Newly named DRV+, which stands for Designed, Researched and Verified, the brand will continue offering 100% vegan products, but under its new brand name which emphasizes the importance of high-quality ingredients, evidence-backed dosing and safety testing.
The company’s founder and CEO Gordon Lott said the primary aim of the rebrand is to appeal to a wider consumer base, given that only 13% of DRV+ consumers are vegan. Lott emphasized that the move is strictly about brand alignment and consumer perception, not altering formulas.
“Our brand has had the challenge of consumers thinking ‘It’s called Dr. Vegan, I’m not vegan so it’s not for me’, which is a very justifiable response from someone when they see our pack on shelves,” he told NutraIngredients. “One of the many benefits of the rebrand is more people looking beyond the brand name and into the quality of the formulas and ingredients.”
A nutritionist-led approach
When Dr. Vegan was first founded in 2020, it was created with the primary mission of appealing to nutritionists. This has informed the brand’s approach to formulation, which prioritizes effective nutrient forms, adequate dosing and no additives (such as fillers and bulking agents).
The vegan element came from the idea that “supplements do not need animal ingredients,” Lott said, with vitamin and mineral supplements often containing ‘unnecessary’ animal products such as lambs’ tongues, pig stomach linings and boiled hooves for bulking, binding or colouring.
This ethos will remain despite the rebrand, with Lott confident that the new branding will not deter those who are looking for vegan formulas.
The aim is simply to extend the appeal beyond shoppers who identify as vegan, an important alteration given that one of the brand’s international retailers reported that shoppers routinely walk past the shelf thinking Dr. Vegan products are not for them because of the brand name.
“If you ask consumers what they know us for, it’s the quality of our formulas and ingredients,” Lott said. “DRV+ is simply an evolution. Our supplements are designed, researched and verified. If you strip back what we do as a brand, as a business, this is at the core. We scrupulously design, scrupulously research and then verify all our products.”
The brand has also pledged to continue avoiding “fairy dusting” – adding token doses of active ingredients – and proprietary blends, showcasing the entire list of ingredients and their doses on pack.
The new packaging, which uses recyclable pouches, features two columns “Contains” and “Why” on front of pack, listing key active ingredients and their functions so customers don’t have to decode inconspicuous back labels.
“Our mission is to be the most honest supplement brand on the market,” Lott said. “We want our consumers to understand what’s on the label and what’s in their supplements. That is what is underlying all of this because research shows that more than half of people are still confused about what they’re taking, why they’re taking it or what they should be taking.”
The pouches were chosen over more expensive recyclable materials such as glass to keep costs down, something which the brand is firmly committed to. Today, DRV+ has nearly 40 SKUs, with no single 30-day product more expensive than £50. However, it has also been a challenge to communicate with consumers that cheaper supplements are not necessarily less efficacious, Lott said.
“We sell our KSM 66 ashwagandha for £12.99. It comes from the very same factory that another brand sells for £21.99. This is just one example to illustrate that more expensive doesn’t necessarily mean better,” he said. “We’re not skimping on ingredients. We’re using the best forms of ingredients from great sources. It just shows we’ve got an industry with not only inflated marketing and health claims, but also overly inflated prices.”
Growing and scaling
DRV+ has been profitable since 2023, with annual sales growing from £2 million in 2022 to £6 million in 2026. The brand’s best-selling categories include women’s health, gut health and multivitamins, with a core audience of women aged 35+.
The brand tested its new visual identity with its consumer base, finding that the new packaging increased consumer preference by 107% overall, rising to 154% among female consumers.
Lott hopes the new look will also help DRV+ to stand out with new customers, primarily through clearer communication of product efficacy and formulation quality, while creating a platform for future growth beyond traditional vegan audiences.
Ultimately, the goal is to expand the brand’s presence beyond the 400 retailers, 200,000 UK consumers and nine countries it already operates in.
“We want to be in more places where more people can discover us. Retail is really important to us, including the chains as well as the independents,” he said. “The new website and packaging will open ourselves up to more people for discovery, with the UK being our number one priority.”
