years of archived news stories and features. Type in a company name, product name, ingredient, issue or whatever, and click "search." I think you will find this tool to be very useful for your research needs. You can use it to learn more about a competitor, supplier, customer, product idea, market trend, regulation, etc. And now, you can sort the search results by both relevance and date.Type in your own company name and see what you find out. This search tool is in the top, right-hand corner of the INSIDER web site. You may have also noticed that we are posting a lot more news each day. This is the result of a re-organized editorial process that has enabled us to increase our output of relevant articles. We post news as soon as we get it, so make a quick visit to our site each morning or afternoon to see what is going on in your industry. We have some more exciting things in development too. As always, we are committed to constantly improving the services we offer to you.
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08/18/2008
TGA pays $55 million settlement to Pan for 2003 company-wide recall ... wow
An Australian government agency (TGA) pays a multimillion dollar settlement to a company to compensate for regulatory actions that damaged the company ( click here)? Wow. When I think back on all of the examples of FDA saying or doing things that damaged the dietary supplement industry, I have but one thing to say: I wish this was Australia. I wholeheartedly support the important responsibility that FDA has to regulate industries and protect public health. However, when FDA hurts a company, product or industry due to bias, overzealous enforcement action, political positioning, ignorance or apathy, where is the accountability? One of the reasons that the TGA settled this case is apparently the revelation that it held a meeting in which it was decided to use an enforcement situation to "go for the jugular" of this company. The TGA forced a recall of all 1600 Pan products (though only one was in question at the time), revoked the company's license, and effectively destroyed this $300 million publicly traded company. It is nice to see that someone down under is regulating the regulators.
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