Number of Employees: 100+ (including the company’s manufacturing arm, Vit-Best)
Parent Organization: Kingdomway USA Corp./Xiamen Kingdomway Group

Top-Selling Product SKUs:
• High Absorption Chelated Magnesium (Lysinate Glycinate)
• Doctor’s Best High Absorption CoQ10 with BioPerine
• Vitamin D3
• MSM with OptiMSM
• Natural Vitamin K2 with MenaQ7
• Zinc Carnosine Complex with PepZin GI
• Nattokinase
• Alpha-Lipoic Acid
• Lutein with Lutemax 2020
• Fully Active B Complex with Quatrefolic

Company Mission: “Doctor’s Best is a leading, science-based nutritional supplement company driven by a mission to empower families to lead a healthy life and thrive outside of the doctor’s office.”

Doctor’s Best was founded in 1990 by Ken Halvorsrude and Dr. James Braly. Today, the company offers more than 200 products with a global footprint that — including its manufacturing arm, Vit-Best Nutrition — spans nearly 200 countries. The company established a strong reputation in the supplement industry by utilizing high-quality branded ingredients and providing science-based nutrition products.

Doctor’s Best was acquired by the private equity firm North Castle Partners in 2014, and later sold to Kingdomway in China.

“Throughout our history, we have consistently prioritized the science behind our formulas and the use of these clinically-backed ingredients to ensure proven potency, safety, and effectiveness for our customers. I believe this commitment has made us a leader in the nutraceuticals field,” said Gale Bensussen, CEO of Doctor’s Best.

A Global Footprint

Bensussen noted a steady increase in demand for the company’s products. “People around the world are seeking more options to proactively manage their health,” he said. “This trend was accelerated during the pandemic, as supply chains and the healthcare industry were stretched to their limits. This evolution among customers has reached nearly every country.”

Bensussen said he travels around the world to meet with the company’s suppliers, noting that Vit-Best has a presence in over 180 countries. “We have a touchpoint in nearly every part of the world. That kind of reach and impact is what continues to drive us.”

Discussing the company’s Chinese ownership, Bensussen said: “On my recent trip to China, I was impressed with the significant investment they are making to boost market supply for the health and supplements industry as well as their technology. With global consumer demand for supplements on the rise, having Kingdomway’s extensive reach and infrastructure is imperative for us to meet this increasing demand.”

New and Noteworthy

Discussing recent news and how the company is responding to consumer trends, Bensussen noted that women’s health and supplements that support brain, gut, and heart health are “fundamental” to consumers today.

“We have also observed growth in the market for nutraceuticals that promote beauty from within,” he added. “The beauty industry, in total, is worth over $600 billion, and consumers are increasingly seeking alternatives to traditional cosmetics and cosmetic procedures.”

Last fall, Doctor’s Best debuted a new product line specifically for women, developed by women, designed to support health needs at key life stages. The collection includes Women’s Menopause Support, Beauty Sleep, Digestive Probiotic Prebiotic, Heart Complex, and Hair, Skin & Nails formulas.

This year the company introduced Doctor’s Best High Absorption Hair & Skin Complex, which features the branded ingredient Lustriva, a patented ingredient from Nutrition21 that combines bonded arginine silicate and magnesium biotinate to promote healthy hair and skin.

“This novel ingredient offers specialized forms of both silicon and biotin, which can support hair follicles during their active growth phase and regulate key activities important to the skin’s integrity and function,” Bensussen said.

Gut health presents another key growth area for Doctor’s Best. “Research is continually emerging on the gut microbiome and its impact on overall health,” Bensussen noted. “More than 90% of our serotonin and up to 80% of our immune cells are located in our intestines. Having an imbalanced gut can wreak havoc on many bodily functions, so our team got to work on formulating a new product that can help support gut health.”

This spring the company introduced High Absorption Postbiotic Butyrate with CoreBiome, aimed at supporting individuals dealing with increased intestinal permeability, commonly known as “leaky gut.”

Innovation and R&D

Bensussen said Doctor’s Best is focused on delivering “gold-standard formulations that can consistently address the needs of our customers. We recognize that brain, gut, and heart health affect everyone at every stage of their life.”

Meanwhile, advancements in manufacturing practices that Bensussen said he’s seen over his decades-long career in the industry “are truly impressive.”

“They have enabled us to bring innovative formulas to our customers that deliver the best in convenience and quality,” he said.

As manufacturing practices have evolved, so too must ingredients, he added. “The disruptions to the global supply chain caused by the pandemic, along with the desire for more sustainably sourced ingredients, have driven us to seek options that are less vulnerable to supply fluctuations.”

He offered the company’s new Vegan Omega-3 product as an example. “The demand for alternatives to fish-derived omegas is increasing, and we are proud to offer a sustainable formula that provides the same essential support as fish oils. This new formula serves as a vegan alternative to fish oil, offering a clean, sustainably produced option to support eye, brain, and heart health.”

For the Future

Bensussen said the company is focused on ensuring consumers have access to “high-quality, proven, and safe supplement options that can support them in their nutritional management.”

Today, more consumers are informed and curious about how they can support their bodies to live healthier, longer lives, he added. “As a leader in the supplement industry, we believe it is our responsibility to work together to protect consumers and prevent bad actors from infiltrating an industry that has spent decades perfecting its craft to deliver safe and effective supplements.”

Toward that goal, Doctor’s Best has joined with the United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA) and the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) to enhance its engagement and discussions around consumer protection and safety in the supplement industry, Bensussen said.

“We hold ourselves accountable and take pride in knowing that all Doctor’s Best products are manufactured and rigorously tested exclusively at current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) certified facilities in the United States,” he said. “I’m emboldened by my peers in the supplement industry who also adhere to essential regulations to safeguard consumers. It is motivating to see consumers become increasingly empowered to live longer, healthier lives.”