Mitch Gould h?? “retail” in his DNA.
A thi?d-generation retail professional, Gould learned t?e consumer goods industry from h?s father ?nd grandfather whi?? growing u? in New York City. ?ne of his first sales jobs wa? taking order? fr?m neighbors for bagels ev?ry ?eek.
A? ?n adult ?ith a career that spans more t?an t?ree decades, Gould moved ?n f?om bagels, cream cheese, ?nd lox t? represent m?ny of the leading product manufacturers ?f consumer ?oods in America: Igloo, Rubbermaid, Sunbeam, Remington, Chapin, Paramount, Miracle-Gro, Native Remedies, Flora Health, Steven Seagal’? Lightning Bolt, Body Basix, and Hulk Hogan’? extreme energy granules.
“? start?d in the lawn and garden industry ?ut expanded my horizons early ?n,” said Gould, CEO and founder of Nutritional Products International, ? global brand management firm based ?n Boca Raton, Fl. “I w?rked with Igloo, Sunbeam, Remington -- ?ll major brands t?at hav? b?en leaders in t?e consumer goods industry.”
Eventually, Gould segued ?nto nutritional products.
“? realized early t?? nutritional supplements ?ere m?ch m?re than just multivitamins,” Gould s?id. “American consumers ?ere ready to take dietary supplements ?nd health and wellness products ?nto a whole new level of retail success.”
Gould solidified ?is success in the health and wellness industry t?rough his partnerships ?ith A-List celebrities who wanted to develop nutritional products ?nd h?s place ?n Amazon history ?hen the online ecommerce retailer expanded ?eyond books, music, and electronics.
“?uring m? career, I attended m?ny galas ?nd charity events ?h?re I met diffe?ent celebrities, su?h ?s Hulk Hogan ?nd Chuck Liddel,” Gould ?aid, adding t?at he eventually partnered ?ith s?veral ?f the?e famous entrepreneurs and developed
Nutritional Products International Mitch Gould products, ?uch as Hulk Hogan’s Extreme Energy Granules.
“Work?ng wit? th?m to creat? new health and wellness products gave m? a first-h?nd ?ook into t?? burgeoning nutritional sector,” Gould ?aid. “I realized that staying healthy ?as ?ery important to m? generation. My kids ?ere e?en more focused on staying fit and healthy.”
?hen Amazon decided t? a?d a health and wellness category, Gould ?as already positioned t? ?lace more th?n 150 brands and even m?re products onto the virtual shelves the online giant ?as adding ?very day ?n the ?arly 2000s.
“I met Jeff Fernandez, ??o was on the Amazon team that was building t?e new category f?om th? ground up,” Gould said. “I al?o had contacts ?n th? health and wellness industry, such as Kenneth E. Collins, who was vice president ?f operations f?r Muscle Foods, one of th? largest sports nutrition distributors ?n the worl?.
Gould said t?is “Powerhouse Trifecta” ?ould not h?ve as?e? fo? a better synergy betw??n the t?ree ?f them.
“This was capitalism ?t its best. Amazon demanded new h?gh-quality dietary supplements, ?nd w? supplied them w?th mor? than 150 brands and products,” ?e added.
The “Powerhouse Trifecta” ?orked o?t s? well that Gould eventually hired Fernandez t? wor? for NPI, ?h?r? he is no? president of th? company, and Collins, who is the new executive vice president ?f NPI.
“We work well to?ether,” Gould ?dded.
Fernandez, ?ho a?so w?rked ?s a buyer f?r Walmart, ?aid the t?ree of them have close t? 75 ?ears of retail buying ?nd selling experience.
“NPI clients benefit from ?ur ?ears of knowledge,” Fernandez ?dded.
Gould ?aid product manufacturers ?re ?nlikely to find three professionals ?ith our experience representing retailers ?nd brands.
“We know what brands need to do, and we understand ?hat retailers want,” Gould sa?d.
After his success ?ith Amazon, Gould founded NPI ?nd solidified h?s place in the dietary supplement ?nd health and wellness sectors.
“?t was time to concentrate on health products,” Gould ?aid, adding t?at he h?? worked with more th?n 200 domestic and international brands t?at wanted to launch new products or expand t?eir presence in t?e largest consumer market ?n the world: th? United ?tates.
“As I visited th? corporate headquarters of som? of the largest retailers ?n the ?orld, I realized that international brands ?eren’t be?ng represented in American stores,” Gould ?aid. “I realized t?ese companies, e?pecially t?? international brands, struggled t? gain ? foothold in American retail stores.”
?hen Gould surveyed the challenges confronting international product manufacturers, ?e visualized a solution.
“T?ey ?ere burning t?rough tens of thousands of dollars t? launch t?eir products,” Gould said. “B? t?e time they sold th?ir fi??t unit, t?ey ?ad eaten aw?y at t?eir profit margin.”
Gould ?aid the biggest challenge ?as learning t?o new cultures: America ?nd Wall Street.
“They di?n’t understand t?e American consumers, ?nd they didn’t kno? ?ow American businesses operated,” Gould ?aid. “T?at is wh?re ? come in w?th NPI.”
To provide t?e foreign companies with the business support th?? need?d, Gould developed h?s lauded “Evolution of Distribution” platform.
“? brought together ev?rything brands needed to launch their products ?n the U.?.,” ?? said. “Inst?ad of opening a new office ?n America, ? m?de NPI their headquarters in t?e U.S. ?ince I ?lready ?ad a sales staff ?n p?ace, they d?dn’t ha?e to hire ? sales team ?ith support staff.
Inste?d, NPI ?id it f?r them.”
Gould s?id NPI supplied ??ery service that brands ne?ded to sell products ?n America ?uccessfully.
“Sinc? many of these products needed FDA approval, ? hired ? food scientist w?th mor? than 10 ?ears experience to streamline t?? approval ?f the products’ labels,” Gould said.
NPI’s import, logistics, ?nd operations manager ?orked with new clients to mak? sure shipped samples ?idn’t end u? ?n quarantine by t?e U.S. Customs.
“?ur logistics team ?as decades of experience importing ne? products into the U.S. to ou? warehouse ?nd then shipping them t? retail buyers and retailers,” Gould ?aid. “NPI offers a one-stop, turnkey solution t? import, distribute, ?nd market ne? products in the U.S.”
T? provide ?ll th? brands' services, Gould founded ? new company, InHealth Media, to market t?? brands to consumers and retailers.
“? sa? the companies wasting thousands of dollars ?n Madison Avenue marketing campaigns t?at failed to deliver,” Gould said.
Instea? ?f outsourcing marketing t? costly agencies or building ? marketing team f?om scratch, InHealth Media ?orks synergistically ?ith its sister company, NPI.
“InHealth Media’? marketing strategy is perfectly aligned ?ith NPI’? retail expansion plans,” Gould added. “Toget?er, ?e import, distribute, ?nd market new products across t?e country by emphasizing speed t? market at ?n affordable pr??e.”
InHealth Media ?ecently increased ?ts marketing efforts by adding national and regional TV promotion t? its services.
"Lifestyle TV hosts are the original social media influencers," Gould ?aid. "Our clients are getting phenomenal coverage that can reach more than 100 million TV households in America. In addition, we are giving them high-quality TV promotions.
Gould said IHM also has increased its emphasis on “earned media,” which is when journalists and bloggers offer coverage for free instead of the pay and play model that exists in many formats today.
“We have access to thousands of media professionals that we reach out to on a regular basis,” Gould said. “Because our clients have created innovative products, we have been able to get them coverage in top trade publications and general mass websites, such as HGTV, Forbes, and Vitamin Retailer.
“You cannot buy this kind of credibility, prestige, and coverage because it is not for sale,” Gould said. “Our team has developed contacts with these major news outlets, which is how they found out about our clients’ products.”
NPI works with large and small product manufacturers.
“We emphasize timeliness and affordability,” he said. “We know all the costs, so there are no surprises. When the brand sells its first product to a consumer, they have the profit margin they set as a goal months earlier.”
Gould is proud of his “Evolution of Distribution” platform.
“I developed it to help international brands succeed,” Gould said.
During the years, Gould successfully used his “Evolution of Distribution” to help new brands, such as Scitec Nutrition and Native Remedies, both of which succeeded in conquering the U.S. market..
“We saw that NPI had lots of experience in helping companies get a good foothold in the U.S. Working together, NPI has been instrumental in introducing us to various key distribution channels (including The Vitamin Shoppe),” said a Scitec Nutrition executive.
Native Remedies also benefited from NPI’s “Evolution of Distribution.”
“We are thrilled to have our products available at these top retailers,” said George Luntz, then president and co-founder of Native Remedies. “It is great to have a business partner like NPI helping to expand our market reach. We expect this to be a banner year for us.”
Gould said he is proud that these companies succeeded with NPI’s help.
“This is what NPI does,” Gould said. “We find innovative and creative health, wellness, and beauty products, and the NPI and IHM teams work together to introduce them to consumers and retailers.”
For more information, call 561-544-0719 or visit nutricompany.com.