You are here: npaeast.org > home

NPA Files Comments, Calls for Rewrite of NDI Draft Guidance NPA members can call in during upcoming "Ask the ED" for more information Dear Natural Products Association Members: As we promised earlier, the NPA submitted comments today to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on its New Dietary Ingredient (NDI) draft guidance.  You can read our comments here. We identify serious problems with the draft, including a number of provisions that significantly overstep the authority granted by Congress in the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). As a result, we call on the FDA to substantially rewrite the guidance and, in the meantime, refrain from making enforcement decisions based on the draft. The industry needs clarity for the rules governing the NDI process, but those rules must be consistent with DSHEA. Our comments provide the FDA with the information necessary to achieve that goal, and NPA stands ready to work with FDA on this important task. We will seek a meeting with the agency to discuss our comments.  Dr. Cara Welch, NPA's vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs, led the drafting of these comments. She worked with the NPA ComPLI Committee and our counsel, Scott Bass of Sidley Austin, LLP, and included input from numerous NPA members. Thanks to all for their hard work in creating such a strong document. In addition to working with NPA members, we collaborated with the other trade associations representing the supplement industry. As a result, the comments we all submit will demonstrate industry unity on the key issues. We will soon meet with our Congressional champions to review our comments and discuss next steps.  Appropriate NDI guidance is needed to provide our industry with clarity and certainty. The industry cannot accept, however, the draft guidance as it is written, and NPA will continue to lead the fight for the necessary changes. Additionally, to provide a more thorough understanding of this comment document, NPA will hold "Ask the ED" sessions for both suppliers and retailers, on Wednesday, December 7. Call in to "Ask the ED" - NDI Comments Information for Suppliers Wednesday, December 7 3-3:30 p.m. ET  Call in to "Ask the ED" - NDI Comments Information for Retailers Wednesday, December 7 4-4:30 p.m. ET  To register: Email your name, company name and number of participants at your site to natural@npainfo.org. Registrants will be sent the dial-in information the Monday before the event. Registration is free, though restricted to the first 25 sites that register for each call. After presenting a brief overview, Dr. Welch and I will take questions about the NDI draft guidance comments. We will keep you informed on the next phase of this issue. Sincerely, John Gay, CAE Executive Director and CEO NPA East's President's Letter:  By John Garvey Once again, I'm proud to be a part of what I believe is the most effective regional volunteer organization supporting the natural products industry.  Having worked both sides of the business, on the supply side and most recently as a retailer, I have the honor to lead a group of volunteers who work tirelessly on your behalf. The most important contribution NPA East makes is protecting you from potential legislative actions by state houses that, had they become laws, would have had dire consequences for all retailers throughout our region.   From forcing manufacturers and suppliers in New York to re-label all supplements sold in the state to the creation of the state's own supplement regulatory agency, the results had the potential to be devastating to our ability to do business. (Please read the Advocacy Update column in this issue for more details.) Fortunately, NPA East's Advocacy Committee managed to stop all five of these bills from reaching a vote in the legislature.  Thanks to their efforts, we can all breathe a little more easily for the moment.  Unfortunately, when the legislatures meet again in a few months, all five bills could be resurrected again.  So far, we've held them off for five years!  That's why constant diligence is always required, and your support is always necessary to help ensure these bills never become laws we are forced live with on a daily basis. This is an expensive, time-consuming, and ongoing process.  It never really stops.  With one paid staffer and a handful of volunteers, we can't always do it alone.  Please consider joining our fight against restrictive legislation by volunteering your help and continuing to support our cause with your dues dollars and financial contributions to our advocacy efforts. For more information on how you can help, please contact NPA East's Executive Director, Paul Kushner, at 856-985-5446, or contact Paul by email at pkushner@comcast.org.  You can also sign up to help on our website: www.npaeast.org. I look forward to another great year helping to support and protect natural products retailers within our region and the businesses that support them. P.S.  Please join us at Expo East for NPA East's annual member meeting on Thursday, September 22nd, in Baltimore.  To register and for more information, please go to www.expoeast.com. (Click Here to go back to the top of this page)

What's Inside » FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions » NPA Files Comments, Calls for Rewrite of NDI Draft Guidance » NPA East President's Letter » NPA East Welcomes New Board Members » Retailer Spotlight:  Erika Dworkin » Advocacy Report:  NPA East Plays Major Role In Averting Legislative Crisis in New York     Website hosting & maintenance sponsored by THAYERS® Natural Remedies In 1847, Henry Thayer M.D. opened a laboratory on Main Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts to produce his newly developed line of herbal extracts for sale to the medical profession. Over 160 years later, THAYERS® is still recognized for their commitment to making effective, natural remedies and personal care products. Under ownership of mother & son team, Karen Clarke and John Gehr, THAYERS® is confident that their unwavering dedication will ensure the company will continue to flourish throughout the 21st century.

Theresa Bessette

Erika Dworkin

NPA EAST WELCOMES TWO MORE NEW BOARD MEMBERS

We are proud to announce the addition of two additional  members to the NPA East's Board of Directors. Erika Dworkin is a principal at her family business, Manchester Parkade Health Shoppe in Manchester, Connecticut.  As a former litigator, Erika is an excellent and welcome addition to NPA East's Advocacy efforts, the single most valuable service we provide to our membership. As the future owner of a 55 year-old health food store, Erika has an intimate knowledge of our industry and an enormous passion for protecting free and safe access to nutritional supplements and other natural products. As a member of the NPA East Board of Directors, she looks forward to working with like-minded individuals to make a positive difference for our industry.

Theresa Bessette is currently the supplement and HABA buyer for Fiddleheads Natural Food Cooperative in Westerly, Rhode Island.  She holds an undergraduate degree in nutritional biochemistry and a graduate degree in public health.  Prior to joining Fiddleheads, Theresa spent 25 years working in the health care industry as a clinical laboratory scientist, owner of a health food store, buyer for a retail pharmacy chain, and as a nutritional consultant. As a member of the NPA East Board of Directors, Theresa's goal is to put her skills, knowledge, and experience to work to support and promote the natural products industry in a responsible and credible manner.

Q:  You're licensed to practice law in Connecticut, New York, and Washington, DC.  What got you interested in natural products?
A. I started chewing liver pills for my immunity when I was four, and I literally grew up in my family's health food store.  I have used natural products to live a healthy lifestyle, because I was taught that aging does not have to cause  pain and suffering.  I always wanted to grow older gracefully, to feel 30 when I'm 40, 40 when I'm 50, and so forth.   I have resolved various health problems over the years with diet, nutritional supplements, lifestyle modifications, and spiritual/energy work.  Prescription medications have generally only exacerbated my health conditions.

Q:  How long have you been working at Manchester Parkade Health Shoppe?
A. I worked in our family's stores, both our drug store and health food store, throughout high school.  After college and law school, I lived in New York City and Washington, DC, for 21 years.  I returned to Connecticut to work with my father in September 2009.

Q:  What are the challenges of working in a well-established family business?
A. I came with my own vision for our future. I  have a passion for reaching as many people as possible to help them optimize their health.  But what they say is true; don't try to fix what isn't broken.  I have needed to be careful to freshen, rather than tarnish, my father's masterpiece with my branding and marketing efforts.  Part of our charm is our old- fashioned, intensively service-oriented approach to our customers. So meshing old fashioned ways with cutting edge technology in the marketing and operations areas has been one of the biggest challenges. 

Q.  Tell me about your store and your product mix: how much is supplements, how much is food.  Which is your primary focus and why?
A. As nutrition experts, we primarily focus on helping each customer achieve his or her optimal level of wellness through the appropriate selection of vitamins, herbs, cutting-edge nutraceuticals, homeopathic remedies, and sports nutrition supplements.  We also offer books to enable our customers to empower themselves by providing them with knowledge of their bodies, health conditions, and the nutrients that may help them., We offer our customers a wide selection of food, including macrobiotic, frozen, and refrigerated items.  We focus on carrying unique and hard-to-find products.  Our customers relish our knowledge of the large array of gluten-free dairy, nuts, yeast, and soy.
Our body care consultant does a fabulous job stocking our store with a wide variety of the best natural body care products in the industry.  She aims to carry items not readily available from our local competitors, including those that are gluten, cruelty, and chemical-free.

Q.  Do you have a formal business plan or an informal one, and can you share the key elements that have helped drive your success?
What drives our success is the following:

1. Intensive customer care. Our staff members, most of whom have been with us for many years,  listen, devote ample time, and always try to find answers to customers' questions

2. Great reputation. We have a reputation for being trustworthy, knowledgeable nutrition experts with unquestioned integrity and competitive prices.
3. Convenience.  Our location provides ample parking and easy in-and-out shopping

4. My father's credentials.  Michael Dworkin has a Master's Degree in Clinical Nutrition and a Doctorate in Pharmacy, and a wonderful reputation as a healer.

5. Local Support.  Our customers support us because we show personal concern and have a stake in their well-being, attributes that you just don't find in a large, corporate store.

• Education. We write monthly articles, lecture at colleges and in public forums.  We also reach consumers through our website www.cthealthshop.com, and social media (Twitter, Face book, Linked-In, Yelp, and Google.

• Advertising. We look for strategic, affordable publications, like a free magazine focused on alternative health.

• My Store My Flyer.  This is a customized flyer from Tree of Life that helps us polish our image and provides customers with discounts on items they frequently buy.

• Participation in health fairs. We donate to community auctions for fund raising efforts.

• Networking. Nothing works better than giving the community an opportunity to know me personally and to learn, first hand, what our store offers the community.

• Attention to customers. We maintain a high level of customer care, solving individual problems through research, special orders, and access to my father.

• Pricing:  We pass along discounts from manufacturers and suppliers whenever possible.

Q.  Thinking ahead, what will independent retailers need to do in the next five to ten years to continue to survive and prosper?
A. When the going gets tough, they will need to do more strategic marketing that clearly communicates their brand, especially virtual marketing and participation in social media.

• Make sure they hang on to their key employees by treating them well and  educating them through manufacturer presentations  and other affordable means

>Learn what their competitors are doing that may be helping them succeed and match (or better, beat!) them at their own game.Q:  What advice would you give someone thinking about opening up a natural products retail store?

This is a loaded question since I did this in 1994 and ran my business (Naturally Yours Foods & Vitamins) in Nanuet, NY, for 2 years.  At that point, Robert Haft recruited me to build Vitamins.com in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area from the ground up (a 10-store vitamin chain that was sold for 103.5M to HealthCentral after only 4 years) with a laptop and cubicle.  I could probably write an entire book on this topic, but I'll try to be brief:

1) Do a tremendous amount of research on the desired location (e.g., traffic, local competition, demographics, geographic reach, parking needs/availability)

2) Research your competitors extensively and develop your unique selling proposition BEFORE YOU OPEN! Make sure you really know retail and are up for multi-tasking, being the chief cook and bottle washer; be prepared to work non-stop for the first 2-3 years

3) Work with the distributors, brokers & mfrs to get their help, guidance, and support, both financial and otherwise

4) Even if you don't need financing, develop and follow business and marketing plans... hit the ground running by shouting to your community that you're there... research free marketing opportunities

5) Study Danny Wells' approach to retailing 

6) Cherry-pick your employees and do what's needed to keep them >> think about the community you will be serving and strive for staff diversity 

7) Really study the products that will be your focus... knowledge is key in our industry

Your membership counts - and we are counting every one!  In 2009, membership in NPA East grew 20% and, the good news is, 2010 is even topping those numbers.

Current Members Are the Best Endorsement
While we continue to reach out to potential members throughout the year, the most effective way to recruit is through our existing members.  We believe we have a proven that we provide value to our members - - strong advocacy -- your personal endorsement sends an even stronger message to independent retailers about the benefits of joining and participating in the only regional organization dedicated exclusively to the growth and continued success of natural products retailers and the companies that support them.  Our organization is there for YOU, and our members are there for EACH OTHER.

Advocate At Expo East
Expo East is the perfect venue to talk to your colleagues about the importance of supporting your Association.  While in Boston, please take a few minutes to encourage fellow retailers, suppliers, manufacturers, and brokers who work in our region to join with you to protect our rights to do business.  We are proud of the work we've done to advocate for you throughout the year. With the support of our members, we have been able to stop potentially damaging bills that would have severely hurt your ability to compete as independent retailers.  We need more strong voices advocating for our industry.  Please consider joining the fight by helping us keep track of the hundreds of bills that come up each year that have the potential to hurt us.  It will take very little of your time but it can make an enormous difference in our effectiveness.

Attend the Annual Meeting
And make sure to attend our Annual Meeting at Expo East on Thursday, October 14th  from 4:00 - 5:00pm.  Click here for more details.

Every time a new member joins NPA East, our voice gets stronger and our ability to influence legislation both locally and nationally grows exponentially.

For more information on how you can help us protect your business, please contact NPA East Executive Director, Paul Kushner at 856-985-5446. E-mail: info@npaeast.org.