Wellness Briefing: Is absorption the new supplement industry frontier? Plus, industry news

How The Absorption Company is leveraging a differentiated story

In a lot of ways, The Absorption Company is doing everything right. 

The 3-year-old supplement brand has buzzy retail partnerships, a winning performance marketing blueprint, a knowledgeable board, a trusted U.S. manufacturer, third-party testing and engaged celebrity co-founders with social reach. But its North Star is its differentiated story.

“Now that third-party [purity and safety] testing is the baseline [for the supplement industry], the next question is, ‘OK, great, it’s not poisoning me, but is it actually absorbing and doing what it’s supposed to do?’” Zeke Bronfman, co-founder of The Absorption Company, told Glossy. “We very firmly believe that the next frontier in health and wellness is bioavailability and absorption, and we have the opportunity to be that category-defining brand that forces the entire industry to start focusing on absorption.” 

To wit: Before the industry was plagued with purity and contamination issues, including a “Consumer Reports” report last year that found lead in the majority of the protein powders it studied, consumers were heavily concerned with absorption. Anecdotally, many can recall when vitamins were cheekily referred to as ‘expensive pee’ in health and medical circles. The Absorption Company hopes to reinvigorate this concern. 

“Unfortunately, the reality is that no [supplement brand] is going to spend more money than they have to until the consumer forces them, and the consumer isn’t going to force them [to make changes] until the consumer is aware that this is the biggest problem in supplements, and it becomes the new standard,” Bronfman said. “We spend over $65 billion a year as a country on these things, and yet, over 90% of us are still deficient in key nutrients.” 

According to a 2010 study at Oregon State University, top adult vitamin deficiencies include vitamin D, in which 95% of people are deficient. Meanwhile, 88% lack vitamin E, and 52% are deficient in magnesium.

“[When we started the plan to launch the company], we started talking to pharmacologists and realized that there were a lot of solutions in the world, and most of them had come from the pharmaceutical industry,” said Nate Medow, co-founder of The Absorption Company. “[Today] we use a variety of different suppliers with different technologies for different nutrients [to achieve the highest absorption we can].” 

According to Mintel market research company, the U.S. vitamins, minerals and supplements market was valued at $26.4 billion in 2019. By the end of 2025, it is estimated to reach $41.7 billion, with a long-term forecast projecting the market to grow to $52.9 billion by 2030.

This is driven by consumer demand, as well as a striking increase in offerings. For example, 30 years ago, there were around 4,000 supplements for sale on the U.S. market; in 2024, there were more than 95,000. 

Bronfman and Medow met in college and successfully launched and sold beverage mocktail brands Sesh and Hape Sake Spritz in 2022 after just one year in business. They partnered with two more co-founders, married celebrity couple Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder, and launched The Absorption Company in 2023 with four $67 nutrient blend drink mixes: Sleep, Calm, Energy and Restore. The brand started DTC and in buzzy retailers like Happier Grocery, Erewhon and SunLife Organics, by leveraging a simple claim: 5x better absorption. 

Last week, the brand expanded its footprint with under-$50, single-nutrient capsules that claim up to 149x better absorption, backed up by clinical studies. The capsule range includes curcumin, magnesium glycinate, CoQ10, vitamin D3+K2, and berberine. 

So far, it’s working: Medow and Bronfman told Glossy that its magnesium glycinate promptly sold out, while others neared sell-out status, and its online sales beat projections several times over. This was thanks, in part, to a 360-degree marketing plan that included early access to the new line for existing customers, an in-person event hosted by Somerhalder at Happier Grocery in NYC, a range of influencer-led content campaigns focused on absorption and heavy investment in digital marketing. 

The brand doubled its business in 2025, and it’s on track to triple it in 2026 with sales up over 100% so far. “We’re super excited about momentum, and just really heads-down, continuing to scale our subscription business right now and hopefully hit that 3x growth this year,” Bronfman said. The brand plans to roll out more offerings in 2026, including a launch planned for April.

News to know:

• Jenny Liu, the former CEO of celebrity-favorite gym Dogpound, is investing in fitness and wellness companies through her new VC fund, Crush It Ventures. According to a report by TechCrunch, she is looking to invest between $100,000 and $250,000 in around 25 early-stage companies. 

• Fitness entrepreneur Tracy Anderson has launched a wellness magazine called “Atlas.” The core of the publication will feature Q&A-style interviews with wellness experts. It debuted at Anderson’s in-person fitness festival, TracyFest, on Saturday in LaBelle, Florida. Anderson’s first magazine, called TA, sold through newsstands and retailers from 2020 to 2025 before pausing publication. “Atlas” will be strictly wellness-focused, whereas TA also featured beauty and fashion advice. Distribution has not yet been announced.
  
• Ammortal is leaning into professional athlete sponsorships for marketing its $159,000 Ammortal Chamber red light recovery bed. The company, which launched in 2023 with its hero offering, has tapped seven male pro athletes as ambassadors and investors, including MLB players Alex Bregman, Matt Chapman, Mike Trout, Garrett Stubbs and Freddie Freeman from the Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Angels, Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers, respectively. They also include NFL player George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers and alpine ski racer Bode Miller. 

• A new mass vaginal care brand launched earlier this month by two former Burt’s Bees execs and a gynecologist. The line is called Alubri and launched into Target and Walmart with a $29 vaginal moisturizing gel and a $25 intimate serum. The line was founded by former Burt’s Bees CEO John Replogle, former gm Mariah Eckhardt and Dr. Nicole Kerner, an OB/GYN physician from Duke University Medical Center. The brand also sells DTC. 

• As the longevity movement advances, hotels and resorts are expanding service offerings to better reach consumers. NYC-based Equinox Hotel rolled out new offerings at the top of the year, including a performance-focused package with fitness programming, cryotherapy and IV booster shots, as well as spa packages with ultrasound, “beauty-booster” vitamin shots and LED therapy that start at $550.
  
• Tom Brady’s athletic apparel and shoe brand Nobull, which launched a line of supplements and protein powder earlier this month, has reportedly reached a $1 billion valuation, according to Front Office Sports. The sports news publisher reported that the company, which is co-owned by Vitamin Water beverage entrepreneur Mike Repole, took on $50 million in investment at a $1 billion valuation earlier this month.

• Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop is investing in the NAD and NAD+ supplement trend, which saw stunning growth and beauty-focused launches in 2025. Goop is using a precursor to NAD+ called nicotinamide mononucleotide, or NMN, in its new Youth-Boost NAD+ Peptide Rich Cream, which sells for $105 DTC.
  
• Should health- and fitness-tracking wearables be allowed in professional athletic competition? As reported by Athletech News, top tennis players at the Australian Open, including Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka, were forced to remove their Whoop fitness tracker watches before competition. A Whoop representative responded by saying tracking one’s performance is a “fundamental right,” while a rep from the Open said, “The Australian Open is involved in ongoing discussions on how this situation could change.”

Stat of the week:

Visits to gyms and fitness centers was up 13.5% year-over-year during the week of January 5 as consumers leaned into their fitness resolutions, according to Placer.ai, a firm that provides location intelligence and foot traffic insights for the real estate industry. However, this increase was partially driven by lower visits in 2025 due to inclement weather and natural disasters in parts of the U.S. A more accurate measure of fitness consumers can be found in data from the week of January 12, which was up 3.6% compared to the same week in 2025. 

In the headlines:

Lululemon now asks leggings buyers to wear skin-toned underwear [Bloomberg]. Leading UK gym operator wants adults to embrace playtime again [AthletechNews]. Is wellness the new happy hour? As socializing changes, $22 billion in liquor sits unsold [Forbes]. RIP to the corporate wellness boom [Business Insider]. Men, are you hormonal? The wellness industry is coming for the boys [The Times]. 

Listen in: 

Ulta Beauty is doubling down on the wellness category with a new pilot program called “Wellness by Ulta Beauty.” The shop-in-shop boutique concept is debuting in four U.S. stores this week and includes a 475-square-foot dedicated wellness shop staffed by specially trained wellness advisors. Laura Beres, vp of wellness at Ulta Beauty, joined the Glossy Beauty Podcast to share all the details. 

Need a Glossy recap?

How Thorne is leveraging an AI-powered wellness advisor in the ChatGPT era. What works to drive sales on TikTok Shop has changed, creators say. Ulta Strategies: Inside Ulta’s wellness boutique pilot program launching next week in select markets. How Foodology is accelerating its US growth through TikTok Super Brand Day. The Nue Co brings its functional fragrances to Ulta Beauty.