Hawaii company Mera Pharmaceuticals has reached a deal with national grocery chain Albertson's, that will see Mera's astaxanthin supplement AstaFactor available in approximately 1200 of Albertsons' Sav-On and Osco drugstores.
The initial order has been shipped, and the product will be on the shelves in mid-April, said Mera. AstaFactor is a concentrated source of natural astaxanthin, found in a number of fish and seafood species, proven to be a powerful antioxidant and effective anti-inflammatory.
Richard D. Propper, chief executive officer at Mera, said that the company has been working on the agreement for several months.
"Their [Albertson's] product acceptance process is a long and careful one, and their decision to carry AstaFactor is a strong endorsement of the product from an industry leader," said Propper.
Studies have linked AstaFactor to improvements in joint health and slowing of the aging process.
"Our plan is to make AstaFactor the next high-value, high-volume nutraceutical product," said Propper. He added that the growing revenue base from AstaFactor sales, coupled with recently implemented cost reductions, should help Mera to achieve profitability in 2004.
The placement of AstaFactor in Albertsons will be important for achieving mass retail distribution of Mera products. AstaFactor is already sold in Longs Drugs western US stores.
"We have generated strong interest with a new ad campaign supporting AstaFactor sales in Mays and Med X drug store chains in Oklahoma, and we expect that interest to carry over into the Albertsons and Longs markets, where advertising gets underway in April," said Jeff Primes, president of Mera's nutraceutical division.
"There has been a dramatic rise in the number of companies who are interested in acquiring nutraceutical grade astaxanthin from us to formulate with other ingredients," added Primes.
Mera Pharmaceuticals uses patented technology and proprietary processes to develop products based on microbial aquatic plants.