How Nutramax Became an Industry Trailblazer by Placing God First

Robert Henderson’s path to founding one of the leading nutraceutical companies began with failure—then inspiration from God.

In 1992, he founded Nutramax Laboratories with a mission to glorify God, using the gifts God has given the employees—their abilities, talents, and skills—in every stage of creating products that improve the quality of life for people and their pets.

“When I did, we found synergism—the two work much better together than either one alone,” Henderson told The Epoch Times.

Critical to Henderson’s success were two things he took from his background as a pharmacist working for a major drug company: an understanding of the standards and rounds of testing that went toward evaluating safety and efficacy, and a wish to find natural compounds without the side effects that inevitably accompany pharmaceuticals.

“I saw that there’s got to be a better way,” Henderson said. “God created the body. He knows how it works. He designed it right. I want to use natural things that are found in nature to help the body, and that’s what we do, and it’s very effective when you find the right ingredients.”

Pharmaceuticals are created molecules and compounds that block or boost certain activities in the body, such as slowing enzyme production or jamming specific cell receptors. The term “nutraceutical” was developed to refer to nutrients—naturally occurring molecules and compounds—that are extracted, tested, and produced using good manufacturing practices, similar to the pharmaceutical industry.

Because of these standards, orthopedic surgeons who were introduced to Nutramax’s product saw it as one worth recommending. This was a game changer for the industry, as physicians had rarely promoted nutraceuticals over pharmaceuticals at that point. Joint health supplements saw a boom in the 1990s.

Needs from the veterinary equine market began to emerge. A Cosequin product for horses was developed in 1993 and when Henderson introduced the new supplement to horse trainers at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, it took off.

At the time, Henderson’s son Todd was a new veterinarian, practicing in Florida. He found himself treating many dogs with joint problems.

Henderson suggested his son take the joint health supplement he developed for people and give it to dogs. The anti-inflammatories prescribed were doing too little for some pets. A turning point came when he began treating a pair of golden retrievers whose conditions were not improving. They would soon need surgery.

The orthopedic surgeon set a date for two weeks out, and told Todd Henderson to just do what he could for the dogs until then.

“Todd puts them on Cosamin, our human product,” said Henderson, who asked the orthopedic surgeon for permission to share this story. “By the time they went back in two weeks to the orthopedic surgeon, he called Todd up and said, ‘What did you do? You played a joke on me? Sent different dogs?’ As far as I know, he never did do the surgery.”

Todd Henderson eventually joined Nutramax, vastly expanding its presence in the pet supplements market and is now serving as CEO. As with the original supplements for people, veterinarians began recommending Nutramax’s pet products. Today, Nutramax sells more than two dozen products through its multiple companies for people, horses, dogs, and cats, and pet supplements make up the vast majority of Nutramax’s business.

Nutramax conducts rigorous quality checks, from the time they receive raw materials, to when a product goes out the door, including testing for contaminants, purity of products, and shelf stability, on top of the studies and trials that occur before bringing a product to market. They also seek out third-party auditing and certification. Additionally, they validate and print expiration dates versus “best by” dates, which is an unusual practice in the nutritional supplement industry.

All of this is above what is required. While the Food and Drug Administration requires such testing for pharmaceuticals, supplements are regulated as food products and not given the same requirements, so they’re limited in the health claims they can legally make. But because of this, critics of supplements often compare the industry to the “wild west,” saying the lack of standards means companies could be selling anything.

The Hendersons have voiced similar concerns; they’ve seen a third party test lab find one pet supplement lacking the active ingredient the product advertises, another test that found bacterial contaminants in another pet supplement, and brands that make health claims prohibited by the FDA. They worry about what it means for pets, people, and the industry if such practices are widespread, and have been thinking about how to educate consumers to assess for truth and quality in their supplements.

As a child, Troy Henderson had scoliosis, and regular trips to the chiropractor piqued his interest in the profession. But after 13 years as a chiropractor, he received a sign.

“‘Chiro’ means ‘hands,’” Troy Henderson said. “I started having hand problems when I was 37—had carpal tunnel surgery, had trigger finger. So I thought God was sending a message: ‘Hey, you better look for something else.’”

At the time, his brother Todd had already joined Nutramax, and he knew it was growing and needed help with the human side of the business. He made the switch, and found in Nutramax an opportunity to help many more people than he could in private practice. Today, three generations of Hendersons work at Nutramax.

Henderson said that throughout his journey, God has placed the right people in his path at just the moment he needed them.

For instance, when Henderson sought to manufacture supplements in-house, glucosamine was not available in the United States. Henderson realized he would need to go to Italy.

But first, he attended a nutritional meeting in New York.

“And I sat next to this little lady, and I’m talking to her, and she’s Italian, and she’s an import broker,” Henderson told NTD.

The woman had an upcoming trip to Italy to visit her mother, and was able to procure the ingredient Henderson needed during that trip and import it for him.

“Why did I go that day? Why did I sit next to that lady? I don’t know, but the Lord does,” Henderson said.

Another time, Henderson had a Bible on the reception table, which was noticed during a job interview. The man who would become Nutramax’s director of manufacturing had grown up going to church with his grandmother every week, and when he saw that Bible, he made up his mind.

“He was exactly what I needed—somebody from the pharmaceutical industry that knew good manufacturing practice, he knew about equipment, he knew exactly what Nutramax needed,” Henderson said. “And he came because I had a Bible on the table.”

Troy Henderson said, “it’s the Lord’s will.”

As Nutramax has grown from a small business to a big business, Henderson said he never forgot what it was like to be a small business, and what these entrepreneurs mean to the fabric of a community. This came into full focus during the pandemic, when the South Carolina government declared many small businesses non-essential, forcing some to close and others to restrict other operations.

Henderson said he remembered walking into a local restaurant in 2020 and finding the proprietor in tears.

“So I went back to the company, and I talked there with some of our people. What can we do to help this guy?” he said.

The Nutramax team came up with a voucher system: every week they would give employees—about 625 of them at the time—a $10-$15 voucher for a local business, which the businesses would redeem for cash from Nutramax after the week. On average, 450 employees were spending these vouchers weekly, and Nutramax invested more than $800,000 back into local small businesses through the voucher program, which some local businesses said kept them going.

Robert Henderson said they named the 4:10 voucher program for 1 Peter 4:10, a verse in the Bible that teaches that what God gives as a blessing, we should return: “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”

“We were able to help a lot of people locally by doing that, and we just thank the Lord for giving us that opportunity to do that,” Henderson said.

The voucher program continues today, and Nutramax Senior Director of Corporate Affairs Stefanie Stacks said people in other states have been inspired to invest in their own communities after hearing this COVID-era success story.

Nutramax has also sought out other ways to improve the quality of life of the community it calls home, such as supporting first responders by making donations to local firehouses and equipping county police officers. It also supports a leadership program in schools, a Women’s Enrichment Center, local animal shelters, and other initiatives that improve quality of life for people and pets.

The Hendersons’ faith has also brought them in contact with missionaries who work around the world, which has led to opportunities to support ministry and humanitarian work thousands of miles from home. The effort has provided food, shelter, and medical care in Lebanon; funded medical missions in Eswatini; supported clean water solutions in Peru and West Africa; and supported education in Cambodia in recent years.

“We try to weave God into everything,” Troy Henderson said.

Nutramax hosts a Bible study, which sees people who come from 19 different countries and various faiths.

“God arranged that,” Henderson said. “I lost one company, one business, and opened the door for another. Well, I walked through it, kept going. As far as I’m concerned, everything I have is his, and that’s how we look at it, any wealth that we have. You know, I’m 85 years old, and I’m not taking it with me, right? It’s his anyway.”