“A to Z clean vitamins”: VOOST former boss’ new venture aims to transform powder supplements

Nordia Vitamins’ range of vitamin powder sachets are available in Australia through Chemist Warehouse about three months ago.

The brand is big on clean label and how it keeps excipients to a minimum by doing away with flavourings and bulking agents commonly used in tablets.

“You don't need all these excipients or additives in your vitamins and minerals…And the number one trend in the last two years at Expo West [in the US] has actually been clean label in any form.​

“And when you're looking at sports supplements or other foods etc, it's about being clean and as pure as possible. That's why I believe so much in what we're doing here.​

“We believe that the vitamin mineral users or supplement users are looking for two things as the category evolves, one is clean and two is efficacy and potency,” ​Siebel said in the latest episode of Nutrachampion. 

While still a relatively new concept in Australia, he hopes to leverage on the first-mover advantage in capturing bigger market shares.

Sold in boxes containing 28 powder sachets, the brand currently has eight SKUs spanning across vitamin B, C, D3, collagen, iron, magnesium, zinc, and multivitamins.

“I was helping a protein supplement company out with some ideas. And I wanted to learn a little bit more about the whole direction of protein powders and where they were going in sports supplements.​

“And one of the items that really resonated with me, was this whole direction of clean protein powders and creatine, and things that were evolving in the sports supplement area, and I thought to myself, is anybody actually doing clean vitamins out there?” ​he said, on the inspiration behind Nordia Vitamins.

A search on the internet yielded little results and the entrepreneurial spirit in him saw the opportunity to dive into his next adventure once his three-year restraining clause following VOOST’s sale was over.  

“I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to do next [after the sale of VOOST]. The creation of Nordia literally came out of helping a friend out with his protein supplement business and learning about that category and how it was evolving with clean and efficacy, and that’s what that got me going back into vitamins again.”​

According to Siebel, powder supplements currently rank behind tablets and capsules in the Australian supplements market.

The two most popular formats occupy about 80 per cent of the market, leaving the rest of the pie to powders, followed by effervescent tablets and gummies etc.

Magnesium, collagen, and vitamin C are some of the bestselling powder supplements, which is why Nordia Vitamins has started out with these products.

However, while these bestselling powders mostly come in tub or bulk packages, Nordia Vitamins sells only sachet powder weighing two grams per pack – the result of cutting away unnecessary excipient use, said Siebel.

It is not just clean label that Siebel is advocating. It is the wider powder supplement category that he is also aiming to transform.

For one, he is on track to applying the “A to Z” vitamin concept to Nordia Vitamins – a similar strategy VOOST had adopted previously.

VOOST, he said, was able to pick up market momentum as the market leader at that point – Bayer’s Berocca – has been educating consumers on effervescent tablets for years.

However, the brand largely focuses on B vitamins, and this has opened doors for VOOST to establish itself as the brand for “A to Z effervescent.”

“Nobody has really gone into creating the A to Z of effervescent vitamins and minerals properly and that was part of our drive with VOOST, which is to become the biggest A to Z of effervescent vitamins and create the biggest range in the world...​

“I think we're doing the same thing here in powders. Nobody actually owns the A to Z of powders and our biggest point of difference is that we've taken as many excipients out as we can to have the cleanest vitamins,” ​he said.  ​

Still, because clean label is a relatively new concept in Australia's supplements space, he believes it will take about three to five years of market education before it reaches the next level.

The eventual goal is to make Nordia Vitamins an international brand.

For now, the brand is working on entering the Gulf region and the UK by the middle of next year, before expanding into the US. 

Listen to the podcast to find out more.