When you read the headline “Jenny Craig owner acquires Ancient Nutrition,” it might leave you befuddled…but what if I told you everything actually makes perfect sense? Wellful was essentially created in 2021 when Kainos Capital, a middle-market consumer products focused private equity firm, merged the direct-to-consumer weight management meal solution brand Nutrisystem with the supplement brand portfolio Adaptive Health. But then you need to know that Adaptive Health was formed when Direct Digital acquired the supplement brand portfolio Healthy Directions. And hopefully you’re still keeping up…but you’d finally need to know that Healthy Directions was created in the early 1990s after newsletter readers began calling Phillips Publishing to find out where they could buy the nutritional products recommended by its doctors. The earliest products (and supplement brands) that made up Healthy Directions were all developed by some of America’s most recognized doctors. Can you see where I’m going with this “connect the dots” game now? Who was the co-founder (and face) of Ancient Nutrition? That would be functional medicine, digestive health, and herbal remedies expert Dr. Josh Axe. And if you’re wondering how Jenny Craig got tossed into my introduction…Wellful acquired the weight management brand in mid-2023. The acquisition of Ancient Nutrition is said to further strengthen Wellful’s presence in various supplement categories and expand its distribution footprint into the natural retail channel. Ancient Nutrition was founded in 2016 by the beforementioned Dr. Josh Axe and Jordan Rubin (who also founded Garden of Life…a supplement brand that was acquired by Nestle). And while Ancient Nutrition offers around 200 SKUs now…it’s early “claim to fame” was pioneering Bone Broth Protein supplementation that delivered the benefits of homemade bone broth in a convenient, easy-to-mix form. But transporting back to the late-2010s, Ancient Nutrition was definitely responsible for driving key paleo, collagen, and grass-fed supplement trends across all sales channels. Moreover, Ancient Nutrition became a top-selling protein brand within the natural channel and one of the fastest-growing supplement brands overall. And that immense level of early success led private equity firms VMG Partners and Hillhouse to invest $103 million into Ancient Nutrition. But during these almost seven years since that huge capital injection, I’d call the brand’s journey fascinating…but it’s important to understand that word could have vastly diverse meaning depending on the stakeholder. And my latest first principles thinking content will explain what I meant by that statement...along with examine what Wellful is trying to accomplish with its portfolio architecture.

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