Bioenergy Life Science (BLS) will substantially expand its global import/export business, and has named Michael Crabtree, ND, general manager of the company.

With direct access to BLS, and its vertically-integrated sourcing, quality management, and logistics, U.S. customers won’t have to rely on intermediaries. The move will eliminate unnecessary markups and provide customers with meaningful visibility into supply chain integrity. “The result is tighter cost control, faster procurement cycles, and greater confidence in origin, compliance, and documentation,” the company reported.

“The margins for importing natural products materials from China are tight. There’s no room for error,” said Crabtree. “Our customers don’t want to use traders, whose markups may double the price. They want someone who has direct access to the Chinese manufacturing marketplace. It’s become clear that we’re very uniquely positioned to provide that connection because we work directly with contract manufacturers in Asia. We have native Mandarin speakers on both the Chinese and American sides who speak English. That eliminates miscommunication, accelerates problem solving, and builds confidence at every stage of the transaction. BLS manages logistics, warehousing and operational complexity that can distract our customers from their core business. This enables them to reinvest margins where they belong: in marketing, brand building and customer acquisition.” 

BLS re-tests all materials entering the U.S., ensuring the accuracy and legitimacy of a material’s certificate of analysis (CoA).

“If a customer is looking for a specific kind of magnesium, we will source it in China. While we will accept the Chinese manufacturer’s CoA and product specs, we will repeat testing on our side using a trusted third-party laboratory,” said Crabtree. “This will include DSC testing, ensuring absolute identity verification. We’ll then have Eurofins to HPLC, metals, micro, and other testing to ensure the material is clean, pure, and meets all the customer’s specifications and standards … even if we ship products direct from China to other parts of the world, we always have a batch sample of that material shipped to the U.S. for third-party testing.”

“We’re not taking our eyes of our core branded ingredient business. We’re adding strategic capabilities that make us stronger and make our customers more competitive in a demanding global marketplace. We’re buiding a more complete solution,” said Crabtree.

BLS will be exhibiting at Natural Products Expo West at Booth 4373.