Navigating the vitamin and supplements aisle is a never ending maze of multi coloured bottles, liquid syringes and powders, all which bring back memories of school chemistry lessons and periodic table algorithms. Synthetic, all natural, extra strength, allergen friendly, multivitamin with A, B or C? It’s a nightmare just trying to select a humble multivitamin.

That’s where VITL saves the day. Their saviour comes in the form of a monthly box, delivered straight to your door and conveniently each day’s worth of vital supplements comes in a blister pack – handy for fitting in the handbag, and minus the not so glam rattling of a pill bottle.

It is estimated that 1 in 5 adults is lacking in key vitamins or minerals, and most of us have no idea. In order to boost vitality, nutrition and health, VITL provides all the necessary daily minerals and vitamins, plus a little boost more!

This spring they have launched VITL Greens, another delivery service that provides you with over 16 superfood powders, all in a handy pouch. Vanilla flavoured, the powder is actually quite delicious and far from that grassy green aftertaste that develops from most other superfood concentrates. And as if we needed another reason, it is just 25 calories a pop! They are perfect for adding to your smoothies, boost your home bakes or drinking just with water for a vegan friendly revitalisation.

With that in mind we couldn’t wait to speak to Jonathan Relph, founder of VITL to find out the story behind the pioneering concept, the inspiration behind their uber-cool packaging and what life is like in the healthy set limelight.

You have made quite the polar transition from finance to the supplements and health industry – what inspired you to make the move? Did you have an AHA moment?

It is totally different! Although we’d talked about there being no brand that resonated with us in the space for ages, I think there were probably quite a few combined “AHA” moments that finally led up to the eureka! One interesting element of it was that I often found myself stuck behind double decker busses cycling around London invariably faced with some ridiculously generic vitamin ad and each time that acted as a little motivational prod to build an entirely different solution and brand!

Have you always been a follower of a healthy lifestyle? We have heard notorious stories about what goes on at investment funds, especially if The Wolf of Wall Street is anything to judge by, did you find it tough to stay healthy whilst at work?

Ha! I think the reality of working in fund management is probably a little less dramatic than Hollywood makes out sadly… I loved it and learnt so much but it was definitely hard to stay as healthy as I would have liked, especially when working long hours and it’s just a shame that VITL didn’t exist back then!

On the healthy lifestyle, I’ve always tried to take a middle path, staying healthy but making sure to also have a lot of fun along the way! I’m probably similar to many in that when you move into your late 20s early 30s it dawns on you that you want to be ‘here for a long time, not just a good time’ and so start to appreciate the benefit and importance of good health that much more.

What would you say has been the biggest change in your personal life since starting VITL?

By a long shot it’s managing a lack of time. Starting a business isn’t very forgiving and there’s an unreasonable amount of things to do almost everyday. So there’s not much down time and I probably haven’t been able to see my friends and family nearly as often as I’d like to! I’m also invariably stumped when anybody mentions a new Netflix series…

Each VITL delivery comes with four supplements including one multivitamin, one COQ10, one Super greens capsule and one krill oil capsule. Why did you decide to include these particular supplements?

For our first product we wanted a comprehensive solution covering 4 bases: Immunity, Energy Vitality and Wellbeing so we worked with some top nutritionists and the former technical director of Solgar to design a well rounded pack with the highest quality, filler free ingredients with each capsule designed around those core functional benefits.

We love the slick and easy to use package design, very aspirational and ergonomic. What was the design process and inspiration behind the packaging?

A lot of love and effort went into it but the actual design “process” was pretty unorthodox. A large part of it was actually sketched on paper behind my Bloomberg screens at work and then a lot of trial and error trying to translate imagination into reality! I was also told by at least two top packaging companies that what we wanted wasn’t possible, so we actually ended up doing all the sourcing ourselves alongside a freelance designer who led the graphic design work. What we did have throughout though was a strong vision that the product had to fit with a generation inspired by Apple design and Uber convenience and that the packaging had to reflect that.

Can you tell us a little bit more about the ingredients in your Super Greens capsule and what it is intended for?

Sure, in the pack we also wanted to include modern wholefood nutrients alongside the traditional vitamin and minerals and so in the super greens capsule included a combination of wholefood extracts, including green tea extract, spirulina, broccoli, bilberry, goji, acai and turmeric. All in a concentrated formula combined for their anti-oxidative values (ORAC) and polyphenol health benefits that include immune support, anti-inflammatory properties and supporting the liver detoxification pathways which are all helpful in supporting everyday vitality.

We have seen the hype about Cod Liver Oil, but VITL uses Krill oil, what is the benefit of this?

Whilst the benefits of Omega 3 are lengthy and pretty well understood the variations in the quality of the source are still less so. We chose Krill as it’s s a superior source of EPA and DHA with the polyunsaturated fats packaged as phospholipids, which are more bioavailable (allowing them to be more easily absorbed by the body) versus the more traditional triglycerides in fish oil that have to undergo additional processing in order to make them absorbable. Whilst it’s more difficult and expensive for us to use we felt the extra investment was worth it for the benefits.

What would you say VITL supplements offers people over buying your average multivitamin or fish oil?

I think it comes down to three keys, Quality, Convenience and Comprehensiveness. Quality in that we’ve used the highest quality ingredients available, including a no fillers or binders that are found in almost all your average multivitamins. Convenience in that we have designed the product to be more likely to actually be taken by the consumer (tearable daily strips, delivered to your door rather than multiple brown glass bottle) and comprehensiveness by providing a single solution that covers multiple bases rather than just a single multi or fish oil.

You now have three different plans for VITL deliveries, what’s next for VITL?

Well we think we’ve only just got started, we’ve just launched a second product, our VITL Supergreens where we’ve put 16 nutrient dense superfoods including spirlina, maca and turmeric into super convenient daily sachets (to add to water or a smoothie) and we’re really excited about how well that’s been received (you can preview it at vitl.com/greens). We’ve also got some exciting long term products and plans but those are staying under wraps until they’re ready 🙂

And back to you Jonathan, what would you say is a typical day in your shoes?

One of the most exciting things about starting a business is that everyday is often radically different, so really there isn’t a typical day but there are definitely a few recurring themes. If forced to pick three, I’d say the first is around operations and helping the team making sure we’re providing a great service to customers. The second would be hiring – as a growing company we constantly have open positions and finding additional great team members can take some time! Finally, one of the most exciting parts of the day is spent on new product development, which can go from brainstorming crazy ideas with the team through to supplier sourcing and design.

Apart from taking VITL supplements, what else do you do to remain healthy and keep a balanced lifestyle?

I generally have a pretty healthy diet which is the foundation (VITL adds to that but it’s not a replacement) and then I try and keep as active as possible given the time constraints. Sneaking out to Gymbox across the road from VITL HQ and making use of some small life hacks all help, like religiously walking to and from the office often whilst also checking emails! On the weekend, particularly if sunny, you’ll also find fewer happier people in London than me on my bike in Hyde Park with some new tunes!

You took quite the jump when you started VITL, can you give our readers any tips on how to follow your dream and how to penetrate the health and wellness industry?

I think the key tip to making a big leap would be to not fear the unknown just because you can’t predict it, which is something that can hold us all back. Ultimately if you’re capable, passionate and hard working the real risk is in not opening the door rather than in seeing what lies behind it! For penetrating the health and wellness industry specifically I think the key is to be doing something that’s different and that you’d really want to buy yourself!