New Chapter Inc. | Paul Schulick | Tom Newmark | herbal supplement maker

IT'S ONLY NATURAL
As the $6 billion herbal supplement industry comes under serious scientific scrutiny, Vermont-based herbal supplement maker New Chapter Inc. sees opportunity for its straight-arrow products, grown on organic farms and extracted without the aid of chemicals.

Company co-founders jokingly refer to themselves as the “Ben and Jerry” of the supplements market, but it’s serious business. Founder and CEO Paul Schulick began his herbal quest after college, when his pediatrician father couldn’t solve his allergy and digestive problems with traditional medicine. He opened a natural-foods store in 1979, and then began making his own herbal extracts. Today, the company sells seventy categories of extracts, and its products are recommended by industry experts such as Dr. Andrew Weil.

New Chapter eschews traditional marketing and focuses on customer education instead. Schulick and company president Tom Newmark say the quality of their products will make New Chapter the fastest-growing supplement maker in the industry. “Even if consumers can’t do the homework on their own,” Newmark says, “they’ll listen to the scientists and influencers who are really scrutinizing companies like New Chapter, and that will allow us to succeed.”