Page 21 - Retail Pharmacy Assistants - November 2020

6 MINUTES WITH ... 19 gelatin and collagen formulas, which provide important nutrients and compounds to strengthen people’s immunity and gut health and \\\\\\\[also play a role in\\\\\\\] what appears to be of most importance to people, beauty. We feel that our strong, ongoing commitment to supporting good nutrition for life is recognised by our customers. What role does diet/nutrition play in supporting one’s immune system? Our diet is arguably the most important factor in keeping us healthy. There are many foods that will keep us looking good and feeling fantastic. However, because we’re all uniquely different, it generally comes down to individually identifying what works best for our own body. We’ve had many people telling us how gelatin, for example, has helped with their gut issues and weight management. The amino acid profile of collagen and gelatin provides a high percentage of glycine, proline and hydroxyproline, which have been long associated with assisting the body to repair and heal itself. This healing is extremely important when we examine the effect that diets high in processed foods and gluten have on inflammation and the gut wall. Repairing the gut lining and having a diverse microbiome in the gut plays a crucial role in a person’s ability to remain healthy. Nutraviva Bone Broth powders and our Probiotic Super Smoothie are both formulated to help individuals maintain good health by fuelling a strong immune system. How has the pandemic affected business at Nutraviva and what innovations have you implemented to ensure the continued success of the business? As with all businesses, we’ve adapted to ensure that our growth remains strong now and in the future. For the past 12 months, we’ve invested heavily in our website development, improved marketing and adapted to meet evolving customer needs and government regulations in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. We’ve continued to focus on meeting the highest standards in food safety and have increased our communication with customers to reassure them of our continued operation, food safety standards and customer service. We are now HACCP accredited with good manufacturing practices policies in place to ensure that our customers receive the very best collagen products available in Australia. We’re also currently in the process of securing halal certification to meet the growing demand for these products both locally and abroad. In addition, we’re looking to introduce a vegan collagen alternative early in 2021, which is really exciting. What have the trends been within beauty and wellness in 2020 and how have you responded to these trends? The concept of edible beauty is the most noticeable trend this year and is very popular with many women. Being able to address skin, hair and nail health from a nutritional point of view makes complete sense. While we can change and enhance our appearance cosmetically, when we start to address it physiologically, through nutrition, people start to see real improvements that are 100 per cent natural. Taking collagen regularly and ensuring that other key nutrients, such as those found in our Simply Beautiful formula, will not only help slow down the loss of collagen within the body, but assist in its reformation. Collagen peptides are a pure and natural way to address the visible signs of ageing, and we’ve seen a significant increase in sales of our products for their edible beauty properties. According to your website, Nutraviva is committed to “excellence in customer service and satisfaction”. How do you ensure this and how can pharmacy assistants ensure excellent customer service within their daily work? For more than 20 years, my career and passion were to educate and help young people mature into the best possible versions of themselves, both socially and physically. This passion hasn’t changed and forms, in part, the fundamental philosophy of the company. We exist for our customers, and meeting their nutrition and customer service needs remains our priority. Knowing that you can make a difference in someone’s life by informing, serving or simply listening to them is a wonderful gift we aim to continue giving all our customers. What does the future hold for Nutraviva? Can you talk us through some of your plans for the rest of 2020 and beyond? At the start of the year, we set four major goals: • Strengthen our brand awareness. • Manage strong growth in our company’s size and capacity. • Make Nutraviva an international brand. • Produce a vegan collagen alternative that offers all the health and beauty benefits of collagen. Creating an international brand is an exciting project as there continues to be growing interest from numerous overseas markets. Ensuring that we have all the necessary certifications, infrastructure and the capacity in place to meet both domestic and international demand is crucial for our success. What is your advice to pharmacy assistants who may have big career goals and aspirations? How can pharmacy assistants become leaders in their industry? Too often we fall into the trap of measuring success by the money we make, or our possessions. While these things make life easy and enjoyable, if you’re not happy with what you’re doing and it holds little meaning for you personally, then life will become monotonous and you’ll struggle to be happy. Find the areas you’re passionate about and that motivate you. I firmly believe that if you love what you’re doing, success will never be far away. Working in the health industry provides us all with the ability to make a real difference in people’s lives, and providing your expertise and time to helping people feel better can be such an enriching experience. RETAIL PHARMACY ASSISTANTS • NOV 2020