"I've wanted this plant for a number of years," said Vireo Founder and CEO Mark Faulkner. "We first started making the compound creatine hydrochloride in Tennessee, but the demand in the market quickly outstripped our ability to make enough there. So we had to teach an overseas partner how to make it at the same quality level that we did in Tennessee. And when the pandemic hit, and we had the global supply chain issues, I thought, 'Okay, it's now truly time to vertically integrate and make sure that we bring that back on the domestic land.'"
Faulkner said the decision to build the plant was a great decision on several fronts, especially from a sustainability and an efficiency standpoint.
"We don't have to take the time to ship overseas which saves all sorts of ocean fuel," he explained. "It also saves incredibly on packaging. We have reduced our use of plastics and corrugate and packing and shipping materials by over 90%. So great for a sustainability story. And just having something that's gonna be ingested by people made in the USA and in an FDA registered and inspected facility with safe quality foods accreditation, it's been incredible for how retailers and consumers have leaned into that.”
With Walmart’s ‘Made in America’ initiative, Faulker said it’s just one example of a retailer that has gotten behind the Vireo plant. He’s also proud to provide more jobs to the area and boost the local economy.
He noted that his company not only does its own manufacturing but also conducts its own research: “And that's something that has paid dividends because the trust factor is there with the consumers,” he said.
The creatine gummy category, however, has been under fire recently after natural product manufacturer NOW reported that half the creatine gummy brands it tested failed to meet dosage claims on label.
“It's unfortunate that some of the recent news about creatine gummies has happened, [and] that data was published or promulgated without third party experts reviewing it to see that the methods utilized were actually methods that would create valid and defensible results. I got a chance to have an insight as to the analysis that was published. And I can tell you that it was not something that would be considered consistent with good laboratory practices,” Faulkner said.
To hear more on where Faulker believes NOW’s testing fell short and the testing methods Vireo uses, watch the full interview.
