Healthcare should be a universal right. And although we often emphasize this in the west, we don’t always see it come into practice. A misalignment in health is the root of many problems, including the difficulty of enjoying the little things in life: Spending time with loved ones, taking a trip, or going for a brisk hike up the mountain. As we age, minor issues we didn’t take care of when we were young start becoming more agitated and apparent in our lives. For our growing population to shift toward adopting science-based health advice proves to be challenging, given access to a plethora of false information out there. At Ecotrend, our mission is to bring forward the most innovative brands and products that serve your health and make them widely available One of the latest brands we’ve brought on is called VITAE Health Innovation, and we’re bringing their products across the ocean from Barcelona, Spain.

Barcelona is home to some brilliant beaches, captivating culture, nightlife, and tapas! But did you know it’s also a vibrant startup and business hub? VITAE Health Innovation has a 30-year-old facility and innovation lab located at the heart of Barcelona, home to a team of scientists. They created unique food-supplement products backed by scientific studies formulated to maintain and optimize people’s health for a variety of concerns. Some of these include digestive health, urinary tract issues, skin health, immunity, cardiovascular, and joint health. But the unique focus of VITAE is using exclusively nature-derived ingredients like sea buckthorn, pomegranate, beta-glucans, turmeric and more.

Discover what VITAE is all about in this exclusive interview.

What inspired the founding of your brand?

We are a food supplement company formulating, developing, and manufacturing natural food supplements. VITAE Health Innovation was created in 1995 in Barcelona, based on the philosophy of founder Raimon Cortada, to learn and incorporate the best of what nature has to offer us. With more than 25 years in the market, VITAE Health Innovation is considered one of the leading food supplement companies in the industry.

We put all our efforts into understanding how our body works and how we can empower it; to formulate physiological and natural food supplements that help you take care of your body naturally. We consider ourselves health artisans, taking care of every detail, from the ingredients and the packaging to the sales and logistics.

Achieving a state of optimal health and well-being promotes a healthy lifestyle both physically and mentally. All this is thanks to the wonderful resources found in nature, which we have so much to learn from. Thanks to the will, vitality, and curiosity of Raimon Cortada, VITAE has become more than a food supplement company; we feel like a family, and YOU are part of it.

What are your brand’s core values?

Science, quality, innovation and transparency.

We believe investing in research is fundamental, so we have a team of people dedicated solely to this purpose. We carry out scientific studies of our products, collaborate with important universities and hospitals and participate in congresses, seeking to offer you the best. We produce everything locally in our production facilities in Barcelona, allowing us to control the quality of the entire process.

Our natural food supplements are formulated to empower our health, and that is why most of our products are considered “clean label.” Top quality products designed with physiology and health in mind; formulated without unnecessary additives, free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and allergens. We exclusively source ingredients of natural origin and with maximum bioavailability.

Our passion is to help maintain and improve our customer’s quality of life. For us, taking care of both people and the environment is essential, building a relationship of transparency, respect, closeness, and maximum professionalism.

Describe one way you try to keep innovating with your brand.

We believe in constant innovation, not only in our products but also in our way of working(technology, software, materials, etc.). In order to keep innovating in every aspect of the company, we look at other markets, new trends, and other industries to learn and incorporate as much as possible. To be one step ahead of our competitors, we must remain flexible, agile, and receptive to market needs.

For example, we started developing clean-label formulas before any of our competitors in the Spanish market because we knew we had to be more careful with excipients, thanks to our doctors from the UK. We conduct research in hospitals and universities to discover and test new clinical applications of our products, so we can safely offer alternative and proven solutions to physicians. On another note, we incorporated software and technology in our warehouse, like RFID control, to ensure we don’t have errors on our picking line. We could make a never-ending list, but the most important message is that VITAE is completely oriented to innovation in every single aspect. This is what helps us to be better every day.

Talk about a roadblock or a challenge you faced as a business owner; have you overcome this? If so, please tell us how you did or how you’re working on it.

Being in such a competitive market forces you to constantly challenge yourself in all aspects: product, logistics, marketing, management, etc. Defining and being consistent with our value proposition and DNA requires constant effort to make sure you don’t get out of the way.

For us, working as a team, being very honest amongst ourselves but also with the market, plus listening and learning from the outside have been instrumental in our success.

What inspires you to keep going every day?

The dream to help people get healthier and enjoy a better life. This means everything to us.

How did you know you had a good product-market fit?

It was not easy at all. The market is full of competitors and plenty of good brands that do a good job. We worked very hard and consistently to define our value proposition. After almost 30 years in the market, we can proudly say we are doing a good job and that the market is recognizing our work and products. People look for transparent and reliable brands, where communication is not pure marketing but transparent communication. Our community values our work, and we couldn’t be happier for this!

What are your aspirations for your brand 10 years from now?

We would like to keep up with the research to better understand the body’s needs, so we can develop more specific and physiological products.

We will keep working hard to maintain our innovative spirit, be close to the market and offer what our clients expect from us: a natural, high-quality transparent product!