Frequently asked questions

Why should retailers consider creating a private label line?
There are a number of benefits to carrying a Private Label line of product. One of the primary benefits is the opportunity to build brand loyalty with your customers. By adding a reputable private label manufacturer who offers a quality product line to your team, your opportunity to build brand loyalty and keep your customers coming back will increase significantly. Another very important benefit to creating a Private Label line is the consistent, high impact advertising that it creates for retailers. Your customers will see your product throughout their homes and businesses on a daily basis. Traditional advertising with that kind of recurrence would cost 10’s of thousands of dollars. Along with increased visibility of your brand, the margins and profitability for a private label line of product are considerably higher than those of a national manufacturer brand. Not only is profitability higher but private label products are increasingly more prevalent and accepted. Approximately 40% of the products on shelves today are a private label brand and have outperformed manufacturer brands 9 of the last 10 years. Price does push these products but a private label line also allows a retailer to be more nimble and creative with their sales strategies than the manufacturer brands.

What should retailers look for in a private label manufacturer?
The primary starting point for retailers looking at introducing a Private Label line is to team up with a high quality, reputable Private Label Manufacturer. Make sure they are GMP certified (Good Manufacturing Practices). Look for a manufacturer that offers both high quality product and high quality packaging. The appearance of your product on the shelves is as important as the product itself. At Nuvite we take great pride in offering both exceptional, quality, GMP certified products and unsurpassed, professional, best in class packaging. Make sure you do your homework. Don’t just look at price. Make sure you are looking at all of the variables; product, packaging, pricing and service. You need to feel comfortable with the private label manufacturer you choose; you are going to be working as a team and building your brand together. You want to make a statement when you introduce your new product line. You don’t have to be 8 products deep and take up 2 racks of shelving but at the same time you don’t want to have two bottles of product sitting in the upper corner of your shelving. Find the balance that works for your store and your budget.

How can retailers be assured a private label manufacturer has quality ingredients and production?
As mentioned above, the biggest indicator of quality in both ingredients and production is GMP certification. If a manufacturer isn’t a GMP certified manufacturer, they are more than likely not following the guidelines that the USDA has set forth to assure that end users are getting safe and healthy products. At Nuvite we have an open door policy which allows any of our customers to stop by our 132,000 square foot facility unannounced to take a tour and confirm the fitness of our facility. Programs like the open door policy give customers a little extra piece of mind knowing that they can stop in any time and see that we maintain a clean and safe manufacturing facility.

Years ago, private label goods in food stores looked basic and blah. Has the look of private label products, from packaging to labeling improved aesthetically and functionally?
Nuvite offers the absolute best in class label printing capabilities in the industry. With the recent addition of our new Digital HP 4500 Indigo press the quality of our labeling and packaging is unsurpassed in the industry. We offer 45 standard, high quality, pressure sensitive labels to our customers. These labels offer our customers the ability to quickly pick a label design without having to spend too much time designing a custom label. There is no doubt that there are still a lot of poorly designed and poor quality labels on the shelves today but we take great pride in our label design and printing capabilities.

How well do (or can) private label supplements compete with top name brands?
The market for Private Labeling has grown exponentially over the last several years and will continue to grow. Retailers are finding out that you don’t have to be a big box national retailer to have a private label line. The smaller local retailers can create their own line with the same quality product and not break the bank. People are quickly finding out that Private Label does not have any correlation to being a lesser product. I would put the Nuvite Private Label line up against any manufacturers brand at any time. For years people considered the “Private Label” lines to be inferior to the manufacturer’s brands but that is not the case. Private Label lines more often than not use the same or better quality materials and ingredients as the manufacturer brands. Another important aspect to consider is at the national name brands are going to require much higher minimums in order to carry their line of product. Nuvite requires a 3 bottle per product minimum purchase.

Are organic and other certifications important or popular in the natural products market for private label lines? Is this more relevant to foods/beverages than supplements?
There is no doubt that the “organic” certification has become a very important part of our industry. Health has become a primary issue for most individuals and consumers have become more proactive in taking their health into their own hands. The average consumer is more educated today than ever about nutrition and its impact on their health. Organic vitamins and supplements provide the additional assurance that no chemicals or inorganic ingredients have been utilized in the product. It also means that the organic products being supplied have been grown or manufactured using processes which comply with strict organic standards specifically without pesticides, insecticides, fertilizers, and other potentially harmful chemicals or ingredients. The organic industry as a whole has taken off in popularity in the last several years. The organic vitamin and supplement sector will continue to see exceptional growth as consumers’ desire for increased management of their health and health options continue to increase. Not all organics are equal though. Under the strict guidelines of the USDA and their National Organic Program, there are national standards for the production and handling of organic vitamins and supplements. These standards are broken down into four categories:

  • 100% organic: These products contain only 100% organic certified ingredients and can be labeled with the “USDA Organic” stamp on the principle display panel (PDP).
  • Organic: These products contain a minimum of 95% organic certified ingredients and can also be labeled with the “USDA Organic” stamp on the PDP. The remaining 5% material must be organic compliant, meeting all QAI standards.
  • Made with organic ingredients: These products contain a minimum of 70% organic certified ingredients. A maximum of three of the organically produced ingredients can be noted on the principle display panel of the label or packaging. The remaining 30% material must also be organic compliant, meeting all QAI standards.
  • Processed products containing less than 70% organically produced ingredients: These products can not use the term “organic” anywhere on the principle display panel of the label or packaging but the ingredients statement on the product’s supplement fact panel can specify those ingredients that are organically produced.

The requirement at Nuvite from the start of research and development of our organic product line was that it needed to maintain 95% or better organically produced ingredients. We had no interest in creating and offering an organic product line that was considered by the USDA as “made with organic” or containing 70% organic materials. To the contrary, due to the strict guidelines and standards of the USDA and the cost of research and development of a 95% or better organic line, most private label manufacturers opt for the “made with organic” designation for their “organic” product offerings. Nuvite currently offers 10 USDA certified organic products with a number of new offerings in the works. We offer both powders and tablets. All of our organic products are certified by Quality Assurance International (QAI).

How long will it take for me to receive my order?
All orders are filled quickly and efficiently by our professional fulfillment staff. To allow for proper set up and maintenance of your new label design, initial orders are shipped in 10 business days; subsequent orders will ship within 7 business days.

How do I place subsequent orders?
Reorders can be placed via email (orders@nuvitelabs.com or mbess@nuvitelabs.com) or by fax (480.558.4689) – email is the preferred method as it is more secure but faxes are also acceptable. To ensure accurate orders and customer satisfaction, Nuvite Labs cannot accept verbal orders over the phone.

What if an item is out-of-stock when I place my order?
On rare occasion, an item may be out of stock at the time an order is placed. This item will appear at the bottom of the invoice as “Out Of Stock”. Nuvite Labs does not have an active auto-ship back order system; therefore, out of stock items need to be reordered as needed by the customer and will not be automatically shipped by Nuvite Labs once the item is in stock. Typically, an out of stock item is available within less than two weeks. .

How can I establish credit terms?
OThe quickest and easiest way to establish payment terms with Nuvite Labs is to place a credit card on file (Visa, Mastercard & American Express). Initial orders require a credit card otherwise arranged. Credit terms are available upon request.

What if I receive my order and an item is damaged?
Nuvite Labs will issue account credit for damaged product; please notify Nuvite Labs within 7 days of receipt of the order regarding the damaged item. Please see the attached Return Policy for details.

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