Women in Nutraceuticals has arrived

Women in Nutraceuticals (WIN)​, a group spearheaded by a cohort of nutraceutical leaders from across the globe, has announced its formal launch aimed at unlocking female potential.

The organization comes in with a vision to inspire, empower and motivate women in the industry to achieve success by igniting a movement to build support for women across the nutraceutical supply chain.

This year’s goals include establishing benchmarking data on women’s roles in the industry, helping increase the percentage of women holding leadership roles, assisting with securing funding for female-led businesses and ensuring female representation in research. The organization will also foster connections through networking events and education.

A need for change

Julia Wiebe, Managing Director of WIN, told NutraIngredients-USA​ that she is excited to see how ongoing discussions ultimately resulted in the organization.

“WIN will help the nutraceutical industry to live up to its full potential and exploit 100% of its talent, by increasing women's presence in research and innovation, in the C-suits and on company boards. The identification and elimination of glass ceilings, glass walls and stereotypes and the creation of flexible working and equal economical conditions will foster increasing participation of women in decision making. The support through mentorship and sponsorship will help women to reach the C-suite, increasing the openness to change, the ability to adapt and the chances of financial success of companies,”​ said Wiebe.

WIN President Heather Granato told us that across the nutraceuticals community, she has witnessed a growing interest in accelerating change in the industry.

“To truly make a difference in consumer health, we need to ensure that our industry and our organizations reflect the face and values of our consumers. Having honest dialogue on how we bring more women into the C-suite, fund women-led and -owned businesses, and bring in more women in science—both running research and the need for studies on women—will help us collectively make positive change. Further, offering opportunities to empower the next generation of female leaders will keep our nutraceutical industry at the cutting edge as we think differently and proactively to impact health in a positive way.”​

According to the 2021 Women in the Workplace report, 86 women to every 100 men are promoted to first-level manager, with women under-represented in leadership roles across the nutraceutical industry.

“The lack of female leadership representation is a disservice to the industry as women represent the majority of consumers and consistently add significant value when they hold influential positions. WIN was formed to amplify women’s industry standing, and provide them support, resources, and tools to achieve professional and personal success,”​ said Granato.

Unleashed

“The time has come to unleash the talents of women not only in governance, execution and flow of investment, but also in addressing the many challenging issues facing the nutraceutical industry. My confidence is even more reinforced by the dynamic people –women and men– who have contributed their talent to forming this organization,”​ said WIN Vice President, Jan Mills.

While most members of the organization are women, the group is open to all genders. WIN’s Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer, Doug Reader, said he was inspired to join by his 10-year-old daughter.

“I want her living in a world where she is honored for being a person, has a perspective to be shared, and be part of essential decision making. I want a world of “people,” –not diversity to achieve ‘numbers,’ a world where who you are as a person matters. I would like to see this world well in place before she ever starts a career,”​ said Reader.

Coming to stage near you

WIN will be represented during a Main Stage session at the global industry event Vitafoods Asia:
Thursday October 6 at 16:00-16:30 Main Stage: ‘Addressing gender parity in science and research’ will feature Heather Granato, VP, Partnerships & Sustainability, Food EMEA at Informa Markets; Annie George PhD, Head of Science & Research at Biotropics Malaysia; Kriti Chaudhary, Head of Business Development, Vedic Lifesciences; Nyx Chong, Business Development & Marketing Lead, APAC at Kyowa Hakko Bio Singapore.

Executive board

WIN’s founding members represent organizations from around the globe, including the United States, Europe, Asia and Australasia.

• Chairperson: Karen E. Todd, Vice President Global Brand Marketing, Kyowa Hakko
• President: Heather Granato, VP, Partnerships & Sustainability, Food EMEA at Informa Markets
• Vice President: Jan Mills, CEO, Artemis International, Inc.
• Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer: Doug Reader, CEO, Arizona Nutritional Supplements
• Secretary: Lynda Doyle, President & CEO, Avant Nutrition, LLC.

Directors at Large

• Karen Howard, CEO & Executive Director, Organic and Natural Health Association
• Julia Wiebe, Managing Director, red otc - a Finzelberg company

WIN founding supporters include Alkemist Labs, Amin Talati Wasserman, Arizona Nutritional Supplements, Artemis International, Avant Nutrition LLC, Cepham Inc, Council for Responsible Nutrition, Cypress Systems, DCC Health & Beauty Solutions USA, Industry Transparency Center, Informa, Kemin, Know Agency, Kyowa Hakko, MAYPRO Group, Nutrify Today, Nutrition Capital Network, Organic & Natural Health Association, and The 6AM Agency. Founding media partners include Nutraceuticals World, NutraIngredients-USA, Nutritional Outlook, SupplySide/New Hope/Vitafoods, and Whole Foods Magazine.