Buoy Hydration, Nutritional Growth Solutions among top picks at ECRM’s Weight Management, Nutrition & Vitamin session
Buoy Hydration won the Drug Store News Buyers Choice Award for its Hydration Drops Unflavored Beverage Enhancer during ECRM’s Weight Management, Nutrition & Vitamin session held late last month. Nutritional Growth Solutions was a finalist for its Grow Daily 3+ Chocolate Shake Mix Canister.
The products were selected from dozens of entries submitted by participating suppliers. Buyers were able to evaluate each entry and cast their votes based on product packaging and innovation via the Drug Store News-branded Buyers Choice Awards section of the ECRM Connect platform.
“Product innovation and great packaging are the hallmarks of great brands,” said Craig Chmielowicz, senior vice president of health and beauty care for ECRM. “The two Buyers Choice Award winners are each best-in-class in both of these realms, with effective, functional ingredients and packaging that really stands out. Congratulations to both winners.”
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The founders of Buoy Hydration sought to deliver hydration to consumers without loads of sugar, questionable ingredients, cheap salt sources or single-serving plastics, and they wanted to incorporate philanthropy into their business.
The result was Hydrating Wellness Drops, a line of unflavored, functional beverage enhancers developed to revolutionize how people hydrate. Its blend of electrolytes, fortifying minerals, and essential vitamins can be added into any drink without compromising taste. Its 100% PCR bottles use up to 50x less materials per serving and ship carbon-neutral around the country. With every bottle sold on its website, Buoy donates one to a verified 501(c)3 non-profit organization supporting people managing chronic illnesses.
The brand’s Hydration Drops Unflavored Beverage Enhancer features unflavored electrolytes, 87 ionic trace minerals, and essential B vitamins for deep hydration that blends with any beverage. Users just add a quick squeeze into any drink — even alcohol and coffee — and it dissolves instantly and evenly and is essentially flavorless in everything but water, according to the company. Each bottle has 40 servings and the electrolyte equivalent of 13 sports drinks. They are made with only fast-absorbing, bioavailable ingredients and have no sugar, sweeteners, artificial ingredients, or calories.
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Nutritional Growth Solutions was founded by pediatricians and nutritional experts at Schneider Children's Medical Center in Israel with experience treating thousands of children annually for growth deficiencies largely caused by poor nutrition.
After years of research and development, they created what is now the brand’s Grow Daily whey protein nutrition formula: a nutrient-packed, immune fortifying powdered shake solution clinically proven to improve and increase linear growth in children aged 3 to 9 years old while maintaining healthy BMI percentages. The studies were published in the American Journal of Pediatrics in 2014, and after a few years of patenting formulas and perfecting the flavor, the company began selling its Grow Daily products direct to consumers.
Grow Daily 3+ Chocolate Shake Mix Canister is the company’s legacy whey-based nutritional shake product in a new canister. It’s meant to be supplemental to a child's regular diet supporting healthy growth rather than serving as a meal replacement. The new packaging is designed to clearly represent all the nutritional elements and information of the product in a way that’s highly visible on-shelf.