Hello! It’s Zach Joseph, Studio DelCorpo intern. Recently, I reached out to a few of Studio Delcorpo’s partners for a round of “Three Questions”. In this week’s blog, we feature Scott Dicker, owner and founder of New World Nutrition, a clean protein powder business..
1. How did you first start New World Nutrition?
I have worked in the nutrition industry my whole career. My background is in Nutritional Science and Sports Nutrition. I was always a consumer of protein powder as an important product to help conveniently hit protein requirements and health and wellness goals. There were two things that really bothered me about the products available. First, that it was hard to find a quality protein powder and second, I really hated that there was a big plastic tub or bag that had to be thrown out every month. Even if you recycle the tub, it's hard to know if it was actually being recycled or if it was actually just ending up in the landfill. That is where I got the idea of making clean protein powders and using a zero waste model, using glass containers instead of plastic. I knew that I wanted the business to support the local community as well, which is why we have so much focus on partnering with other local and independent businesses with shared values. We started beta testing in the beginning of 2018, working with a select group of independent personal trainers and their clients as well as some friends and family. We needed to test out two main things. First, that people liked the taste of the protein. That's pretty important, right? And second, that people like the refillable model. Thankfully, both of those concepts were proven and we were able to move forward and start expanding.
Today, New World Nutrition is carried in and is partnering with dozens of local fitness and wellness businesses and we are very proud to be deeply entrenched in the local community. And everything that we do has to land at the intersection of our three mission statement goals:
Health and Wellness – Everything we make and provide will contribute to our customers well being and support active and healthy lifestyles
Eco-friendly - In addition to being good for you, we believe that our business should have a positive impact on the environment. That means reducing waste and using reusable packaging. We won't even ship our proteins outside of the Chicagoland area.
Support Local – We are here to support our local community, the closer to home the better. We are always looking to expand our partnerships and collaborations with local Chicago businesses and professionals. This includes independent gyms and fitness studios, meal prep/delivery services, chiropractors and other health professionals, and local health and wellness stores.
2. What have been some challenges running an eco-friendly nutrition company online?
The main challenge has been the actual refill process. We want to make sure that it is as easy as possible for people to exchange their empty jar for a new protein and it has certainly been a challenge to convert online orders into refills. We are constantly expanding the number of local businesses that carry our proteins to make the refill process as convenient as can be for anyone, especially if they belong to one of the gyms that we partner with or businesses that carry our proteins. We try to whenever possible, meet our customers where they are already going and not have them have to make an extra trip or stop anywhere. And hey, that gives them one more reason to go to the gym and workout, which isn't a bad thing either!
Additionally, we have been improving our contact free delivery and pick up for our online orders. This has been especially important during the pandemic as more and more people are staying home. This has always been an area that we wanted to improve so getting forced to action by the pandemic has turned something positive from all the craziness and we are happy to help provide our service and product in a very safe manner.
3. Do you have any advice for individuals who want to start-up a nutrition company?
I think that too often people think that they need something new and flashy. A new ingredient, a new category, or huge social media following. But if you can find a way to improve on something already out there, that can be even more impactful and you don't have to go through the process of educating your customers on something they've never heard before while also growing your startup. An example that I like to give from our business is our Plantawhey protein. It's a blend of Organic Plant Protein and Grass Fed Whey Protein. I love this concept as it's creamy like a whey protein and still includes the benefits of plant proteins without the grittiness. I thought it was a perfect mix. It turns out to be our worst seller. It was a new concept and required much more education than our other 100% whey protein or our 100% vegan plant based protein..
When figuring out your market, you probably won't get anywhere doing what everyone else is doing so you need to figure out a way to zig when others are zagging. For us, it is utilizing our zero waste and eco friendly model. Something that I am extremely passionate about and sets us apart from any competitors. You also need to find a balance between trying new things to see what works while also staying focused and not spreading yourself too thin. Ideas need time and attention to see if they can be successful. This concept is something that I continue to work on and it's very difficult to do sometimes. But if you can master that balance, you put yourself in a position to be successful.
Special thanks to Scott Dicker of New World Nutrition for taking the time to chat with me. For more information on New World’s Protein powders and where to find them (at Studio Delcorpo, of course), check out their website or Instagram. Visit this blog next week for my round of “Three Questions” with Studio Delcorpo’s Bespoke baker, owner of Alfaforcitos, Andrea Gaggero.
BRILLIANT. EASY. BESPOKE.
