The dietary supplement market is growing rapidly, but in a sector with so many choices, how do you stand out and grow a loyal customer base? Cymbiotika has achieved this by relentlessly focusing on value, transparency and consistency.

People around the world continue to be passionate about their own health and wellbeing. The industries that support these ambitions have seen exciting growth and evolution, none more so than the nutritional supplement industry. Yet in such a competitive, and sometimes confusing, market, how do you build a loyal customer base that trusts you? California-based Cymbiotika, a natural and organic supplement brand, has shown that an unwavering focus on transparency, value and consistency is crucial.

Research carried out by Harvard Medical School has identified a lack of essential nutrients in the average diet. While underlying causes are varied, impacts of this trend can be highly damaging, resulting in digestion issues, skin disorders, immune system deficiencies and even more serious conditions.

It’s not surprising then that the nutritional supplement industry has grown rapidly. The global market was valued at $140.3 billion in 2020 and is forecasted to grow by more than 8% yearly over the next seven years. As the range of information and choice of supplements has grown, so has confusion about which is the right approach for each individual and their unique needs.

The COVID Pandemic has brought the topic to the forefront of many people’s minds. Many have prioritised their health during this period and millions of people are asking what they can do to improve their wellbeing. Cymbiotika has been working hard to remove the confusion and provide their customers with a reliable approach to revive their bodies through high quality dietary supplements.

Business Worldwide Magazine speaks to Shahab Elmi, CEO and co-founder of Cymbiotika, to find out how this innovative organisation is responding to customer demand by supporting health objectives while also scaling a business that is going through a period of rapid growth.

Shahab, thank you for joining us. It’s been a challenging year for so many people, but how has the COVID pandemic impacted Cymbiotika?

It’s been a hectic time with many commercial challenges. However, we’ve actually noticed a really interesting trend where people have been taking much more of an interest in their health and how to focus on a more preventive approach.

Traditionally the Western World has had a reactionary approach to wellbeing and health. People go to the doctor after they get sick. They take medicine once they feel ill and want to feel better. But more recently people want to focus on how to prevent health issues and have been looking at nutrition, exercise, sleep and the appropriate type of supplementation.

That is an interesting trend. You use the word “appropriate” there. Is there a difference in the effectiveness of nutritional supplements?

As we all know, the human body is an incredibly complex system, and every single one is unique. There are similarities between us, but what works for you won’t necessarily work for me. The key is to ensure you find the correct balance regarding your own nutrition, which comes from the right diet and the right supplements working in combination.

That’s why, as part of our offering to our customers, we have invested heavily in making sure we’re providing advice and guidance as well as the supplements themselves to help our customers educate themselves on what is right for them.

How have you managed to stand out in such a competitive industry?

Well, I think it’s a combination of several elements. Above everything, we focus on quality ingredients. Sadly there are too many supplement providers who are comfortable providing substandard ingredients – that’s part of our industry’s downside currently being so lightly regulated.

There is nothing more important than our health, so we’ve made it our mission to help people live longer, healthier, and happier lives. That starts with the very best quality ingredients – and for us, that’s non-negotiable.

Everything we do centres around our customers’ needs. As we developed our range of products, we weren’t thinking about sales growth – we were thinking about how we can help our customers reclaim control of their health. With that as our guiding star, not only are we able to genuinely help people, but we’ve also been able to achieve 800% year over year organic growth as a company.

So is it just about high quality ingredients?

They are crucial, but we’ve also introduced innovations to the industry as well. Many people won’t realise this, but just because you take a supplement, it doesn’t mean you’re going to be able to reap the rewards of those ingredients.

In traditional delivery forms, many supplements don’t actually get absorbed by the body and have poor bioavailability. So you’re taking the pills, but you do not see the benefits.

We understand this nuance and have invested in creating a Liposomal technology matrix that increases bioavailability. For us, that’s just common sense – we want to make sure that you’re getting the full benefit of the high quality ingredients.

For our customers, this also means better value. They are getting as much of the benefit from every supplement as possible, rather than having to spend more and more to make up for the poor bioavailability of other products.

With this successful growth you’ve been achieving, there must also have been challenges. How have you coped with those?

We’ve seen a couple of really interesting challenges in the past year – and the solution to both of them was about never losing sight of our values.

The first was a financial challenge. The COVID Pandemic has meant a price increase in many of our ingredients, but we refused to pass those costs onto our customers. They are going through tough times, too, and we decided to support them and take the hit ourselves. It was the right thing to do.

The second big challenge is how to scale the business quickly. We’ve increased gross revenues by 800%, added in 9 SKUs, new subscription platforms, brought call centers in house and launched a new website. All in the past year!

It would be so easy to become distracted from the thing that really matters during all this growth – delivering a quality product that our customers value. But through it all, we’ve been tireless in staying true to this commitment.

Is there one vital piece of advice you’d give business leaders today?

Well. I’ve been incredibly fortunate during my career and have created success in a range of sectors. There are lots of things that matter, of course, but I would say, if you want to truly excel, then you have to find your passion project, and for me, that’s Cymbiotika.

Your mind and body deserve the best – further information, including the entire range of Cymbiotika’s natural supplements, can be found at