I was lucky enough to travel to Chicago last week to tour the NOW Foods headquarters. What an amazing experience and I’m so excited to tell you all about it and more about their products, but most importantly the steps they take to put safety and quality first. Prior to attending the event, I knew very little about NOW Foods. I remember seeing their products at one of our local nutrition stores and seeing a few posts online, but hadn’t had a chance to look into the brand too much.
As I’ve gotten older, and especially after the birth of my two children, I’ve taken a more active role in ensuring that the products we use are safe for my family. There are SO many questionable ingredients in so many of today’s products and I’ve really begun to wonder about the long term effects and safety of using them (especially as disease, neurological and immune diseases particularly, and cancer rates continue to skyrocket). So many companies are less than transparent when it comes to seeking their manufacturing practices and ingredients, that it can make finding this information incredibly difficult. As I’ll explain later, one of the things that stuck out the most for me with NOW Foods is their transparency.
NOW Foods has been manufacturing natural health products and supplements since 1968. They highly pride themselves on providing the utmost value, quality and safe natural (non-GMO) and organic products to all their consumers. They have over 1400 products to choose from in several categories:
- Natural Foods
- Beauty & Health
- Essential Oils
- Sports Nutrition
- Supplements
- Pet Health
The 24 hours I spent with NOW Foods was so much fun and so busy! There was so much packed into that short time that my head is still spinning. When I arrived to Eaglewood Resort in Itasca, I was taken away with how beautiful the resort was. Once I checked into my room, I was greeted with the largest bags of products! They were packed with so many goodies (and the best part, one of my awesome readers will win a similar bundle of amazing products from NOW…enter below!).
Like I said earlier, the trip was a whirlwind of activities. We began the evening with a cooking demo by their own Chef Suzy (which you may recognize from Iron Chef a few seasons ago). We were introduced to their CEO, Jim Emme, and also to the companies mission. NOW Foods mission is to provide solutions to assist people in their personal health goals. There are no claims to cure anyone, but to empower and assist them in their health journey, no matter what that may be.
The cooking demo was great because we were able to learn more about what kind of products that NOW has (I love the Q cups which are quick cook quinoa cups and their sports nutrition products are rocking my fitness world), along with learning some fun and interesting techniques and substitutions to use in the kitchen for healthier and more varied recipes. After the demo, we broke up in groups and had our own Iron Chef competition. It was such a great ice breaker to chat and work with the other bloggers.
The next morning we woke up and headed to the resort rooftop for a Piyo class. This was my first time doing piyo and it took me awhile to get the hang of it, especially since I practice yoga often. It was a perfect way to start a busy day and get the blood moving while enjoying some beautiful views.
We followed our piyo class with a DIY health and beauty session where we got to use many NOW products. I love that they have essentials oils and how reasonable priced that they are (especially when compared to competitors). I’ve already made a list of other oils that they carry that I am looking forward to adding to my collection. The foaming hand wash is great and I especially love the head ease roll on (which was a huge win when I was stuck at the airport overnight later in the day).
A quick breakfast and outfit change and we were off to the main event: the NOW Foods headquarters tour. It’s HUGE! It was so neat to be able to watch from beginning to end the whole process of recieving products from vendors that they use, to their state of the art laboratories to test materials and products, to the manufacturing of products, assembly, packaging and labeling.
The laboratories that they have are awe inspiring. They are able to test for specific bacterials strains (i.e. probiotics), contaminants (such as pesticides), molecular detection (i.e. pathogens), for heavy metals (such as arsenic), and so much more. I was incredibly impressed with their attention to detail and safety. Each batch of ingredients that they receive from their vendors are tested (for purity, taste, toxins, additives, etc.). The safeguards that are taken to ensure that whats on the label is whats in the product gives me such peace of mind, especially when it comes to sports nutrition products (we’ve all heard of less than stellar ingredients, ahem: viagra, being in some products).
The assembly line is so incredibly efficient and so interesting to watch. One long line of machines prepares the bottles, pours in the product, seals, labels and gets it ready to be shipped.
I’ve always been very leery and skeptical when it comes to some supplement companies, specifically since many of them are not exactly transparent about what is in them (all those blends that they list on the ingredient label, yet don’t really tell you what’s in them…those make me nervous). When you look at NOW labels they tell you everything that is in them, including the amounts. No weird “blends”, just straight up ingredients and transparency for how much is in each serving.
Transparency is one of the number one things that sticks out to me about this company. They have nothing to hide and will answer any and all questions. If you’re in the area, send them a message and they’ll take you a tour of the manufacturing plant and labs so you can see for yourself. You’ll get to wear the super high fashion outfit you’ll see below too! 😉
I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to have such a behind the scenes look at NOW Foods headquarters, how they run their company and to see how well they treat all of their employees. I can say that they are now my definite go to company when it comes to my supplement and sports nutrition needs. I love that I can trust the company and feel confident in using their products after seeing their facilities and interacting with their employees. I can’t wait to share some of my favorite products in the next few months with everyone!
GIVEAWAY ($500 Value)!
One lucky reader will win a huge bundle ($500 value) of NOW products to enjoy! Giveaway is open to U.S. residents that are 18+ years of age. I’ll be announcing the winner on my Facebook page in a live video on
NOW Foods Product Pack Giveaway ($500 value)
This is so neat!!
This looks amazing!
This all looks so fabulous! Loved hearing about all the great things about them and the fun!
I have only tried essential oils from Now Foods before. I would love to try their Wrinkle Rescue tablets.
Great article! I’m excited to try NOW products after your visit especially the essential oils since my family uses them everyday. Thanks for the great information, all was very beneficial.
I would like to try their Biotin
I have never tried NOW products but I’m interested in trying their essential oils! That head ease roll on sounds intriguing.
It looks like you had a great time! What a cool place!
I would love to try their supplements. Thanks for the chance
I’ve tried a few essential oils but would love to add to my collection!
I am interested in the Brazil Nut Oil
I love their multi vitamins and protein powders.
I actually already love NOW Foods products. Their essential oils line happens to be my favorite.
I actually already love NOW Foods products. Their essential oils line happens to be my favorite. I think I have one of everything they make.
I love NOW products. Sounds like you had a really neat experience!
We make a lot of foods from scratch, so I want to try their cocoa.
I have never tried NOW products. I would love to try the Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Mix, Gluten-Free.
The nut mix looks so yummy.
very cool almond oil
I haven’t actually heard of NOW foods, but I really should read up on them because I am a snack foods editor for my day job 🙂 and “better for you” products are very popular nowadays.
What is piyo, also?
All of it looks awesome, hard to choose a favorite item! 🙂
What a fun experience! I don’t think I’ve tried anything from them yet!
That is really awesome to have a totally experience like that. So much to see and learn.
That sounds like such a fun and awesome experience! I love that they have so many products, and wasn’t expecting to see beauty products on the list! Sweet!
I’ve used some of their vitamins and oils… would love to try more!! 🙂
That’s so cool ! I grew up near Chicago- I had no idea that was there ! Will have to check that out next time I’m home 🙂
I hope NOW Foods is also distributing their products in Asia so I can purchase their affordable essential oils. I admire companies who open their production areas and assembly lines to the public to know how their products are made. Hands off to the NOW Foods Team for treating bloggers to a complete wellness experience. You were so lucky and generous to share NOW Foods products to your readers. Thanks for sharing and more power!
I love NOW Foods! They have great options for being GF, DF, and NF!
The stevia! Yes, foods that aren’t close to nature can cause so many autoimmune disorders. I went to a class on this last night.
The Stevia and the Smoked Ghost Pepper Oil.
My friend has an auto immune disorder and has recently switched to clean everything. She is starting to get me on some of this. I did start eating two brazil nuts a day. My biggest problem to eating healthy is preparation and convenience.
I have been using the NOW essential oils for years, I didn’t know there was so much more to their product line! I would love to try their supplements.
I have never tried NOW foods but I am intrigued. This past year I have been focusing on my health. I am eating healthy and working out 5 days a week. I feel so fantastic! I even lost 30 pounds. I was browsing the site and saw Brain Attention. I would love to try that supplement. I need more focus in my life. I am a little scatterbrained and all over the place at times. Winning this giveaway would be such a blessing. Thanks so very much for the chance to try these amazing products from NOW.
I have tried some NOW Foods products and have been very happy with the quality, the Q Cups look really good.
I haven’t tried their products before, but I’d love to try the Honey Roasted Pecans!
I haven’t tried anything from this brand as yet! They all looks so good
I like NOW products and have used them for a lot of years. Every day I use their turmeric capsules. I also like their milk thistle capsules. I enjoyed this article and learning more about the company. There are other products I would like to try so love this giveaway.
I haven’t tried these products yet, but I’m very interested in their line of Pet Supplements. Would like to try the Joint Support Chewables for Dogs — I have 2 senior dogs that would benefit from these.
I actually have been eyeing up their Whey Protein Isolate!! I just don’t have the money!
I would like to try their roasted and salted cashews
Yes I’ve used NOW Foods products before. For example, I like to mix their Nutritional Yeast into a tofu scramble to give it a cheesy taste.
I have used several NOW food products before and I love their coconut oil and red quinoa! I’m most interested in trying their essential oils because I feel like I can trust their brand which is super important!
I have never tried them but would like to try the black quinoa.
I have used NOW products for many years and trust them. I am most interested in their supplements, especially the Magnesium for stress fighting properties.
I want to try their essential oils.
I have used several different NOW products. I would also love to try the black quinoa!
I have used a number of their products. I like their supplements best of all.
I would love to try the women’s probiotics.
Have never tired Your products but would love the opportunity to try anything honestly! Very open minded
[…] my supplement needs I turn to NOW Foods. The quality of their products are supreme and I love the safety measures they go through on their […]