New Chapter
{{short description|American dietary supplement manufacturer}}
{{technical reasons|New Chapter #1: The Chance of Love|the album with that title|New Chapter No. 1: The Chance of Love}}
{{technical reasons|New Chapter #2: The Truth of Love|the album with that title|New Chapter No. 2: The Truth of Love}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox company
| name = New Chapter, Inc.
| logo = New Chapter logo.jpeg
| founded = 1982
| founder = Paul Schulick
Barbi Schulick
| hq_location = Brattleboro, Vermont
| parent = Procter & Gamble
}}
New Chapter, Inc. is the American manufacturer of the New Chapter brand of vitamins and other organic dietary supplements. Based in Brattleboro, Vermont, the company is a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) subsidiary of Procter & Gamble.{{Cite web |last1=Littenberg |first1=Michael R. |last2=Oldshue |first2=Emily J. |last3=Pifer |first3=Brittany N. |date=August 30, 2020 |title=Delaware Public Benefit Corporations—Recent Developments |url=https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2020/08/31/delaware-public-benefit-corporations-recent-developments/ |access-date=2022-06-04 |website=Harvard Law School Forum for Corporate Governance |publisher=Harvard Law School |archive-date=May 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515164655/https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2020/08/31/delaware-public-benefit-corporations-recent-developments/ |url-status=live }} The company's products include herbal supplements, probiotics, superfood greens and mushrooms.{{Cite web |title=New Chapter Inc. |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/9887464Z:US |access-date=2022-06-04 |agency=Bloomberg News |website=Bloomberg – US Edition }}{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable according to some editors|date=July 2022}}
Corporate organization
New Chapter was acquired by Procter & Gamble in 2012. As a PBC, its stated public benefit is "sustainably promoting public health by nourishing body and soul through its products, including, but not limited to, whole foods and herbal supplements, in an environmentally conscious and socially responsible way."
The company is a certified B Corporation. According to B Lab, in 2014, New Chapter became the first major vitamin and supplement company to become a certified B Corp. P&G is one of several publicly held multinational corporations to have become involved in the "B Corp movement" through a subsidiary.{{Cite journal |last=Marquis |first=Christopher |date=Fall 2020 |title=The B Corp Movement Goes Big |url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/145222049 |journal=Stanford Social Innovation Review |volume=18 |issue=4 |via=EBSCO |access-date=June 4, 2022 |archive-date=June 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220604052131/https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=145222049 |url-status=live }}
Products
Products under the New Chapter brand include organic dietary supplements.{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable according to some editors|date=July 2022}} According to Supermarket News, in 2021, New Chapter was one of the top selling brands in organic multivitamins and organic turmeric.{{Cite news |last=Reiss |first=Dawn |date=October 11, 2021 |title=What's driving sales growth for organic products at retail? |work=Supermarket News |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A680484796/ITOF |access-date=2022-06-04 |via=GALE |archive-date=June 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220607014305/https://galeapps.gale.com/apps/auth?userGroupName=&origURL=https%3A%2F%2Fgo.gale.com%2Fps%2Fi.do%3Fp%3DITOF%26u%3D%26id%3DGALE%7CA680484796%26v%3D2.1%26it%3Dr&prodId=ITOF |url-status=live }}
= Patents =
In 2019, the USPTO granted Procter & Gamble a patent for a food supplement containing biotin, Reishi mushrooms and a type of algae called Haematococcus pluvialis. The company claims that the supplements supports hair, skin, and nails.
History
The company was founded in 1982 by Paul and Barbi Schulick, who started the business by making herbal extracts in their garage, which they sold in a health food store they operated in Lexington, Massachusetts. Although the herbal extracts did not sell well on their own, the couple said they noticed that there was consistent demand for vitamin supplements; packaging the two together, they called the revamped business their "New Chapter". The company sourced some ingredients from an organic estate in Costa Rica. In 1986, the Schulicks moved to Brattleboro, Vermont, where they opened a new shop called The Natural Apothecary. In 2003, Zyflamend, the New Chapter product for "inflammation response", was mentioned by celebrity doctor Andrew Weil on Larry King Live;{{Cite news |date=March 5, 2003 |title=CNN Larry King Live – Interview with Dr. Andrew Weil |work=CNN.com – Transcripts |url=https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/lkl/date/2003-03-05/segment/00 |access-date=2022-06-04 |archive-date=June 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220604055957/http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0303/05/lkl.00.html |url-status=live }} according to Paul Schulick, this led to $1 million in sales within little more than a week.
In 2005, New Chapter received investment from 6Pacific Group, a corporate finance firm.{{Cite news |last=Grebow |first=Jennifer |date=March 22, 2013 |title=P&G's New Chapter Acquisition, a Year Later: What Difference Can a Year Make? |work=Nutritional Outlook |url=https://www.nutritionaloutlook.com/view/pgs-new-chapter-acquisition-year-later-what-difference-can-year-make |access-date=2022-06-05 |archive-date=April 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416224832/https://www.nutritionaloutlook.com/view/pgs-new-chapter-acquisition-year-later-what-difference-can-year-make |url-status=live }} In 2007, the company announced a deal to expand into Asia by partnering with Daesang, a South Korean food company; by then, New Chapter was recognized by The Brattleboro Reformer as the world's largest organic vitamin company. In 2009, New Chapter told The New York Times that it had seen an uptick in sales of vitamins and supplements during the winter cold season in North America, despite the economic recession. By 2012, New Chapter was selling over 80 different products.
= Acquisition by P&G =
The acquisition by Procter & Gamble in March 2012 initially met with skepticism, as well as disappointment from New Chapter customers. Some P&G employees questioned the effectiveness of nutritional and herbal supplements, while proponents of New Chapter were uneasy with P&G's approach to sustainability and transparency. Natural product retailers and buyers were apprehensive that acquisitions by large conglomerates could lead to lower product integrity. One industry insider predicted that the acquisition would result in natural product retailers "bottom-shelving" New Chapter products in anticipation of its move into mass market distribution, as part of P&G.{{Cite news |last=Mast |first=Carlotta |date=March 9, 2012 |title=What P&G's New Chapter acquisition means for the natural industry |work=New Hope Network |url=https://www.newhope.com/supplements/what-pgs-new-chapter-acquisition-means-natural-industry |access-date=2022-06-03 |archive-date=February 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220225010030/https://www.newhope.com/supplements/what-pgs-new-chapter-acquisition-means-natural-industry |url-status=live }}
Six months later, long-time employees and suppliers of New Chapter said they were generally positive about P&G's investments in quality, technology, and resources for the company, as well as its willingness to support California's Proposition 37, while a spokesperson for P&G reiterated the parent company's commitment to allowing New Chapter to run autonomously. One year after the acquisition, Paul Schulick confirmed to Nutritional Outlook that P&G had invested additional personnel for New Chapter in quality control and innovation. P&G had also enabled New Chapter to run a marketing campaign in Manhattan, including advertising in New York City subway stations. As of March 2013, however, the company had not yet shifted focus to mass-market retailers, focusing instead on its existing distribution channels such as health food stores and other "natural product" retailers. As of June 2013, the company had about 300 employees, and had not laid any off. In 2016, Barbi Schulick stated that P&G was "standing behind non-GMO and organic."
In July 2018, the Schulicks left New Chapter, citing the pressure to accelerate profits.{{Cite news |last=Terlep |first=Sharon |date=July 19, 2018 |title=They Sold Their Startup to P&G. It Struggled. They Quit. Vermont couple says their vitamin business suffered from bureaucracy and profit pressures; P&G says 'we had different views on the future' |work=The Wall Street Journal (Online) |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2071547466 |access-date=2022-06-05 |via=ProQuest |archive-date=June 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220605143538/https://www.proquest.com/docview/2071547466/63790EB717B94DDDPQ/15 |id={{ProQuest|2071547466}} |url-status=live }} The Wall Street Journal reported that New Chapter had fallen out of the top 10 selling brands of natural vitamins and supplements in the United States, according to market data firm SPINS LLC, and was no longer profitable as a business unit within P&G. At the time, the company was selling only 60 products and had about 225 employees. P&G had pulled some New Chapter products from the market until certain product claims could be verified by further research, causing New Chapter to lose shelf space and online market share on Amazon.com in the meantime. In the Wall Street Journal interview, Paul Schulick stated that he was frustrated with what he viewed as excessive bureaucracy and reporting requirements as part of P&G, as well as the parent company's prioritization of short-term profitability over development of new "breakthrough" products. Another article in WholeFoods Magazine pointed to the Schulicks' unhappiness with P&G's acquisition of Merck KGaA's Consumer Health Business, which had annual sales of nearly $1 billion in products such as Femibion pregnancy supplements and Seven Seas cod liver oil. Meanwhile, spokespeople for P&G responded that New Chapter sales were increasing, that morale was not low, and that the company had a responsibility to shareholders.
Controversy
Critics of supplement manufacturers including New Chapter have criticized the fact that they represent themselves as "an alternative to big pharma", when in fact "giant pharmaceutical firms actually own the bulk of the industry." Lack of oversight by the Food and Drug Administration has also led to concern about the safety and effectiveness of vitamin, mineral, and herbal supplements.
= ''Waldman v. New Chapter, Inc.'' =
In 2010, Anna Waldman filed a putative class action lawsuit against New Chapter, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.{{Cite web |date=May 19, 2010 |title=Waldman v. New Chapter, Inc. |url=https://casetext.com/case/waldman-v-new-chapter |access-date=2022-06-05 |website=Casetext |archive-date=June 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210616131032/https://casetext.com/case/waldman-v-new-chapter |url-status=live }} The plaintiff's complaint alleged that New Chapter had engaged in deceptive business practices by listing the product weight of "Berry Green" in metric weight (grams), rather than in ounces.{{Cite news |last=Rotenberg |first=Jonathan |date=June 4, 2010 |title=Claims concerning food packaging allowed to proceed |work=Lexology |url=https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=28f4b134-01aa-4d50-9265-f6885462a280 |access-date=2022-06-04 |archive-date=December 25, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141225074742/http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=28f4b134-01aa-4d50-9265-f6885462a280 |url-status=live }} A further complaint was that the defendant had packaged Berry Green in a non-transparent box that was 6 5/8 inches tall, whereas the contents of the box included a jar that was only 5 5/8 inches tall, and only half full.{{Cite web |last=Dickerson |first=Thomas A. |date=June 7, 2018 |title=Consumer Law 2018 Update – The Judge's Guide to Federal and New York State Consumer Protection Statutes |url=https://www.consumerworld.org/pubs/consumerlaw2018.pdf |access-date=2022-06-04 |website=Consumer World |archive-date=June 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220607014154/https://www.consumerworld.org/pubs/consumerlaw2018.pdf |url-status=live }} The court dismissed the plaintiff's claims regarding the defendant's use of the metric system, but allowed the plaintiff to pursue her claims regarding deceptive business practices and false advertising, on the basis of "excessive slack-fill" in packaging, which was sufficiently "misleading" in that it could give a false impression that consumers were buying more than they were receiving.
Philanthropy
In 2008, New Chapter executive Tom Newmark led a hiking trip in Costa Rica with executives and founders of several "green businesses" including Whole Foods Market, Pet Promise, Fresh & Wild, Seventh Generation, and Kopali Organics. The purpose of the trip was to help raise $10 million for rainforest preservation, and discuss the future of the "natural products" industry.
References
{{reflist|refs=
{{cite news |last1=Audette |first1=Bob |title=Five kingdoms of the Schulicks' 'next chapter' |url=https://www.reformer.com/local-news/five-kingdoms-of-the-schulicks-next-chapter/article_16a57a7e-0341-563c-a7ef-88f4da48a99b.html |access-date=31 May 2022 |newspaper=Brattleboro Reformer |date=24 January 2020}}
{{cite news |last1=Petersen |first1=Laurie |title=New Chapter Founders Describe Profit Pressures Under P&G |url=https://wholefoodsmagazine.com/news/main-news/new-chapter-founders-describe-profit-pressures-under-pg/ |access-date=31 May 2022 |work=Whole Foods Magazine |date=12 July 2018 |archive-date=April 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421230702/https://wholefoodsmagazine.com/news/main-news/new-chapter-founders-describe-profit-pressures-under-pg/ |url-status=live }}
{{cite web|url=http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2013/11/vitamins-herbal-dietarysupplementsregulatefda.html|publisher=Al Jazeera|title=Time to tame the dietary supplement industry|date=November 12, 2013|first=Lynn Stuart|last=Parramore|access-date=May 26, 2022|quote=Supplement promoters sell themselves as an alternative to big pharma, but giant pharmaceutical firms actually own the bulk of the industry. Pfizer owns Centrum, Bayer owns One a Day, and Procter & Gamble owns supplement maker New Chapter|archive-date=September 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917101106/http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2013/11/vitamins-herbal-dietarysupplementsregulatefda.html|url-status=live}}
{{cite web|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2019/02/22/p-g-invents-supplement-to-support-healthy-hair.html|work=Cincinnati Business Insider|title=P&G invents supplement to support healthy hair, skin and nails|date=February 22, 2019|access-date=May 26, 2022|first=Barrett J.|last=Brunsman|archive-date=April 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418002452/https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2019/02/22/p-g-invents-supplement-to-support-healthy-hair.html|url-status=live}}
{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/business/worldbusiness/29iht-hike.4.10590912.html|title=Green business leaders strive to stay true to their cause|first=Andrew|last=Martin|date=December 9, 2008|newspaper=New York Times|access-date=May 29, 2022|archive-date=May 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220529205244/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/business/worldbusiness/29iht-hike.4.10590912.html|url-status=live}}
{{cite news |last1=Lecuyer |first1=Cate |title=New Chapter Inks Deal for Expansion Into Asia |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102872006/new-chapter/ |access-date=31 May 2022 |newspaper=The Brattleboro Reformer |date=16 January 2007 |archive-date=May 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531013355/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102872006/new-chapter/ |url-status=live }}
{{cite news |last1=Mace |first1=Phebe |title=You Can Get Everything You Want at The Natural Apothecary |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102872339/new-chapter-2/ |access-date=31 May 2022 |newspaper=Rutland Daily Herald |date=27 March 1990 |archive-date=May 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531013356/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102872339/new-chapter-2/ |url-status=live }}
{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Tyler |date=Summer 2012 |title=Procter & Gamble Buys New Chapter, Inc. |pages=60–61 |work=HerbalGram |publisher=American Botanical Council |issue=94 |url=https://www.herbalgram.org/resources/herbalgram/issues/94/table-of-contents/mktrpt_pgnewchapter/ |access-date=2022-05-31 |archive-date=June 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602113038/https://www.herbalgram.org/resources/herbalgram/issues/94/table-of-contents/mktrpt_pgnewchapter/ |url-status=live }}
{{Cite news |last=Coad |first=Tanya |date=March 16, 2008 |title=Let Food Be Thy Medicine |page=B8 |newspaper=North Shore News |location=North Vancouver, British Columbia |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/361517887 |access-date=2022-05-31 |id={{ProQuest|361517887}}}}
}}
External links
- {{official website|https://www.newchapter.com/}}
{{Procter & Gamble}}