About NaturPro Scientific | Consultants for Supplements & Foods

Supplement, Food, Beverage & Natural Product Consultants

NaturPro Scientific helps dietary supplement, food, beverage, pet, ingredient, and natural product companies develop better products, qualify better suppliers and manufacturers, build stronger quality systems, and make smarter regulatory decisions.

We work at the intersection of product development, formulation, ingredient quality, FDA compliance, contract manufacturing, testing, claims, and commercialization.

Most product problems do not come from one isolated mistake.

They come from gaps between:

The idea and the finished product.
The formula and the label.
Supplier paperwork and ingredient reality.
A contract manufacturer’s promise and a brand owner’s responsibility.
A marketing claim and the evidence behind it.
A product concept and what can actually be manufactured, tested, documented, and sold.

NaturPro helps close those gaps.

What We Do

NaturPro supports companies across the natural product lifecycle, from early concept through launch, scale-up, quality review, and regulatory readiness.

Our work includes:

• Product development
• Formula strategy
• R&D, IP development and patent strategy
• Ingredient selection
• Supplier qualification
• Contract manufacturer qualification
• Manufacturing negotiation support
• Prototype and pilot planning
• Regulatory status and safety review
• Label and claims review
• Claims substantiation
• Product specifications
• Testing strategy
• FDA procedure development
• GMP readiness
• Commercialization and scale-up
  
  

We help companies make better decisions before committing to a formula, ingredient, supplier, manufacturer, claim, production order, or launch plan.

Why We’re a Little Different

NaturPro is a little different than many consultants offering product development, regulatory compliance, and quality support for natural products.

• We work hard to address client needs without taking more time than necessary.
• We come prepared, but we also dig deeper.
• We check sources, assumptions, documentation, methods, suppliers, claims, and context.
• We identify issues early and develop practical solutions before small problems become expensive ones.
• We are transparent and objective about our views.
• We call it as we see it.
• We are loyal to our clients and honor client-consultant confidentiality.
• We do not sell specific products or ingredients.
• We do not financially benefit from recommending one ingredient, supplier, manufacturer, lab, or service provider over another.
• We adapt quickly to projects, teams, product categories, and business realities.
• We understand urgent and time-sensitive projects, including launches, reformulations, manufacturing issues, retailer requests, investor diligence, FDA questions, documentation gaps, claims challenges, and quality failures.
  
  

Independence matters.

Especially when the question is whether an ingredient, formula, supplier, manufacturer, claim, test result, or product plan actually makes sense.

Who We Help

NaturPro works with supplement brands,  food and beverage companies, ingredient suppliers, contract manufacturers, startups, growth-stage brands, multinational conglomerates.

We help a lot of companies qualifying or changing manufacturers, new product formulation and reformulation projects, and new ingredient developers, along with investors, acquirers, and businesses facing quality, documentation, regulatory, testing, or manufacturing challenges.

Some clients need help launching a product.

Some need help fixing one.

Some need help choosing a partner

Some need help reviewing a label or substantiating a claim.

Some need help developing reviewing a formula.

Some need help preparing for FDA, retailer, investor, or acquisition scrutiny.

Some simply need an experienced second set of eyes before making an expensive decision.

Why NaturPro

NaturPro is built for companies that want more than generic compliance advice.

We combine scientific review, regulatory judgment, product development experience, manufacturing experience, quality systems thinking, ingredient expertise, testing knowledge, and commercial practicality.

Brands need products that are compliant, manufacturable, marketable, documented, differentiated, safe, substantiated, and financially realistic.

Not one of those things… all of them.

That’s where many projects fail.  And that’s where we help.

Let’s Work Together

The natural products industry does not suffer from a lack of ideas.

It suffers from weak execution, thin documentation, poor supplier visibility, inconsistent quality systems, unclear manufacturer expectations, unsupported claims, underdeveloped formulas, testing confusion, and too many assumptions hiding behind polished marketing.

NaturPro Scientific helps companies build products, procedures, supplier relationships, claims, testing plans, and manufacturing systems that can withstand real scrutiny.

Not for your website — but for the real world.

Product Development

A successful product needs more than a formula.

It needs the right concept, ingredients, dose, delivery format, supplier, manufacturer, testing plan, cost structure, claims, and documentation.

NaturPro helps clients evaluate and develop products through scientific, regulatory, technical, and commercial review, including concept development, formula review, ingredient selection, dose rationale, prototype planning, sensory considerations, safety review, claims strategy, manufacturing feasibility, cost analysis, and launch readiness.

A good product is about the numerous decisions that go into the bottle.

Formula and Product Readiness

Formulating is not just combining ingredients and choosing a delivery format.

A product must be legally appropriate, scientifically rational, manufacturable, testable, label-ready, cost-effective, and commercially realistic.

NaturPro helps brands answer critical questions early:

• Is the ingredient appropriate for the category?
• Is the dose defensible?
• Is the proposed intake safe?
• Can the product be manufactured consistently?
• Can it be tested according to GMP’s?
• Can the claims be supported?
• Can the cost structure work?
• Can the formula survive stability, storage, shipping, and consumer use?
  
  

Sometimes the best option is building a formula from scratch.

Other times, it’s better to improve an existing product.

And sometimes, a concept looks good in a deck but not in the real world.

This experience and judgment is where the real value lies. 

Product Formats

NaturPro supports a wide range of natural product formats, including capsules, tablets, powders, stick packs, beverages, shots, liquids, teas, botanical infusions, gummies, soft chews, pet supplements, functional foods, ingredient products, botanical extracts, and specialty delivery formats.

Our experience includes botanicals, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, proteins, lipids, probiotics, microorganisms, phytochemicals, essential oils, natural sweeteners, nootropics, sports nutrition ingredients, weight management ingredients, pet nutrition ingredients, and functional food and beverage systems.

Brand Support with Manufacturers

One of NaturPro’s core strengths is helping supplement brand owners qualify, negotiate with, and get better quality and value from their contract manufacturers.

A contract manufacturer is not just a vendor.

It affects product quality, documentation, pricing, timelines, regulatory exposure, and brand reputation.

NaturPro helps brands evaluate manufacturers before production, compare quotes beyond unit price, identify hidden risks, review quality systems, and negotiate clearer expectations around testing, documentation, change control, product release, failed batches, substitutions, and responsibilities.

We help brands ask:

• Is this manufacturer a good fit for the product?
• Can they make this format well?
• What testing is included?
• What documentation comes with each batch?
• Who approves specifications?
• Who controls substitutions?
• What happens if a batch fails?
• What changes when costs or suppliers change?
• Does the quote reflect real value — or just a low number?

The lowest manufacturing quote is not often the best value.

Sometimes, it’s just a cover for risk. 

FDA Compliance 

Using a contract manufacturer does not mean a brand has outsourced responsibility.

Brand owners still need practical FDA-facing procedures for complaint handling, serious adverse event reporting, recall and market withdrawal, product release, supplier qualification, contract manufacturer qualification, label review, specifications, and recordkeeping.

NaturPro helps supplement and natural product brands, manufacturers and suppliers develop procedures that are both practical and also meet FDA requirements. 

Product Quality and Supplier Qualification

Product quality is an onion with a thousand layers.

It is built from identity, traceability, specifications, testing, documentation, supplier controls, manufacturing process knowledge, and commercial context.

NaturPro helps companies evaluate ingredient suppliers, specifications, certificates of analysis, test methods, contaminants, identity methods, regulatory status, and documentation gaps.

That includes botanical ingredients, specialty ingredients, commodity ingredients, branded ingredients, extracts, powders, oils, flavors, sweeteners, probiotics, functional ingredients, and raw materials used across supplements, foods, beverages, and pet products.

Testing, Method Review and Lab Strategy

Testing isn’t magic, and it’s not automatic.

A test result only holds water from a scientific and regulatory view if the method is appropriate, the lab is qualified, the sample is representative, the specification is meaningful, and someone understands what the result does and does not prove.

NaturPro helps companies develop testing plans, review COAs, qualify laboratories, evaluate analytical methods, investigate conflicting results, assess ingredient identity, and determine whether testing is scientifically valid and fit for purpose.

A certificate of analysis isn’t quality control – but what stands behind it is.

Marketing Claims, Research and Technical Support

NaturPro helps companies connect product claims to evidence.

Evidence comes in many forms — literature reviews, substantiation files, structure/function claim support, technical marketing dossiers, white papers, product monographs, clinical trial strategy, consumer research, survey trial design, expert review, and technical education.

The point is to understand what marketing claims are legal, and which are risky —  what should not be said, what evidence exists, what evidence is missing, and what risk comes with the claim.

Claims aren’t just words — they’re verified.  And they’re earned.

Regulatory, Safety and Compliance 

NaturPro supports practical FDA and FTC compliance strategy for dietary supplements, foods, beverages, ingredients, botanicals, functional products, pet supplements, and other natural products.

That may include dietary supplement strategy, food and beverage strategy, ingredient status review, ODI assessment, NDI assessment, GRAS strategy, safety review, FDA and FTC claims review, label review, Supplement Facts review, FSMA support, FSVP support, food safety planning, HACCP planning, 21 CFR 111 dietary supplement GMP support, 21 CFR 117 food GMP support, and international regulatory considerations.

NaturPro helps clients make regulatory decisions early enough to matter.

And according to the law, not after the label is printed, the product is manufactured, or claim is already on the website.

Botanical and Natural Product Expertise

Botanicals require experience and knowledge. Like plant part, extraction, standardization, marker compounds, testing methods, reference standards, geography, processing, traditional use, modern evidence, claims, and documentation all matter.

NaturPro helps companies evaluate botanical ingredients with the technical seriousness they deserve, including identity, method suitability, adulteration risk, supplier qualification, quality standards, and documentation review.

Commercialization and Scale-Up

A product can be scientifically interesting, have a great story, and still commercially useless.

Beautifully formulated and impossible to manufacture. But trendy and legally risky.

Inexpensive, but poor quality. Made with premium ingredients, yet still poorly documented.

NaturPro helps companies balance the technical and commercial realities of product development, including product-market fit, competitive positioning, cost-per-serving analysis, ingredient cost review, manufacturing feasibility, supply chain review, commercial sourcing, scale-up planning, launch readiness, commercial documentation, and investor diligence.

Product development is not just making something new that sounds good – it is a multidisciplinary task whose wekest link makes it break.

Making something that can hold up in production, on the label, in the market, in a retailer review, in investor diligence, in front of FDA, and in the hands of a consumer, shouldn’t be left to someone’s good guess. 

Sustainability, Traceability and Ethical Sourcing

NaturPro supports companies seeking to evaluate or improve ethical sourcing, sustainability programs, traceability, supplier documentation, and sourcing claims.

Sustainability is not a selfie with a farmer — it is investment and it is evidence.

Where did the ingredient come from? Who grew it? Were they paid a living wage?

What documentation exists? What sustainability claims are being made — and are those claims supported?

Are the quality, sustainability, and commercial incentives aligned?

NaturPro helps companies think through sourcing with discipline and with value in mind.

Our Founder

Blake Ebersole, B.S., M.B.A., is President and Founder of NaturPro Scientific LLC, a scientific and regulatory consulting firm supporting the research, development, quality assurance, regulatory strategy, and commercialization of natural products sold in the food, dietary supplement, pharmaceutical, cannabis, pet, and ingredient industries.

Blake has supported companies across the natural product lifecycle, from early product concepts to ingredient strategy, supplier qualification, formulation, testing, claims substantiation, contract manufacturer qualification, GMP systems, and technical review.

His work has included dietary supplements, foods, beverages, botanicals, functional ingredients, pet products, cannabis and hemp products, kombucha, nootropics, cognitive performance products, meal replacements, RTD beverages, botanical infusions, CBD products, ingredient quality programs, laboratory method review, clinical trial support, and expert technical analysis.

Blake has participated in technical committees and expert panels with organizations including the American Herbal Products Association, ASTM International, AOAC International, the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, and other industry groups.

Selected Project Experience

NaturPro’s work has included:

• Design, formulation, and sourcing of  supplement programs
• Structure-function, health and content claims substantiation
• Product formulation
• Market analysis
• Clinical data review and expert analysis
• Specification development for ingredients and products
• Supplier verification programs, including FSVP for ingredients
• Ingredient method development and validation, adulterant research and reference development
• Product contaminant testing
• Reformulation for target objectives
• New ingredient regulatory and safety assessment
• Clinical trial design, vendor qualification and monitoring
• Supplement product development
• Ingredient quality, efficacy, and sustainability programs
• Ingredient standards development
• GMP, FSMA, GACP and supplier quality program strategy
• Contract manufacturer and supplier qualification
• Quality system and documentation review

The common thread is simple:

Better products require better evidence. Better evidence requires better systems. Better systems require people who know what to look for.

Publications, Presentations and Industry Commentary

NaturPro’s work has been reflected in trade publications, scientific publications, technical reports, presentations, patents, webinars, and industry commentary.

Topics have included product specifications, supplier qualification, regulatory requirements including FSMA and FSVP, GMPs and SOPs, contract manufacturing, quality systems, analytical methods, contaminant testing, claims substantiation, product development, delivery systems, functional ingredients, clinical trial design, supplement formulation fundamentals,  ingredient safety, and efficacy.

NaturPro’s consulting is not based on generic advice or checklists.

It is based on a consultative approach using hands-on experience with real products, ingredients, manufacturers, quality systems, analytical methods, regulatory questions, and commercial constraints.

Contact us to discuss product development, formulation strategy, contract manufacturer qualification, FDA procedures, ingredient quality, claims substantiation, testing strategy, regulatory compliance, and natural products commercialization.