Speaking with NutraIngredients at the recent SupplySide Global event in Las Vegas, Bewicke described the situation of the botanical industry 20 years ago as dire.
“There were hundreds of extracts being sold here, and almost none were tested in any way to prove their quality or identity,” he said.
“My founding partner Leo and I both had experienced problems with this in our work, and so we decided to found a company that would supply high-grade botanical extracts, similar to the products that could be bought from Europe, which were fully tested for potency, identity, heavy metals, contaminants and adulterants.”
Founded in 2005 following initial conversations at SupplySide West that year, Ethical Naturals was established to do “the ethical thing as regards botanicals.”
Its initial focus was largely on ginkgo, Bewick said, because it was one of the biggest problems at the time, with Ginkgo biloba extracts on the market claiming 24% flavoneglycosides for $30 per kilo, “far below production cost.”
“The first thing we did was to get together with Roy Upton at AHP [American Herbal Pharmacopoeia] and Eurofins labs to produce the ginkgo QC report,” Bewicke said.
This included detailed testing of 20 branded Ginkgo products and raw material samples and a full review by Upton, a noted herbal expert and president of AHP. Only six of the 20 samples passed the detailed screening and potency tests done by Eurofins, which spurred the industry to improve ginkgo product quality testing practices.
“We started with our focus on ginkgo, and actually it’s still a big focus of our company,” Bewicke said.
In a separate statement, AHP’s Upton congratulated Ethical Naturals on its landmark anniversary:
“AHP worked directly with Ethical Naturals to raise awareness about the widespread adulteration that exists on the Ginkgo biloba extract market in the United States and provide ways for reputable manufacturers to identify good quality from adulterated materials,” Upton said. “We wish Ethical Naturals all the best for their next 20 years and commend them for the many efforts they have made in fostering quality and integrity in the botanical ingredient supplement chain.”
Move to proprietary ingredients
Over the years, the Ethical Naturals portfolio expanded to include proprietary ingredients, which now boasts branded ingredients such as GreenGrown glucosamine (a vegetable source glucosamine produced by fermentation), AlphaWave L-Theanine (purified L-Theanine), Cranberex Cranberry Extract (high-level PAC’s tested by DMAC method and supported by studies from Rutgers University) and Polyphenol-C (Vitamin-C enhanced with fruit berry polyphenols).
“Probably our biggest selling product right now is our AlphaWave L-Theanine that we’ve done three clinical studies with the fourth one underway,” Bewicked said.
“They’ve all been very successful in showing both the relaxing and mental acuity benefits of the product. AlphaWave was recently approved by Australian Therapeutic Good Authority (TGA), and is now the only form of L-Theanine allowed to be sold for manufacturing in Australia.
Twenty years on and Bewicke remains candid about the persistent quality issues faced by the industry, saying that the results of testing programs like the one NOW Foods is running show that these problems are still there.
“There’s no doubt about it, particularly with a lot of brands that are selling direct to the public, I would say that now as then, there’s a core of really good companies that don’t do that, who are prepared to pay to get to supply absolutely top quality products to their customers, and fortunately, many of those have become top companies in the industry,” he said. “There are now many places, many good companies, where the consumers can go and buy really top-quality ingredients and know that they’re getting the best.”
Mark Blumenthal, founder & executive director, American Botanical Council acknowledged Bewicke as one of a small group of six colleagues who encouraged him to create what became the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program in a meeting at SupplySide West in October 2010.
“I consider Cal to be one of the spiritual founders of what has become the world’s largest authenticity and antifraud education program dealing with botanical ingredients,” Blumenthal said.
Congratulations
Loren Israelsen, founder and president of the United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA), praisedEthical Naturals on its landmark achievement; the company is a UNPA member.
“Ethical Naturals represents what is so great about our industry,” he said. “Cal Bewicke and his staff have built a reputation for being straight shooters, taking quality seriously and contributing to the betterment of our industry community. I have known Cal for many years, and it gives me great pleasure to salute him and Ethical Naturals on the occasion of their 20th anniversary.”
Watch the video for the full interview.
