A.I. and its promise for ingredient innovation

The dietary supplements category has its share of fad ingredients or formulations, and for years the industry was able to maintain high levels of new product launches thanks to a steady flow of new ingredients coming onto the market. But increased media and consumer scrutiny and the long shadow of the NDI process does seem to have had a chilling effect on the introduction of new ingredients launches over the past decade. Back in November 2015, Colin Watts, then-CEO of The Vitamin Shoppe, said: "I think the issue that we are facing this year is […] the rate of new ingredients, new products, new forms that are coming into the market are less than we've seen in the past. "And so when there isn't a lot of new in this category in particular, especially the retailer ends up taking a little bit earlier of a hit in that front, because the customer just doesn't have a reason to come in and see something new that's going on" Innovation is still occurring, of course: You can point to innovation in delivery formats, in the supply chain and around the science, but one of greatest benefits to the industry has come from technology. The Internet was barely a thing when the Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act (DSHEA) was signed into law in 1994, and now every single brand has an online presence.