Tespo launched its new Wi-Fi enabled vitamin dispensing system, and personalized pods

Image courtesy of Tespo

Tespo launched its Tespo Connect smart vitamin dispenser and Tespo personalized vitamin and supplement pods on its site, GetTespo.com. The Wi-Fi enabled smart devise encourages supplement use through its app, tracking and rewarding adherence. The personalized pods provide a 31-day supply of vitamins and other supplements. Using proprietary technology, Tespo Connect releases ingredients from the pods and mixes them in water to the pod’s specifications.

When creating a personalized pod, consumers take a personalized vitamin quiz that determines the optimal nutrient levels for each person, based on peer-reviewed, scientific, and medical studies. “Tespo is excited to launch these new products for precision nutrition that will improve health outcomes through compliance to a vitamin and supplement routine,” said Ted Mills, CEO and co-founder of Tespo, in a press release. “We know that what gets measured gets improved, and once you see improvements, you become more motivated to keep moving in that positive direction. Our new products are geared to demonstrate how compliance with a daily vitamin and supplement routine improves quality of life.”

Tespo also sell pre-formulated pods targeting specific functions and demographics, such as sleep, beauty, and bariatric patients. In March, it was announced that Pharmavite’s Nature Made brand will be the first third party supplement brand to have a Tespo pod, through Tespo’s licensing program.

Tespo is a different approach to personalized supplementation, a concept that is growing, with companies such as Care/Of and Persona Nutrition also delivering personalized supplement packs, but in more typical delivery formats. Its success will depend upon whether consumers are willing to buy into an entire technological platform. The success of the Keurig system is an encouraging antecedent, but its success will depend on if consumers will use their Tespo with the same consistency. Personalization and the use of the Tespo App may help by removing some of the guess work involved in buying supplements, while also making consumers feel more engaged in their health.

Third party licensing also creates opportunity for brands to get involved and keep loyal customers that may be tempted by what Tespo has to offer. Nature Made has a lot to gain by getting their foot in the door first, but it’s also unproven ground. Capturing and sustaining the attention of consumers is the name of the game, and as tech company, Tespo has the added challenge of continually innovating and improving its products the way consumers have grown accustomed to from brands like Apple.

There is also the future of personalized nutrition to think about. While customers currently fill out surveys to determine what supplements they need, services like microbiome testing are setting the bar higher for what “personalized” really means.  We can be sure to expect more collaboration between firms on this front, as well as mergers and acquisitions.