Be Credible
Finding a trustworthy partner who can provide the expertise required for a successful outcome can be daunting. Greg Horn provides strategic guidance to commercialize evidence-based nutrition products and solutions.
Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA): FDA
During his tenure at GNC as CEO, Greg Horn played a crucial role in the success of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994, which established for the first time clear regulations for dietary supplements. In 1993, facing a significant threat from the FDA's potential bans on supplements, Greg collaborated with Loren Israelsen of UNPA and an industry-wide team of experts to lay the groundwork for the industry's lobbying and regulatory strategy.
To galvanize consumer support, Greg spearheaded the "Save Our Supplements" (SOS) campaign, a national grassroots effort that generated 2.5 million letters to Congress. This massive consumer response, coupled with strategic lobbying, led to the successful passage of DSHEA in 1994, ensuring the continued growth and innovation of the dietary supplement industry.
Garden of Life
In 2005, entrepreneurial startup Garden of Life was on the verge of going out of business. Greg Horn was recruited by the founder to serve as CEO and lead a 2-year turnaround of this natural and organic supplements brand. During this time, Greg and his new team reformulated and repackaged almost every single product in the range, repositioned the brand to “Empowering Extraordinary Health,” stabilized the company’s supply chain and finances, and introduced such new-to-the-market innovations as shelf-stable probiotics formulations, plant-based proteins, supercritical CO2 distilled omega-3s, non-stimulant natural thermogenics from seaweed and fermented food-based vitamins.
By upping the ante on quality by securing both USDA Organic and Non-GMO certification for many products and Green-e certification for energy use at the company, Garden of Life was positioned as the market leader in the U.S. natural channel leader and later sold to Nestle as a key part of Atrium Innovations for $2.3 billion.
GNC® Live Well
Founded as a yogurt shop in 1935, General Nutrition Centers (GNC®) was the largest retailer of health foods in the United States by the 80s, with a tagline “Where America Shops for Health.” Greg Horn joined GNC in 1991 as the brand manager for vitamins and part of the leadership team dedicated to moving GNC from a health food and generic vitamin store to a specialty retailer of effective health supplements. Greg created from scratch specialty brands within GNC including Mega Men®, Preventive Nutrition® condition-specific formulations, Herbal Plus® botanicals, Total Lean® weight management, Pro Performance® sports nutrition, each of which became >$100 million annual revenue brands within GNC. To assist in creating effective product formulations and validating efficacy with clinical trials, Greg brought in Ph.D. level nutrition scientists, a first for any retailer. Greg created the inspiring repositioning of GNC to “Live Well” as a mission and tagline in 1996.
During his tenure, which included serving as CEO, GNC added an average of $100 million per year to revenues in highly profitable organic growth, and the company sold from the public markets to Royal Numico, a major global player in clinical and infant nutrition in a $2.5 billion transaction in 1999.
Brand New Brands
Brand New Brands was the first brand incubator in the nutrition industry. Founded by Greg Horn in 2002, Brand New Brands for the first time brought together strategic investors in the space to cultivate innovative growth companies in the nutrition category, each with a functional health benefit backed by human clinical research. Brand New Brands originated such companies as Attune Foods (sold to Post Holdings), the first probiotic chocolate company, Dreamerzzz, the first sleep-focused food and beverage company, and Corazonas, the first heart-healthy snack foods company.
Let’s collaborate! Invite Greg Horn to speak at your next event. Learn from his visionary insights and be inspired by his success stories.