Read the Conversation
EF: What are your main priorities and challenges this year?
CG: Our company has been growing intensively over the last ten years. So, our main challenge is to scale up the company to keep our growing path. This means constant investing in product development and machinery, upgrading our quality and sustainability standards, adjusting processes, developing our people, and preparing them for the next level. All this will allow our company to partner with big international players operating in the food supplements market. Moreover, expanding into the international market, especially in the food supplement industry, is incredibly complex due to regulatory issues. Regulatory standards are not standardized across different regions, making it difficult to navigate. As a result, we have had to dedicate significant resources to regulatory compliance. These challenges have only intensified after experiencing a surge in demand post-COVID. While we have made substantial investments to expand our industrial capacity and our laboratory, our current focus is on sales, particularly international sales, and scaling up our client base.
EF: Can you tell us about ELADIET's portfolio and how it has evolved over time?
CG: Currently, our product portfolio focuses on effectiveness, innovation, quality, and safety, always taking end-consumer needs and health benefits into account. It includes over a hundred thirty products under our own brand, spanning various categories. Internally, we manage around seven hundred SKUs, making our portfolio quite extensive. Our primary market focus right now is on sleep and stress-related products, addressing a broad spectrum of sleep disorders and general stress management. Following that, we have a range of joint support products aimed at alleviating discomfort. The digestive market is also very interesting to us; it is a growing market that is probably related to nutrition, stress, and lifestyle. Additionally, we offer a variety of products catering to women's health needs. Over the past 15 years, there has been a shift away from the weight control market, which used to dominate the food supplement industry. Now, it is losing its position as consumers' priorities change. Apart from these, cholesterol and cardiovascular health are significant categories, but with fewer product variations compared to stress and sleep products, which offer a wider range of formats and SKUs.
EF: What are your insights on the shift towards people becoming more health-conscious? How did you navigate your company through this period?
CG: It was an incredibly challenging time for me, something I had never encountered before. I had to study how competitors and more experienced companies were handling the situation to figure out our approach. The first major hurdle was our employees, who were understandably anxious, but as an essential industrial company with a factory and machinery that needed people’s presence to be run, they had to work with a lot of uncertainty. Additionally, we faced business uncertainty, leading to order cancellations followed by sudden spikes in demand later on, which posed logistical challenges for us as a manufacturer. Our company typically grew by 10 – 15 percent annually, but the COVID period led to more than 30 percent growth. Managing this growth during the crisis was especially challenging as we developed, manufactured, and analyzed everything in-house.
The demand for products related to sleep and stress skyrocketed during the pandemic, along with a heightened focus on immunity. Although immunity-related products have stabilized since then, the demand for sleep and stress-related items remains strong. There has been a notable increase in health awareness across the board, with collagen products and vitamins seeing a surge in popularity. The pandemic also accelerated the growth of online businesses, although the growth rate has moderated somewhat post-pandemic. One trend I noticed, which I overlooked earlier when discussing our portfolio, is the rise of nutricosmetics. These are ingestible cosmetics in the form of pills or liquids that promote healthy hair, nails, and skin. This category has gained significant demand, possibly due to the increased importance of having a healthy lifestyle.
EF: What factors make Barcelona an attractive location for production and exportation from your perspective?
CG: Location plays a crucial role, and Barcelona's proximity to the airport, just a 20-minute drive away, is a significant advantage. This makes commuting effortless, which is especially important for manufacturers like us who rely on building trust with third-party brands. Clients need to visit, witness our operations, and observe our manufacturing processes since they entrust us with their brands. Indeed, it is also important that Barcelona is an amazing city, with fantastic weather and lots of cultural and tourist options, which push our clients and suppliers to visit more often. Personal exchange is crucial for long-term business relationships. Our extraordinary city is also a grab for international talent, the most important key for company development. The city's ecosystem is also highly favorable, with numerous pharmaceutical companies nearby. It offers rich learning opportunities and exposure to various conferences and exchanges. When it comes to pharmaceuticals and healthcare, Barcelona holds a distinct advantage over other Spanish cities. We are very proud that Vitafoods 2025 has chosen Barcelona as a venue site. Vitafoods is the most important European venue for our industry, so it is a privilege for us and a great piece of news for Barcelona City and for the nutraceutical industry.
EF: What criteria do you consider when evaluating potential clients or seeking new partnerships?
CG: For us, we do not see ourselves as just a Contract Manufacturing Organization (CMO); we see ourselves as a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO). Our primary focus is on building business relationships. To achieve this, we need clients or partners who are willing to collaborate with us and share their vision and objectives. While the product itself is crucial, it is not the only consideration. We must comprehend how they plan to market, sell, and communicate about the product. This requires having multiple teams working in concert. It is not sufficient to solely focus on the supply and procurement side; we must also delve into marketing and R&D (research and development) to understand the client's goals for the product. In the domain of food supplements, similar products can achieve different levels of success due to variations in marketing and commercial strategies. Therefore, we need to have partners who enable us to learn from them and apply our expertise to meet their needs effectively.
EF: How do you view the difference in spending on food supplements between Spain and the U.S., and what can be done to bridge this gap?
CG: Currently, about 30% of our revenue comes from international markets, leaving 70% reliant on the Spanish market. There is still plenty of room for growth. As you mentioned, consumers are gradually becoming more adapted to using food supplements on a daily basis, a trend we have seen unfold in other countries. Even neighboring countries like Italy have vastly different market sizes compared to Spain. So, there is definitely potential for expansion there. The market here is becoming more concentrated, with numerous companies entering the scene, resulting in increased capacity and resources. Concentration is essential for scaling up the industry effectively.
Additionally, communication is key. Many consumers still perceive supplements as being produced without proper oversight, unaware of the hard procedures we follow. Educating both consumers and healthcare professionals is crucial. Many professionals lack knowledge about supplements and their benefits, presenting a significant challenge. Regulatory hurdles exist, not just in Spain but across Europe. While Spain might not have the most favorable regulatory environment, countries like Italy offer a more straightforward process in this regard. Indeed, the US has a much more consolidated and mature market than Europe; regulation is more favorable, and food supplements are used on a daily basis by the average American consumer. Pursuing a more favorable regulatory environment and working on consumer and physician education and awareness of our product’s benefits are the most important steps to bridge this gap.
EF: What unique qualities distinguish ELADIET, and what is your pitch to investors regarding why ELADIET is the ideal partner?
CG: I believe there are three key points that set us apart. Firstly, innovation is at the core of what we do. We focus not only on innovating our products but also on our processes. We constantly explore ways to enhance the effectiveness of our products for consumers, both in terms of product design and industrial technology. Secondly, quality is paramount. Having transitioned from medicine manufacturing, maintaining high-quality standards is ingrained in our DNA. In an industry where the integrity of raw materials is crucial, our internal laboratory ensures that the ingredients we use are precisely what they should be. This level of control is infrequent among CDMOs.
Thirdly, our commitment to innovation and safety is reinforced by our internal pilot plant. Before any product reaches the market, it undergoes careful stability testing in our pilot plant, ensuring its safety and efficacy. Lastly, our comprehensive service offering sets us apart. Drawing from our experience with our own brand, we have a deep understanding of marketing, commercialization, and regulatory challenges. This allows us to support our clients throughout the entire product lifecycle, from conceptualization to sales. We offer not just manufacturing but a wealth of knowledge and expertise across the entire value chain, making us a valuable partner to our clients.
EF: What milestones or achievements are you most proud of during your 15 years as CEO of ELADIET?
CG: The company has undergone significant changes. It is quite different from when I first joined, and I hope it continues to evolve in the years ahead. When I initially joined, the company was relatively small but had a strong industrial foundation. It was founded by my mom, with support from my dad, who brought an industrial mindset to the table. Initially, our main challenge was on the commercial front. Despite having sufficient manufacturing capacity, we needed to boost sales efforts. This led us to rethink our approach and venture into the CMO domain. Unlike traditional CMOs, we have always operated as a CDMO due to our background with our own brand.
Transitioning to manufacturing for other companies presented its own set of challenges, particularly when it came to meeting the tough quality standards expected by pharmaceutical companies. Adapting our quality systems to meet these standards was a significant hurdle we had to overcome. Additionally, going into the international market posed regulatory challenges rather than sales-related issues. Our complex product compositions made navigating international regulations a much more difficult task. Exporting our products required careful control and documentation of each active ingredient, which was particularly challenging given the complexity of herbal extracts. Despite these challenges, maintaining our own brand has remained a top priority.
Moreover, our factory is well-equipped and efficiently designed to accommodate our current operations and future growth plans. Over the past three years, we have invested significantly in renovating and expanding our facilities, doubling our capabilities in the process. This investment in our capabilities sets the stage for our next phase of growth.
