MegaFood Throws down the Gummy Gauntlet: Supplements Leader to Chronicle Development of New Gummy Vitamins from Start to Shelf

Taking transparency to the next level, MegaFood promises open innovation with an invitation for customers and retailers to help bring a product to market

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MegaFood

Nov 17, 2016, 10:59 ET

MANCHESTER, N.H., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- In a bold and unprecedented move, MegaFood™, a pioneer in the health and wellness category, today announces it will create a new line of gummy style supplements – while the world watches every step of the process. This MegaFood "Gummy Bare All" initiative will chronicle the complete development process – from concept to finish, including successes, challenges and even failures. Additionally, customers will have the opportunity to not only follow in real-time the evolution of the products from conception to market, but will also be able to directly weigh in on key product decisions along the way.

"Our mission at MegaFood is to improve lives," says Robert Craven, MegaFood CEO, "and with that comes a responsibility to offer the unique product solutions our customers are seeking. Nearly half of the population has trouble swallowing tablets, so it's incredibly important for us to be able to offer our premium nutrition in various forms to provide them a choice. We thought this would be a great way to involve our customers on our journey to bring a gummy to market that meets the MegaFood promise."

MegaFood has created a landing page, www.megafood.com/gummybare, to chart the entire process via regular updates, live videos and more to show how the supplements are being created while giving customers the opportunity to co-create the product by directly weighing in on key product decisions along the way. This first-hand look into the inner workings of the company is part of MegaFood's broader transparency initiative, Big T Transparency, announced officially in 2015, but really a guiding pillar of how the company has always operated.

"We are excited to bring food-based gummies to the natural channel, and thrilled to be able to involve customers in the process," said Stacey Gillespie, Director of Innovation at MegaFood. "We know that our customers are seeking choices and we want to be the ones to give it to them – while we are in the very early stages of scoping this line, we do know that these will be unique in that they will contain real foods from one or more of our farm fresh partners as well as our unique FoodState Nutrients. These gummies will embody the MegaFood values in every way. Our mission is to improve lives, and the addition of gummies to our tablets and powders provides customers the choice to supplement in whatever way is best for them."

The MegaFood Gummy Bare All new product initiative is committing to the following in full transparency:

Monthly Interactive Updates (via Facebook Live): Every month, customers can tune in for a project update directly from Stacey Gillespie, Director of Innovation at MegaFood and lead developer for the gummy product development. These updates will also often serve as an opportunity for customers to vote on certain elements of the new gummy products, and ask questions of MegaFood team members in real-time.

Customer Liaison Panel: MegaFood is seeking customers to occasionally join the team in their Manchester, NH facilities to participate on the front lines and ensure that customers have meaningful access to the latest developments. With no prior experience or bias, these liaisons will represent the brand's target customer and be given the chance to be closely involved in many aspects of the project. Customers interested in a spot on the panel should visit: megafood.com/gummybare. Travel for participants outside of driving range to company headquarters will be provided by MegaFood.

Customer Virtual Panel: MegaFood will also select fifteen to twenty customers to serve on a virtual advisory panel, who will have the opportunity to provide input into product decisions, and help represent the larger public in determining what decisions will be put to public vote in the live monthly updates. Customers interested in becoming panelists should visit: megafood.com/gummybare.

For more information visit megafood.com/gummybare or follow us @MegaFood on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

©FoodState, Inc. 2016

About MegaFood
Fresh from farm to tablet™, MegaFood is as real as it gets. Since 1973, MegaFood has been committed to making products that use real food from family-owned farms to make a real difference, and has produced some of the most effective and award-winning supplements available today. A pioneer in the natural products industry, MegaFood was one of the first companies to make their FoodState^® vitamin and minerals from scratch starting with farm fresh whole foods. MegaFood continues to innovate by manufacturing more than 36 individual FoodState^® Nutrients™ using their proprietary Slo-Food Process™, all in their own facility in New Hampshire. You can watch the process live anytime on their 24/7 live cams at megafood.com/livecams. Their FoodState Nutrients are blended and combined to create over 65 handcrafted supplements that make up the MegaFood product line today, found in over 7,000 natural products retailers and vitamin specialty shops throughout North America.

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