City Market Vitamins Hit the Shelves

A new vitamin/supplement line has been unveiled in the Co-op’s Wellness department. Our own private label: City Market vitamins. After careful research, Grocery and Wellness Manager Lynn Ellen Schimoler chose a company named Vitamer, located in Irvine CA, to formulate our line. Many co-ops have private labels, and Schimoler consulted with a variety of co-ops before making the final decision.

Who is Vitamer Labs? Vitamer is a small family-owned business making supplements and contract manufacturing pharmaceutical drugs.  Their drug focus is on generics for a variety of types of drugs. Vitamer is not Merck or Pfizer who perhaps could be blamed for producing drugs with severe negative side effects. Vitamer was started by a Natural Practitioner in 1924 by hand encapsulating dried fruits and vegetables; getting nutrition in a convenient way is the philosophical base of this company. 

It was during WWII that they became a pharmaceutical manufacturer when the country was in extreme need of morphine.  Vitamer started manufacturing for the private label dietary supplement industry in 1975.  Because Vitamer’s parent company is a pharmaceutical manufacturer, they have always followed Good Manufacturing Practices while making supplements, even before GMPs existed for the natural supplements industry specifically.  These GMPs have been monitored by the FDA and the Natural Products Association, a claim only very few supplement manufacturers can make. Vitamer uses the natural form of Vitamin E which is supported in hundreds of clinical studies. Also, unlike many “drug store brands” Vitamer guarantees not using any artificial flavors, artificial colors and preservatives. In 2007 Vitamer's manufacturing plants were Certified Organic which has enabled them to offer a line of organic products. In the coming months, look for some of these items on the shelf at City Market.

The label of the City Market vitamins and supplements was designed by our own Aaron Toth in the Marketing department. He was able to create an eye-catching label that fits in perfectly to the department.  Look for product demos, samples and leaflets about our line and please feel free to ask any of our staff for questions about City Market’s private label. In addition, click over into our Health Notes section on our Web site to learn more about we chose to work with Vitamer Labs.