Comprehensive Testing - NOW® Foods Greece

JMN - Join Molecular Nutrition
JMN Pharmaceutical SA is a Greek trading company, involved in marketing and distribution of pharmaceutical and nutritional supplement products hence in the health industry and lifestyle products. JMN Pharmaceutical SA was founded in 2008 in Ioannina. The rapid growth of the company resulted in its expansion into the industrial area of Ioannina, where privately owned warehouses of 1,200 square meters were located until the end of 2016, where they were moved at the area of Aspropyrgos Attica until the present day. The accountant base as well as the order department of the company remains in the center of the city of Ioannina. In 2008 the sales and marketing department was added in Athens, which is responsible for promoting products at both retail and wholesale, both in Greece and in foreign countries. In 2008, the R & D department was established, aiming at the development of innovative formulae. Today JMN Pharmaceutical is active in both Greece and the abroad.

Activities

The scope of JMN Pharmaceutical SA activities in Greece, involves the import, export, distribution and trade of pharmaceuticals, organic products and nutritional supplements. The company is the sole owner of the claims with regards the trade and distribution of NOW products in Greece, Cyprus and Croatia. According to SPINS^ΤΜ, an independent body, NOW is the biggest supplement manufacturer globally, in terms of sales. Alongside the effective demonstration of providing prime quality natural products, such as dietary supplements, natural nutriments, supplements for athletes, herb extracts, essential oils, natural sweeteners, cosmetics, etc., this American Corporation is strictly committed to issues that deal with social and environmental liability.

The last partnership between JMN Pharmaceutical SA and Lifeplan Products, an English supplement company, is an evolutionary step of great significance, since the dietary supplements in question are on sale exclusively at AB VASILOPOULOS Super Market, a member of Ahold-Delhaize, a giant multinational force, in FMCG department.

JMN Pharmaceutical SA, apart from delegating important manufacturers of the abroad, has also manufactured products under its own brand name, with innovative formulas, developed exclusively by the R & D department of the company. Natura Vita series available on domestic and foreign market; more specifically in Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania.

Some of which are:
- NATURA VITA Dietary Supplements
- NATURA VITA Nuts & Snacks
Services - Facilities

To the present, JMN Pharmaceutical SA remains committed to all the values set from the first moment of its foundation. The services provided include ensuring optimal product quality, and effectiveness to those who need them. Overhauling and scientifically validated expiration dates are an integral part of the company's activity which allows quality assurance from the first day of product storage. The facilities where the warehouse is housed exceed the guidelines for food packaging. The storage areas have units which control temperature and humidity, which operate more at night, to avoid changes that affect the quality of products. The high quality of service of JMN Pharmaceutical SA is certified by Quality Assurance Standard ISO 9001 and the reassessment is annual, according to the new standard ISO 9001.

Objectives

The purpose and aim of JMN Pharmaceutical SA is leadership and cooperation with new partners of high scientific standing, and continuous replenishment with modern innovative products that lead to a longer life of high quality. In a global economic environment, characterized by the changing attitudes of customers, who will now attach great importance to the quality and reliability of its products, the rapid increase in competition, ease of movement of goods between countries, there is a growing need for competitive products and services of assured quality. Despite the current difficult situation Greece is facing, JMN Pharmaceutical SA is continuing to produce an even larger number of formulations, with the same commitment and consistency towards its consumers and partners.

Values

One of the basic principles of JMN Pharmaceutical SA is consistency towards its customers, partners and its scientific staff characterized by sincerity, honesty and integrity.

Therefore the company commits and provides a promise to:
- Continuous scientific and technological progress.
- Maintaining high quality standards.
- Excellent personal relationships, both with customers and with partners.
- Excellent working environment for its staff.
Corporate Social Responsibility

JMN Pharmaceutical SA is characterized by remarkable long-term corporate social responsibility:

Financial transparency, alignment with national and international standards and initiatives of the sales department based on a strict code of conduct constitute a guaranteed compliance with the rules of good practice, but also transcend the predefined standards of laws, both local and on an international level.

Comprehensive Ingredient & Finished Product Testing

Our investments in staff, instrumentation and facilities allow us to perform comprehensive ingredient and finished product testing. In fact, NOW performs more than 16,000 analyses and tests per month. We test each of our incoming raw materials and ingredients, in-process ingredients and finished products. We test to meet cGMP standards. NOW tests ingredients for these key attributes - identity, purity, potency, and composition. Very few natural products manufacturers perform finished product testing in-house due to the exorbitant cost and investment required. Our dedication to comprehensive testing sets us apart from other natural product manufacturers.

These same investments help us provide the outstanding value for which NOW has become known. Ownership of our own laboratories and instruments, coupled with our technical staff, allows us to test and analyze faster, be more responsive and adaptive and provide fresher products at reduced costs due to higher turnaround of finished products. The contract laboratories that many other manufacturers rely on are becoming harder and harder to find and their lead times for analyses are becoming longer, which increases costs that other manufacturers then pass on to retailers and consumers. NOW’s long-term planning is positioning us for continued growth while protecting the quality and value consumers have come to expect from NOW® products.

Methods Development

The development of scientific methods is the basis for all modern science. Methods development is the process of discovering new and improved ways to perform scientific analyses. This branch of science requires advanced analytical thinking and an excellent grasp of scientific analyses, current methods, instrumentation and our natural products. NOW’s Methods Development group is at the forefront of method development for natural products and dietary supplements. They also focus on modifications to existing methods that apply to our products in order to increase testing efficiency and improve fill rates.

This group is credited with the development of a new analytical technique for the determination of glucosamine, entitled Determination of Glucosamine in Raw Materials and Dietary Supplements Containing Glucosamine Sulfate and/or Glucosamine Hydrochloride by HPLC with FMOC-Su Derivatization. This method was adopted as an AOAC (Association of Analytical Communities) First Action Official Methodsm.

This method has become an internationally accepted standard method for the testing of glucosamine products.

NOW’s Methods Development group has also developed methods for Chondroitin, S-Adenosyl-L-Methionine (SAMe), Arginine and Stevia, as well as a method for accurately detecting unwanted adulterants such as pharmaceuticals, drugs, steroids and toxic substances.

Our Methods Development group also focuses on modifications to existing methods that apply to our products in order to increase testing efficiency and improve fill rates.

Our Production Capabilities and Statistics

With the most extensive product line in the industry, NOW’s manufacturing and production capabilities are second-to-none.

Statistics

In 2012 NOW Foods packaged 38 million units using 20 different production lines
NOW produced over 1.2 billion capsules and over 400 million tablets in 2012
In 2013 we increased our encapsulation capacity by 70% compared to 2012 and we increased our tablet production by 25%

Capabilities

20 different production lines running six days a week over three shifts
Encapsulation, tableting, liquid, powder, packet, lotions & creams and food production lines
The complete line of NOW Real Teas are produced at our Bloomingdale facility
2013 marks the commencement of softgel manufacturing at our Western Operations Center in Sparks, NV

NOW operates a sophisticated liquid packaging line that allows us to perform precise bottle fills across a wide range of products including herbal extracts, essential oils, shampoos and conditioners, mouthwash, skin care oils and much more.

With more than 1,400 products, four different categories and an average of three new products per month, NOW’s production capabilities truly are second-to-none in the natural products industry.

From the purchasing of raw materials to the shipping of finished goods and every step in between, NOW employees are passionate about the quality of our products.

JMN - Join Molecular Nutrition