As Nutritional Products International (NPI) prepares to participate in the 2026 ECRM Vitamin, Weight Management & Sports Nutrition Session, the company is also marking two decades of guiding domestic and international brands through the complexities of the U.S. retail market. The event, scheduled for September 14-17 at the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, will bring together retail buyers from major health, specialty, food, drug, mass, and eCommerce retailers for private, pre-scheduled meetings with established and emerging brands.
NPI's founder and CEO, Mitch Gould, emphasized the importance of the ECRM sessions in fostering meaningful business connections. "ECRM continues to be one of the most efficient ways to connect innovative brands with major retail buyers," Gould said. "It creates an environment for meaningful business conversations and aligns perfectly with our Evolution of Distribution platform, which helps brands successfully enter and grow in the U.S. marketplace."
With a career spanning more than 25 years, Gould has been instrumental in launching and scaling consumer products across various sectors, including dietary supplements, sports nutrition, skincare, hardware, and beverages. His work has helped products secure placement with some of America's largest retailers, including Walmart, Costco, CVS, Walgreens, GNC, Rite Aid, The Home Depot, Lowe's, and Amazon. Gould was also among the early pioneers who helped establish Amazon's sports nutrition marketplace by introducing more than 100 brands to the platform during its formative years, shaping one of today's largest online health and wellness retail categories.
Gould's career has also included collaborations with well-known athletes and celebrities such as Steven Seagal, Hulk Hogan, Chuck Liddell, Ronnie Coleman, and Roberto Clemente Jr., helping transform emerging consumer products into nationally distributed brands. His hands-on, execution-driven approach has been central to building consumer brands at scale, particularly in highly competitive categories like sports nutrition and dietary supplements.
NPI's proprietary Evolution of Distribution platform provides an integrated approach to U.S. market expansion, combining global logistics, product readiness and regulatory alignment, market positioning and brand strategy, retail and eCommerce placement, and post-placement marketing into a single turnkey solution. Rather than simply introducing products to retailers, NPI works alongside brands throughout the commercialization process, helping prepare products for the U.S. marketplace while supporting long-term retail growth.
"ECRM is an important part of that process," Gould said. "The meetings create opportunities, but success comes from everything that happens before and after those conversations. We help brands prepare for retail, secure placement, and continue building momentum long after the meetings conclude."
During this year's ECRM session, NPI will meet with retail buyers while representing a growing portfolio of domestic and international health and wellness brands seeking to expand throughout the United States. The company's participation underscores its commitment to leveraging strategic retail events to drive brand growth and market penetration.
