Industry Veterans to Help Create Single-Ingredient Associations

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Trust Transparency Consulting, an organization founded by CEO Scott Steinford, a longtime member of the natural products industry, announced in May that it had created an Ingredient Association Incubator Program. The program’s stated goal is to create individual, ingredient-specific industry associations and “to protect and promote key single ingredients to and through all levels of the supply chain.” Steinford and Trust Transparency Consulting already had association experience; they manage both the Natural Algae Astaxanthin Association (NAXA) and the CoQ10 Association. This July, Steinford announced that he has appointed Len Monheit co-managing partner of Trust Transparency Consulting to help further the association incubator program. Monheit is an industry veteran who most recently served as general manager, North America, for media company William Reed Business Media, which produces the outlets Nutraingredients-USA and FoodNavigator-USA.

“Len is a digital pioneer in the dietary supplement industry,” said Steinford in a press release. “He has been recognized worldwide as an industry thought leader for almost two decades, and I am thrilled that he will be helping lead Trust Transparency’s efforts to bring more transparency to the market.”

In May, Trust Transparency Consulting announced the first of the single-ingredient associations it will create as IRS-recognized 501c(6) nonprofit trade associations. The first associations will represent the following popular dietary supplement ingredients: ashwagandha, prebiotics, curcumin, vitamin K2, and chondroitin. Trust Transparency says it will provide these associations with “streamlined and cost-efficient executive leadership [and] marketing, science, and operations support.”

“Fundamentally, the single-ingredient association works to establish a best-practice-based, recognized third-party baseline for ingredient quality, identity, as well as appropriate category definitions and standards,” said Steinford back in May. “The grouping of quality ingredient manufacturers per category provides integrity, transparency, and category confidence. The single-ingredient trade association also serves as a voice and supporter of science and education through all supply chain levels and customer, consumer, and influencer communities.”

Steinford added, “the economics of launching a single-ingredient trade association has been difficult to justify because of the high startup costs. By sharing these costs across associations, the ramp-up efficiency of the organization can be accelerated and sustained. The goal of the incubation model is to initiate the association and develop the organization to the point of valuable independence.”

As Trust Transparency’s new co-managing partner, Monheit will help lead the single-ingredient trade association incubator program.

“Joining Trust Transparency Consulting allows me to move back into the food and supplement space,” said Monheit in a July press release. “I am excited to advance my personal mission to change business principles, make the industry better, validate and honor the best companies and their practices, [and] help entrench science and quality.” Monheit cofounded natural products website NPI Center in 1999. He sold NPI Center to media company New Hope in 2006, where he then oversaw such New Hope properties as Functional Ingredients, Engredea, and Nutracon US.