CEO and Founder Dr. Andrew Abraham joined our CEO, Mark Schneider, in a three-part conversation series to share his perspective on leading the world's top clean nutrition brand.
From coping with a cancer diagnosis and Orgain's origins, to the global impact of our collaboration, this series covers innovation, values, and the exciting journey ahead.
In the first episode of 'The CEO Digest', we dive into the two leaders' shared mission: to improve the health and well-being of millions of people through the power of nutrition.
Mark Schneider: We've loved your products for a long time, but we've also been fascinated by the story of the origin of your company.
Andrew Abraham: The story goes back to my senior year of high school, where I underwent chemotherapy, surgery, radiation. And unfortunately, as a result of all of these treatments, lost a tremendous amount of weight. After getting down to a hundred pounds (45kg), I realized that nutrition was the way that I could dig myself out of this hole. So, I really dove into learning about nutrition, read 150 books on nutrition, and it really became my passion in life. I later went on to medical school and became a doctor. I had a lot of patients asking me for more nutrition, more protein.
Through that, I decided to start this company, Orgain. Orgain comes from the word organic and our mantra which is to gain health, gain energy, gain life. We launched in 2009 as the world's first ready to drink organic shake. The business has expanded since then, and now we have over a hundred SKUs and really have solidified ourselves as kind of the leader in clean nutrition.
Mark Schneider: It's an amazing story and I'm a passionate consumer as well. You're a firm part of my morning smoothies and I'm a huge fan.
Where has the journey taken you today? What's the focus of Orgain today as we face the future?
Andrew Abraham: I actually thought the role of Orgain was to help those in need and those that were dealing with illnesses like me. That's really evolved quite a bit. Orgain is now a lifestyle brand for anyone on their health and wellness journey, so we very much view ourselves as being at the forefront of clean nutrition, making the best-tasting products with the best ingredients in the world. As the company evolves, we're really focused on a variety of proteins, plant-based being really our core focus.
Mark Schneider: It's an amazing fit, and I'm proud to be partnering and working with you.
How did it fit in with Nestlé and Nestlé Health Science?
Mark Schneider: I think that whole focus that you described is also very much at the focus of what we're looking for. So clearly, you brought it all to life with an amazing array of products and a brand name that really resonates with consumers. When we did our research, people confirmed that same impression and we're so glad we got together.
Andrew, what attracted you to being part of this amazing partnership now over the last few years?
Andrew Abraham: The most important thing for me was making sure that we had a shared mission and aligned values that we could improve the health and well-being of millions of people through this power of nutrition. From there, it was really making sure Nestlé and Nestlé Health Science embrace really what was special about Orgain.
There was a deep mutual respect which was wonderful to see. And finally, for me, it was really about kind of bringing Orgain into the world, right? Having that huge global expansion. And I couldn't think of a better partner than Nestlé Health Science to bring that to life.
Mark Schneider: That's great. And that's also how we feel about the partnership.
Is there anything that you want people to know that's surprising about Orgain?
Andrew Abraham: First and foremost, a lot of people expect products that are super healthy, not to taste great. We spend so much time making sure that even though we're using the best ingredients and it's organic, the products taste delicious.
The second thing is that we didn't create these products for a small segment of the population. A lot of people expect this to be extremely expensive or for a very select few individuals, and that's not true. We try to make our products accessible to everybody. So, I think those are the two things that probably stand out the most to me.
