Dr Nick Bitz, chief scientific officer for youtheory, spoke with NutraIngredients-USA at the recent Expo East trade show in Baltimore about the brand, which was been built on the benefits of collagen and now is branching out into other ingredients, such as maca.
“In the olden days we would get a lot of collagen in our diet. We would eat a lot of bone broth soups and eat cartilage from chicken. But now we are really not getting that from our diet and we are finding that you need to supplement the diet with a collagen product,” Dr Bitz said.
Collagen is the chief protein building block of the connective tissue matrix that supports the skin and is a major part of the architecture of other organs as well. It is estimated that 25% to 35% of the whole body protein content in mammals is made up of collagen.
“It’s what provides structure in the body, and we know that as we age collagen depletes very gradually over time,” Dr Bitz said.
Rapid expansion
Youtheory has experienced rapid growth and announced yesterday that it is building a new headquarters space in Irvine, CA. The company has beefed up manufacturing and staffing in the first half of the year and says it is now producing 30,000 more bottles per day compared to the same time frame as 2014. The new building will be better able to accommodate these growing demands, in addition to increased corporate offices, manufacturing and warehouse footprints, the company said. The company plans to double its staff in the near term and plans to open a second manufacturing plant in 2016.