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Informas Heather Granato Named a Top Woman in MediaInformas Heather Granato Named a Top Woman in Media

Informa Exhibitions’ own Heather Granato made the list of Folio:'s annual Top Women in Media demonstrating that she excellently leads not only the brands in Informa’s Global Health & Nutrition Network, but creates positive change in larger supplement and nutrition industries.

Sandy Almendarez

April 13, 2015

4 Min Read
Informas Heather Granato Named a Top Woman in Media

Informa Exhibitions’ own Heather Granato made the list of Folio:'s annual Top Women in Media demonstrating that she excellently leads not only the brands in Informa’s Global Health & Nutrition Network, but creates positive change in larger supplement and nutrition industries.

Folio's Top Women in Media celebrates the creativity and accomplishments of women in the publishing industry who have moved their teams, brands and companies forward, made strides in their respective markets and created lasting impressions on their colleagues

For the many in the industry who are familiar with Heather’s work, this is a “no duh" recognition. She is currently vice president of content for Informa’s Health & Nutrition Network, but she’s held many content titles and roles in her 20-plus years in the industry. Under her leadership, the media brands at Informa (formerly VIRGO) have won numerous awards and recognitions.

“Heather is sought out for her perspective and ideas by many of her peers in industry," said Jon Benninger, vice president, Health & Nutrition, Informa Exhibitions. “Her ability to process large amounts of information and determine what it all means is a special trait that makes her a valuable colleague and strategic thinker. She is also exceptional at taking visionary or theoretical concepts and making them practical and real."

Among Heather’s contributions to industry that led to her Folio recognition include:

  • Industry Strategy and Advocacy—Heather holds monthly strategy calls with the executive leadership of the leading associations, where she shares her take on the most important issues facing industry and discusses ways that she and Informa can work with the associations to improve industry. In 2014, Heather was awarded the Visionary Award for industry leadership from the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA).

  • The SupplySide Compliance Program—Informa works with leading trade associations to develop the SupplySide Compliance Program with input from these associations and others in order to increase the level of scientific substantiation and regulatory compliance at SupplySide West, the large trade show where suppliers of ingredients and developers of foods, beverages, supplements and cosmetics connect. Along with volunteers from the associations, Heather and her team inspect exhibits in the 1,800-booth Expo Hall prior to the opening of the show. If inappropriate claims are found, the exhibitor is asked to remove or cover those claims before the trade show begins.

  • Documentaries on the ingredient supply chain—The R&D and the Botanical Supply Chain documentary took Heather and her team to Milan and Verona in Italy to document the modern R&D processes of medicinal herbs. From farms in Verona to state-of-the-art research and processing facilities in Milan, Heather showed quality control labs and production facilities operating in compliance with the highest of regulatory requirements. In addition to winning the 2013 min’s Best of the Web Award, the documentary has helped industry showcase its investments in science.

The Innovation & Investment in China documentary took Heather and her team to five cities in China in to document supply chain investments being made by Chinese companies. Heather’s team visited farm, labs, factories and board rooms to tell the story of the investments taking place in China to drive innovation, quality and market leadership. The documentary has helped companies in the global market better understand the full picture of supply from China.

The Quality & Sustainability in Omega 3s documentary took Heather to Texas to document new technology enabling the production of nutritionally valuable omega-3 fatty acids from algae. The production facility uses local brackish water and sunshine in an otherwise untapped part of Texas to produce high-value omega-3.

The Boardroom Journal—This free Digital Journal tackles the most important issues being faced by the executive leadership at companies in the global consumer products market. Each issue includes contributions from top thinkers from industry, academia, NGOs and government. The web page for each issue includes the issue itself, as well as infographics, slide shows, videos and other relevant content.

This is just a fraction of what Heather does for Informa and the nutrition industry; it’s difficult to list out all that she has a hand in, as it’s so much. INSIDER would not be the great publication is it without her leadership, and the same could be said for all of our brands including SupplySide, Food Product Design, Omega-3 Insights, PetFood and Animal Nutrition 2.0, Personal Tech MD and the soon to be launched Healthy Retail Conference and Expo.

Personally, I would not be the editor I am without Heather as a strong role model.

Please join me in congratulating Heather for a much-deserved recognition. (Tweet to her at @HeatherGranato!)

Heather will be honored on June 8, 2015 in New York City at the Folio’s Top Women in Media Awards Luncheon.

About the Author(s)

Sandy Almendarez

editor in chief, Informa

Sandy Almendarez entered the natural products industry in 2009 when she joined Virgo Publishing (now Informa Exhibitions) as an assistant editor. Since then, she's worked her way up to editor in chief where she writes, edits and manages content for INSIDER. Under Sandy’s direction, INSIDER has won editorial awards from Folio: every year since 2014, including B2B Editorial Team of the Year in 2015.

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