Linnea: Reinventing Its Identity
Linnea, Riazzino, Switzerland, has evolved into an herbal ingredient supplier with a new global name evoking botany roots. Formed in 1980 as a botanicals supplier primarily for the OTC market, the company was then purchased in 1990 by Dr. Wilmar Schwabe (Germany) and Beaufour Ipsen (France), two pharmaceutical companies, and renamed Nuova Linnea. The company at the beginning of this year “went global” with the Linnea name, which originates from the name of an 18th century Swedish botanist, Carl von Linné, who was a pioneer in the identification and classification of plants.
President Michael Granville commented on the company’s evolution. “The name of our U.S. subsidiary was already Linnea. What we’ve done is go global with the same name, because we liked the way it worked in the U.S. and because we wanted a single, easily-recognizable global identity. This ties in with the fact that the dietary supplement industry is itself going global.” The marketplace has responded well, said Mr. Granville. “I have been greatly impressed by the positive reaction we’ve been getting.”
Linnea operates independently of its parent companies, although the companies communicate on technology and research and exchange patent protection. “We set our own commercial and business policies, however,” said Mr. Granville. “There are two areas where the spin-off from our parent companies has been a special advantage. The first is due to the fact that both are pharmaceutical companies, because we automatically operate to pharmaceutical standards in our manufacturing processes. That’s why we put so much emphasis on GMP and everything that goes with it. The second is that we can tap directly into their raw material sources,” he continued. “For instance, the ginkgo leaves for our ginkgo extracts EPG 246 and G 328 come from group plantations, so we are certain of the quality of the raw material and of the absence of pesticides and insecticides.
“Our goal is to convey value,” said Mr. Granville. Because of the company’s background in the pharmaceutical industry, he said, Linnea has invested significantly in quality control and quality assurance. “We are manufacturing a quality product at an international level. We recently added a microbiology lab for inhouse testing for an even faster response,” he said. The lab—which represents a $160,000 investment—opened in November 1999. Linnea products had already been fully tested for absence of contamination and to ensure that they comply with the highest microbiological standards demanded by the pharmaceutical industry; the move to the new in-house laboratory will mean even faster deliveries.
As part of its new corporate identity, Linnea has developed a new logo and a new image, which was launched on both sides of the Atlantic last November. “We wanted the new image to identify Linnea clearly from other suppliers,” said Mr. Granville, “because we believe we are better when it comes to quality, safety and service.” Linnea also launched a new website, which can be found at www.linnea-worldwide.com.
In terms of overall markets, ginkgo has been a particularly strong area, said Mr. Granville, but new products are definitely in the pipeline. The most recent is a red clover extract product for which the company has developed the extraction process. The high content red clover extract contains 18% isoflavones. —E.S.
Linnea, Inc.
Via Cantonale
6595 Riazzino (Locarno), Switzerland
Telephone: 41-91-850-5050
Fax: 41-91-850-5070
Website: www.linnea-worldwide.com
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