Up close and personal: Vitmedics’ Vitcheck tech vying for honours

Vitcheck is a platform designed to deliver personalised dietary recommendations based around lifestyle, life-stage, diet and medication use, in an evidence-based format.

As Wakeman explains, the programming has been developed so the diagnostic algorithm can be integrated into e-commerce platform or bespoke sites and UK medication names converted to any language.

Thanks for chatting to NutraIngredients Michael. Could you first tell us the reasons for entering this category?​

Michael Wakeman (MW): “Vitcheck is the outcome of five years of personal academic research into the sphere of personalised nutrition, especially the under-recognised deleterious effect that medication/s have upon micronutrient status and clinical outcomes. ​

“Having developed this evidence-based platform into a commercially viable product with utility to both consumers and health care professionals, I believe the Nutraingredients award in personalised nutrition is the most exacting place to test its relevance amongst other leading contenders in this field. ​

“I've huge respect for Nutraingredients in terms of its content and reach and to win such a prestigious award would be such an important achievement given the quality and experience of the judges in this field.”   ​

What do you think will be the positives should you win the category this year? (i.e. new research directions or shift in business emphasis).​

MW: “I see the benefits of winning this award as significant to the business in a number of ways. ​

“Having personally funded the project to date I see winning this prestigious award as a real positive in terms of helping raise finance from potential investors to take the business to the level I believe it can achieve on an international stage. ​

“It will also deliver a positive influence on the way potential corporate customers perceive the business opportunity and provide confidence to research funding organisations that our credibility has been validated by thought leaders in the industry.”​

Do you think a win for total health and wellbeing this year could result in more recognition at industry events and/or further opportunities to speak/present?​

MW: “I have published much of the scientific research that underpins vitcheck in peer reviewed journals and/or presented it at scientific conferences. ​

“However, winning this award would provide a platform to present the commercialisation to a much wider audience, with hopefully the opportunity to speak/present at more industry focussed events which would be a key objective should we be fortunate enough to win the award.”​

Likewise, do you think a win would open up more opportunities for total health and wellbeing to seek further industry accolades or awards?​

MW: “Definitely, success often breeds success and winning this award would definitely act as a motivator to enter other business awards, both in the UK and overseas, as I believe the business has a truly, as yet, untapped international business appeal.”​

Finally, do you have any advice for those looking to enter a category for next year’s NutraIngredients Awards?​

MW: “Don't be afraid to enter. Especially as an SME it is easy to think that your idea/business cannot compete with multinationals. ​

“I believe these awards are a place where everyone starts on a level playing field. This is probably one of the biggest stages in Europe to have your business ideas scrutinised by leading executives and hence the discipline needed in making the submission is a useful exercise in its own right, and to get shortlisted is a big achievement!”​

The winners of the 2022 NutraIngredients Awards will be revealed during a live broadcast on NutraIngredients.com on the 4th of May, at 4pm CET (Paris time), and our finalists are excited to hear the results. You should be, too!

Head on over to the NutraIngredients Awards website​​ to learn more and to register your interest.