We might be in the minority here, but we think the world of functional food is absolutely fascinating, right down to how ingredients go from a bunch of raw materials to The Good Stuff™ that we know and love.
Before you mentally hit 'snooze' on the topic, hear us out.
You may not realize it, but an enormous amount of work goes on behind the scenes researching, meeting, and selecting our suppliers.
The first step to a healthy diet is quality ingredients, free from nastiness; we want to deliver that to you.
To help you understand why we're so excited about everyone we partner with, we want to let you in on our production process and walk you through a few of the key quality indicators we look for and why.
Oh, and did we mention all of our products are made in the USA?
cGMP Certification
This certification isn’t a legal requirement, but we prefer to partner with cGMP certified suppliers to ensure they go above and beyond our quality standards.
To become certified, our partners undergo extensive auditing to meet standards set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with incredibly stringent criteria for cleanliness, safety, quality, testing, and more.
The qualification process involves auditing the entire manufacturing lifecycle, from the ingredients coming in, how they're stored, tracked, and packaged, as well as how the handling equipment is cleaned and cared for.
Once all that's accounted for, our partners need to keep detailed documents tracking shelf life, that the ingredients coming in are thoroughly tested for things like mold, bacteria, and pesticides, and which ingredients are used in every product batch.
Even the temperature of the room in which ingredients are stored, moisture levels, and light exposure are put under the microscope.
Becoming cGMP certified is no small feat, but it gives us - and you - peace of mind that our partners are disciplined about keeping our ingredients safe and pristine.
Interesting note: The letter “c” in cGMP is lowercase since it denotes perpetual change and the ever-evolving technology of excellence. In a competitive and continually evolving industry, being cGMP certified implies a commitment to the highest accessible quality standards, which is why it is critical to distinguish.
NSF Certified Suppliers
We are proud to have many professional athletes utilizing our functional foods daily.
To help them feel confident in the products they use, we look for an even higher level of quality control from our manufacturers, ensuring that, where possible, they are National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) certified.
NSF certification is an ongoing third-party monitoring program involving regular product testing and material analyses, unannounced plant inspections, and sterilizing (not just cleaning) equipment between production runs.
For others, NSF certification may be considered a ‘nice to have’; we prefer that extra layer of certainty.
Not just practical, personal
It’s not just about the certifications; the people behind the processes are a significant factor for us when choosing our production partners.
We want our products made by people who share the same mission for healthy, pristine ingredients that are good for you.
No nasty additives and no contamination, with traceable production lines and impeccable processes.
The partners that care about our customers as much as we do are the ones who deliver great products, as evidenced by the outstanding quality of our current range.
Any questions?
As you can tell, we LOVE nerding out over the production process, so we are always happy to talk about it.
If you want to be nerd with us, please don't hesitate to contact us at info@forwellness.com.
