The PricePlow Podcast Supplement Industry Thought Leaders

Our coverage of the 2024 Vitamin Shoppe Brand Summit continues, following up with special guest Jocko Willink on episode #132.

To get a better background on what the Brand Summit is all about, and the direction of The Vitamin Shoppe itself, we went straight to the source — the CEO himself:

A Quick Discussion with Lee Wright, The Vitamin Shoppe CEO

Lee Wright, CEO of The Vitamin Shoppe, has very quickly gained a tremendous amount of respect both within the company and in the dietary supplement industry at large. Reason being, he leads from the front and practices what he preaches.

Prior to this podcast, Lee, who’s normally a modest and private man, gave a speech to the company detailing his own weight loss journey, and how The Vitamin Shoppe’s own products and employees have given him an edge.

There may not be another major retail CEO who’s visited more stores in such a short amount of time, and he’s been able to figure out what the stores really need. A big part of it is continued education and training.

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/lee-wright-vitamin-shoppe-133

Video: Lee Wright, The Vitamin Shoppe CEO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wggd5rRQevc

Detailed Show Notes



* (0:00) – Introductions

* (1:30) – The Vitamin Shoppe Brand Summit

* (2:30) – Lessons Learned from Lee’s Trips to Stores

* (6:15) – Is it Just “Widgets” in this Industry?

* (7:15) – Regulatory Concerns: Will Lee be Fighting in Washington DC?

* (9:00) – Learning the Brands and Getting into the Supplement Industry

* (12:00) – In-House Brand Development

* (14:00) – Closing out



Show Notes to be continued…

Where to Find Lee Wright and The Vitamin Shoppe



* LinkedIn: Lee Wright

* The Vitamin Shoppe Instagram: @VitaminShoppe



Thanks again to Lee for your valuable time, especially with all of the other employees in town. We’re looking forward to the next meeting.

You can subscribe to the PricePlow Podcast on your favorite platform, sign up for our Vitamin Shoppe blog alerts below, and leave us a great review on iTunes and Spotify!

While at the 2024 Vitamin Shoppe Brand Summit, we were honored to have none other than Jocko Willink of Jocko Fuel on the PricePlow Podcast for Episode 132.

Jocko Willink: Founding Jocko Fuel and Jocko’s Supplement Stack

We had a quick discussion about the founding of Jocko Fuel, how they strive to do the right thing and formulate supplements in the safest way possible, and we get to hear Jocko’s entire supplement stack from start to finish.

We also talk about some of the ongoing regulatory activities, and learn that Jocko is very well aware of some of the challenges that the industry faces.

This is a great continuation from Episode #111 with Brian Littlefield, Jocko Fuel’s co-founder and formulator who hosted us in Maine late last summer.

At 23 minutes, this is a short but powerful episode — you can understand the ethos of Jocko Fuel in just a few minutes of him talking. Just like Jocko himself, Jocko Fuel is the real deal.

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/jocko-willink-132

Video: At The Vitamin Shoppe with Jocko Willink

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLh1EmjoJaE

Detailed Show Notes with Jocko



* (0:00) – Hot Mic!

* (0:20) – Introduction

* (1:00) – Being a Leader in Sports and Active Nutrition

* (1:15) – The founding of Jocko Fuel with Brian Littlefield

* (6:00) – Formulating Beyond Jocko’s Use

* (7:30) – No artificial sweeteners!

* (12:15) – Jocko Fuel Living in its Own World

* (14:45) – Jocko Fuel getting involved in regulatory challenges

* (17:00) – Jocko’s Supplement Stack

* (22:00) – Jocko Magnesium!

* (22:15) – Caffeine Before Jiu-Jitsu?



Where to Find Jocko Willink and Jocko Fuel



* Jocko Willink Instagram: @JockoWillink

* Jocko Fuel Instagram: @JockoFuel

* Jocko Fuel on PricePlow: PricePlow.com/jocko-fuel



Thanks again to Jocko for your valuable time. It was a pleasure talking with you both on and off camera!

You can subscribe to the PricePlow Podcast on your favorite platform, sign up for our Jocko Fuel news alerts on PricePlow, and leave us a great review on iTunes and Spotify!

For Episode #131 of the PricePlow Podcast, we sat down with Rob Rogers from Axcess Global, the parent company of Ketone Labs, Real Ketones, Vault, and many others. Ketone Labs is best known for selling goBHB, the patented exogenous BHB dietary supplement ingredient — which is the main topic of this podcast.

Rob and his business partner Gary Millet recently marked their 10th anniversary working together. This was filmed on a morning before the doors of Expo West started, and Rob brings a strong message:

goBHB is back on the Market!

After a wild few years in the late 2010s, where BHB supplements were seemingly everywhere, things shifted with the new decade. This conversation dovetails into the end of Episode #106 with Mike McCandless, who had a BHB-based supplement company heading into pharmacies that was devastated in spring of 2020.

Ketone Labs was forced to pull back on the sales of goBHB, taking this time to remove infringing products from the market. They never stopped conducting research, however, and sold BHB-based products in their Real Ketones brand.

The big announcement here and at Expo West 2024 is that Ketone Labs has brought goBHB back into the market for other brands, and some incredible new applications outside of weight loss.

Rob, Mike, and Ben get into Rob’s background, his sports career, the genesis story, and then talk about the incredible ways goBHB can be used in supplements for performance, nootropics, mood/stress relief, concussion prevention, and even sleep. We also learn a few things about the L-BHB isomer that is oft-neglected lately!

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/rob-rogers-131

Video: Talking BHB, Baseball, and Business with Rob Rogers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KIEfaXbRPc

Detailed Show Notes



* (0:00) – Introductions

* (7:15) – Startup Challenges: How to Harness BHB Before Keto Goes Big

* (13:45) – Brand Protection

* (21:30) – Ketone Mafia?

* (31:15) – Ketones Beyond Keto

* (38:00) – The Science Behind BHB

* (46:45) – Introduction to BHB

* (52:45) – BHB in an RTD

* (1:00:00) – BHB as Medicine and the Untapped L-Isomer?!

* (1:12:00) – Wrap Up



Thanks for heading to our BNB and joining us early, Rob!

Subscribe to the PricePlow Podcast on any platform, sign up for our Ketones Labs news alerts on PricePlow, and leave us a great review on iTunes and Spotify!

The supplement industry is abuzz with changes, and one of the biggest announcements has been the hiring of Aaron Heidebreicht as Applied Nutrition’s USA CEO. This brings with us a major shift to AN’s North American strategy, all covered in this podcast.

Aaron Heidebreicht Joins Applied Nutrition to Take on The Americas

This podcast was recorded early in the morning before Expo West, where we got to sit down with Aaron and dovetail quite a few storylines. Many of our listeners know Aaron from his appearances in Episode #097 at GNC and Episode #105 at The Vitamin Shoppe, which came with Kaged, where he was the chief commercial officer since late 2022.

Applied Nutrition’s first foray into the American market was with All Black Everything, a brand named from Europe’s best-selling pre-workout supplement that shares the same name. To understand the original mission of the business, see our Episode #114 with TJ Humphreys, their previous CEO.

Aaron’s job is to keep the ABE vision, but take it larger, bringing a whole new series of AN Performance supplements to North America… and far more!

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/aaron-heidebreicht-applied-nutrition-130

Video: Up and Early with Aaron Heidebreicht at Expo West 2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm8joHE1aNw

Detailed Show Notes: Applied Nutrition is Coming to the USA in a Big Way



* (0:52) – Applied Nutrition Background

* (1:34) – Applied Nutrition USA

* (2:54) – Applied Nutrition’s Vast Array of Products

* (4:18) – AN’s ABE Story Arc

* (6:18) – Aaron’s Transition From Kaged to Applied Nutrition?

* (7:05) – Aaron’s Journey

* (8:24) – Why Applied Nutrition?

* (11:35) – Who’s Aaron Bringing Over to AN?

* (12:38) – Why Not A Startup?

* (14:37) – AN’s North American Strategy

* (16:36) – Marketing Specifics

* (18:08) – Brand Ambassadors

* (19:45) – ABE’s Current Influencer Content

* (20:56) – ABE vs. AN, Building Brand Awareness

* (22:27) – Expanding On The ABE Nation Model

* (24:21) – The Untapped “Mature Nutrition” Market

* (25:30) – Strategies For Innovation

* (27:17) – The Growing Importance of Informed Sport

* (28:06) – AN’s New Branding vs. ABE Nation

* (31:13) – AN’s Unified Brand Strategy

* (33:16) – Myprotein As a Precedent For AN’s Strategy?

* (33:54) – Lessons Learned From Myprotein

* (36:25) – AN’s Strategic Priorities

* (38:19) – Mike’s Reflections on Aaron’s Career

* (38:54) – Upcoming Releases



Where to Find Applied Nutrition and Aaron



* AN Instagram: @AppliedNutrition

* ABE Instagram: @ABENation

* LinkedIn: Aaron Heidebreicht

* ABE on PricePlow:…



Read more on the PricePlow Blog

The industry is abuzz with changes, and one of the biggest realignments has happened down in Houston, TX, where Joey Savage (formerly of Glaxon) has started his own consulting firm, Savage Nutra.

Joey Savage Launches Savage Nutra Consulting

This podcast was recorded at the Arnold Sports Festival in early March 2024. At the time of recording, Joey had already announced his venture into consulting with Savage Nutra, so Mike and Ben dig deeper to see what he really wants to work on in his perfect world.

The conversation is as wild and interesting as you’d think it would be, with a lot of discussion on novel probiotics, performance, the perfect stool, and crashing rockets into the firmament where water bears survive thanks to the carbohydrate trehalose.

Joey’s not interested in making pre-workout after pre-workout, but if you’ve got an epic idea for him to work on, then he’s all ears. Only the most special projects will get the official Savage Nutra collab label, though.

Note: Since recording this podcast, there have been updates to Joey’s employment situation, which are discussed in a disclaimer in the beginning of the show.

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/joey-savage-nutra-129

Video: Mike, Ben, and Joey at the 2024 Arnold Sports Festival

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAo1CBD5E4c



* (0:00) – Disclaimer – Joey is No Longer with Glaxon / Zero Day Nutrition

* (5:00) – Sponsored by Path Forward Formulator

* (5:45) – Interview With Joey Savage Begins (Savage Nutra Scoop)

* (7:00) – What About Glaxon?

* (7:45) – What Is Savage Nutra All About? Any Collabs

* (12:00) – Joey’s 5-Year Plan: Beyond Sports Nutrition and Ideal Projects?

* (14:00) – Joey’s Ideal Microbiome: The Human Trash Compactor

* (15:45) – More On the Microbiome

* (16:50) – Vulture Story Background and Vulture Power

* (19:00) – Joey’s Passion: Lots of bacteria!

* (21:45) – Importance of Protecting Intellectual Property

* (23:00) – Hordenine’s Legality

* (24:45) – Giving Back to the Industry

* (25:50) – Industry Ignorance

* (26:30) – How To Plan New Supplement Research

* (29:00) – Advantages of Probiotics and Real-World Precedents

* (30:00) – Next Research Step After Caco-2

* (34:00) – Digital Biomarkers

* (35:40) – Cannabis and Melatonin

* (39:15) – BHB in beverages?

* (42:15) – Caffeine vs. BHB and BHB with Carbs?

* (49:30) – Tardigrades

* (53:45) – Carbs and electrolytes

* (56:45) – Potassium

* (1:00:35) – Potassium problems

* (1:03:15) – Fiber Fusion

* (1:07:00) – Fiber and psyllium husk

* (1:08:45) – Niacin and The Flush

* (1:14:00) – Niacin Pre-Workout and Reduced Performance

* (1:16:00) – Passing THC Tests?

* (1:20:15) – Cannabis enhancement supplement

* (1:23:30) – Microplastics

* (1:25:45) – Food source adaptation

* (1:28:00) – The state of the supplement industry

* (1:30:45) – A new generation of supplement industry leaders

* (1:35:00) – The regulatory battleground

* (1:41:30) – The danger of precedent



Where to Find Joey



* Instagram: @SavageNutra

* LinkedIn:…



Read more on the PricePlow Blog

Every year, the who’s who in the supplement industry make the pilgrimage to the famous Arnold Expo. It’s a hectic, buzzing environment that showcases all the industry has to offer for the year, and brands use it as an opportunity to commingle with industry leaders, athletes, and consumers.

The Cage is Back, Baby!

One element that has been sorely missed for the last several years was the Animal Cage, which we talked about with Jason Budsock from Animal on Episode #80 of the PricePlow Podcast.

Well, the folks at Animal heard the people loud and clear. As we discussed in our article titled “Animal is Bringing THE CAGE Back for the 2024 Arnold Expo“, the famous booth has made a triumphant return after being bent since 2019.

We can say with resounding confidence that the return of the Cage was the highlight of the event, and we had the opportunity to sit down with Jason at the main event.

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/animal-cage-2024-128

Video: Animal Returns The Cage Back to the Arnold

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5emwBonchJc

Detailed Show Notes: Mike and Ben From the Cage



* (0:00) – Welcome back Animal Cage!

* (5:45) – Evolution of the Cage

* (9:00) – Athlete Partnerships

* (13:00) – Generational Shifts

* (17:30) – Creatine Tablets

* (20:45) – Massive Squats

* (24:45) – Rudy Joins!

* (30:00) – Individual Expression in the Cage



Stay in touch with Animal:



* Instagram: @AnimalPak

* TikTok: @OfficialAnimalPak

* YouTube: YouTube.com/@animalpak

* LinkedIn: Jason B and Rudy Checo



Thanks for having us in the Cage, Jason and Rudy! This was a great time.

Until next time, subscribe to the PricePlow Podcast on your favorite platform, and please leave us a great review!