Pregnant and struggling to find an effective and clean prenatal vitamin, Katerina Schneider set out to create her supplement brand Ritual. At the time investors told her she couldn’t have a business and kids. Now, eight years later, the founder and chief executive officer has three daughters and a growing company expected to exceed $200 million in sales this year. With this, sources have told WWD the brand, which has raised more than $65 million to date, could be prime for acquisition.
“We were born out of the internet and Instagram in a way. We were the most Instagrammable vitamin and now what we’re becoming known for, which I’m proud of is, this company that’s setting new standards in the category,” Schneider said.
As Ritual, which is available at Target, Whole Foods and Amazon, has reached a level of maturity, the company is investing heavily in the three pillars that built its mission: human clinical trials, women’s health and traceability, while building out a portfolio of new stock keeping, most recently Stress Relief, $54.
According to sources, as the supplement market heats up, clinical trials will be essential to differentiate brands. Ritual has been committed to conducting trials and ensuring formulas use the proper format and dosing of ingredients tested in the market, but the team recently announced it would have human clinical trials on each of its formulas by 2030.
“What we’re seeing in the market is that people either have ingredients that have clinical studies on them, but they don’t often match the dose or form in those clinical studies,” Schneider said. “Our baseline is using ingredients that have human clinicals in the forms and dosages. Then we go one step further and run a clinical with a leading university or research institution to show how those ingredients together work in the delivery format.”
While the brand’s hero Essential for Women Multivitamin, $33; Wrinkle Support HyaCera, $54, and Sleep BioSeries Melatonin, $25, have been clinically tested, others are currently underway.
“It’s why we raised venture capital money because it takes millions of dollars to invest in science and clinical research to do it the right way,” Schneider said.
At the same time as Ritual has been launching new stock keeping units, it is building out its portfolio to address all stages of a woman’s life and Schneider plans to expand this even further.
“We serve men and the healthy skeptic, but our focus has been around women. Eventually we also have the right to win in areas like menopause,” she said. “Women’s health is completely underserved.”
Retailers have shown increased interest in this area. Specifically, when Target took on Ritual one of the stock keeping units the team wanted from the beginning was Ritual’s Essential for Women Postnatal Multivitamin, $39, a supplement that address nutrition gaps after giving birth. Similarly, Whole Foods added one of the brand’s latest launches: Natal Choline, $29, which is taken during and after pregnancy to boost a baby’s cognitive function and the quality of the mother’s breast milk.
“It’s a testament to women’s health in retail also growing,” Schneider said.
As for traceability, on the brand’s site, each ingredient in each formula is 100 percent traceable, according to the team, so customers can see exactly what they’re taking, how much and where it’s coming from. In addition, the company has begun sharing the carbon footprint of each of its products. Concurrently, this week, the brand shared its 2023 Impact Report, which includes details on its clinicals, traceability, carbon footprint, bids to Congress and more.
While the brand is putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to traceability and transparency, the team is also having a bit of fun with it. This month, the brand launched its latest campaign with videos and advertisements featuring moms and the slogan “Trace like a Motherf*****” with portions of the word cheekily hidden. For Schneider, the main goal going forward is “to be synonymous with traceability.”
Source: WWD