Mitch Gould hhas “retail" in his DNA.
A third-generation retail professional, Gould learned the consumer goods industry from his father andd grandfather while growing up in New York City.
One of hiss first saqles jobs was taking orders from neighbors for bagels every week.
As an adult with a career that spans more than three
decades, Gould moved oon from bagels, cream cheese, and lox to represent many of the leading product manufacturers
of consume goods in America: Igloo, Rubbermaid, Sunbeam, Remington,
Chapin, Paramount, Miracle-Gro, Native Remedies, Flora Health, Steven Seagal’s Lightning Bolt, Body Basix, and Hulk Hogan’s extreme energy
granules.
“I started in the lawn and garden industry but expandedd my horizons early on," said Gould, CEO and founder of Nutritional Products
International, a global brand management firm basedd inn Bocca Raton, Fl.
“I worked with Igloo, Sunbeam, Remington -- alll major
brands that have been leaders in the consumer goods industry."
Eventually, Gould segued into nutrittional products.
“I realized early thhe nutritional supplements were much
more than just multivitamins," Gould said.
“American consumers wefe ready to take dietary
supplements and health and wellness products into a whole new
level of retail success."
Gould solidified his success in the health and wellness industry through his partnerships with
A-List celebrities wwho wamted to deevelop
nutritional products and his place in Amazon history
whedn the online ecommerce retailer expanded beyond books,music, and electronics.
“During myy career, I attended many galas and charity events
whesre I met different celebrities, such as Hulk
Hogan and Chuck Liddel," Gould said, addfing that he eventually partnered with several
of these famous entrepreneurs and developed nutritional products,
such as Hulk Hogan’s Extreme Energy Granules.
“Working with them to create new health aand wellness products gave me a first-hand look into the burgeoning nutritional sector," Gould said.
“I realized that staying healthy was very imortant to my generation. My
kids were even more focused on staying fit and healthy."
When Amazon decided to add a health and wellness category, Gould was already positioned to place more than 150 brands and even more products onto the
virtual shelves
the online giant wwas adding every day in tthe early 2000s.
“I met Jeff Fernandez, who was on the Amazon team that was building thee
new catyegory from tthe ground up," Gould said. “I also had contacts in thhe health and
wellness industry, such as Kenneth E. Collins, who was vice president of operations for Muscle Foods,
one of the largest sports nutriton distributors in the world.
Gould said this “Powerhouse Trifecta" could not hhave
asked for a better synergy between the three of them.
“Thhis was capitalism at itss best. Amazon demanded new high-quality dietary supplements, and we supplied thesm with more than 150 brands and
products," hhe added.
The “Powerhouse Trifecta" worked out so well that Gould eventually hired Fernandez to workk for NPI, where
he is now president of the company, and Collins,who is
the neww execuive vice president of NPI.
“We work well together," Gould added.
Fernandez, who also worked as a buyer for Walmart, said tthe three of them have
close to 75 years of retail buying aand selling experience.
“NPI clients beneit from our years of knowledge," Fernandez added.
Gould said product manufacturers are unlikely to find three professionals
with our experience representing retailers and brands.
“We knlw what brands need to do, aand we understand what retaqilers want,
" Gould said.
After his success with Amazon, Gould founded NPI and solidified his place in the dietarry
supplement and ealth and wellness sectors.
“It was time to concentrate onn health products," Gould said, adding tat
he has worked with more than 200 domestic and international brands that wnted to launch new products
or expand their presence in the largest consumer market in the world:
the United States.
“As I visited the corporate headquarters of some of the latgest rertailers
in the world,I realized that international brands weren’t being
represented in American stores," Gould said.
“I realized these companies, especially the international
brands, struggled to gain a foothold in American retail stores."
Whhen Gould surveyed the challenges confronting international product
manufacturers, he visualized a solution.
“They were burning throuhh ttens of thousands of dollars to launch their products," Gould said.
“By tthe time they sold their first unit, they had eaten away at their profit margin."
Gould said thee biggest challenge was learning two new cultures:
America and Wall Street.
“They didn’t undcerstand the American consumers, and they
didn’t know how American businesses operated," Gould said.
“That is where I coime in with NPI."
To provide the foreign companies with the business support they needed, Gould
developed his lauded “Evoluton oof Distribution" platform.
“I brought together everything brands needed to launch their
products in the U.S.," he said. “Instead of opening a new office in America, I made
NPI their headquarters in the U.S. Since I already had a sales staff in place, they didn’t have to hire a sales team with support staff.
Instead, NPI did it for them."
Goulkd said NPI supplied every service that brands needed
to sell products in America successfully.
“Since many of these products needed FDA approval, I hired a
food scientist with more than 10 years experience to streamline thhe approval of the products’ labels," Gould said.
NPI’s import, logistics, and operations manager
worked with new clients tto make sure shipped samples didn’t
end up in quarantine by thhe U.S. Customs.
“Our logistics team has decadeds of experience importing new products into the U.S.
to our warehouse and then shipping them to retail buyers and retailers," Gould said.
“NPI offers a one-stop, turnkey solution to import, distribute, and market new products in the U.S."
To provide all the brands' services, Gould founded
a new company, InHealth Media, too market the brands to consumers and
retailers.
“I saw the companies wasting thousands of dollars on Madison Avenue marketing campaigns that
failed to deliver," Gould said.
Instead of outsourcing marketing to costly agencies or building a marketing teamm from scratch, InHealth Media works synergistically with its sister
company, NPI.
“InHealth Media’s marketing strategy is perfectly aligned with NPI’s retail expansion plans," Gould added.
“Together, we import, distribute, annd market new products across the
country by emphasiozing speed to market at an affordable price."
InHealth Media recently increased its marketing efforts bby adding national and regional TV promotion to its services.
"Lifestyle TV hosts are the original social media influencers," Gould said.
"Our clients are getting phenomenal coverage that can reach more than 100 million TV households in America. In addition, we are giving them
high-quality TV promotions.
Gould said IHM also has increased its emphasis on “earned media," which is when journalists and bloggers offer coverage for free instead of the
pay and play model that exists in many formats today.
“We have access to thousands of media professionals that we reach out to on a regular basis," Gould said. “Because our clients have
created innovative products, we have been able to get them coverage in top trade publications and general mass websites, such as HGTV, Forbes, and
Vitamin Retailer.
“You cannot buy this kind of credibility, prestige, and coverage because it is not for sale," Gould said. “Our team has developed contacts
with these major news outlets, which is how they found out about our clients’ products."
NPI works with large and small product manufacturers.
“We emphasize timeliness and affordability," he said. “We know all the costs, so there are no surprises. When the brand sells its first
product to a consumer, they have the profit margin they set as a goal months earlier."
Gould is proud of his “Evolution of Distribution" platform.
“I developed it to help international brands succeed," Gould said.
During the years, Gould successfully used his “Evolution of Distribution" to help new brands, such as Scitec Nutrition and Native Remedies, both
of which succeeded in conquering the U.S. market..
“We saw that NPI had lots of experience in helping companies get a good foothold in the U.S. Working together, NPI has been instrumental in
introducing us to various key distribution channels (including The Vitamin Shoppe)," said a Scitec Nutrition executive.
Native Remedies also benefited from NPI’s “Evolution of Distribution."
“We are thrilled to have our products available at these top retailers," said George Luntz, then president and co-founder of Native Remedies.
“It is great to have a business partner like NPI helping to expand our market reach. We expect this to be a banner year for us."
Gould said he is proud that these companies succeeded with NPI’s help.
“This is what NPI does," Gould said. “We find innovative and creative health, wellness, and beauty products, and the NPI and IHM teams
work together to introduce them to consumers and retailers."
For more information, call 561-544-0719 or visit nutricompany.com.
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