National Vitamin Co.

    By Art Nadler

    Everyone is touting the benefits of taking vitamins today, but do you really know what's in them or how they are made?

    The National Vitamin Co. of Las Vegas has lifted the shroud of secrecy that has hung over the vitamin industry since its inception. Now, seven days a week, you can tour National's factory and see how vitamins are blended, tested, inspected and bottled.

     

    Housed in an 80,000 square-foot facility just off Interstate 15 South on South Industrial Road are state-of-the-art stainless steel machines from Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Canada and the United States. One can actually see how vitamin powder is compressed into tablets under 2 to 6 tons of pressure. Watch as amber gelatin is heated and fused with liquid vitamin formulas to make soft-gel capsules. And later spy into inspection rooms and observe workers meticulously scrutinizing by hand thousands of jewel-like soft-gel topaz capsules for leakage.

    At the end of a self-guided walking tour is a pharmacy-style store stocked with an alphabet of vitamins from A to Z, including herbal standards such as Aloe Vera, Cat's Claw, St. John's Wart and cosmetic creams and hair-care products

    All the products are made and bottled right on the premises. You can even enjoy a smoothie shake -- spiked with your favorite vitamin combinations � in the health bar adjacent to the retail store.

    National Vitamin Co. was started by Earl Courtney Jr. in 1974 in San Jose, Calif. He and his son, Earl Courtney III; wife, Jeanne; and daughter, Chantal Garcia opened the Las Vegas facility in July 1998 after taking a tour of the Ethel M Chocolate factory in Green Valley. They liked the way Ethel M showed consumers how chocolates were made, and they felt the same interest could be sparked for vitamins.

    "We are the only vitamin company in the United States that's open to the public," Earl Courtney III says. "The tour is free, and at the end you receive a free sample.

    " Earl Courtney Jr. says the United States government is National's biggest vitamin customer. The government buys all over the world for its commissaries. The Aloe Vera had cream is especially popular with the military, he says.

    National vitamins also sells internationally to such countries as Japan, Taiwan, South America and South Korea. The company manufactures 600 different formulas of multiple vitamins, vitamins and herbal supplements.

    National sells vitamins to retail outlets under the trade name Nature's Blend. Vitamins sold at the factory in Las Vegas are marketed exclusively under the brand name Life-Line.

    "We average between 150 and 200 visitors a day," Earl Courtney Jr. says. "We've especially receive a lot of calls from school groups."

    The Las Vegas factory cost $10 million to build. Currently, 70 people are employed, but the Courtneys say this number will increase to 125 soon.

    The Las Vegas facility is doing approximately $800,000 a month in sales. That number is expected to hit the $25 million mark within three years, Earl Courtney Jr. says.

    National's factory in Porterville, Calif., is larger at 110,000 square feet, but it doesn't offer tours, Earl Courtney Jr. says.

    "I'm glad we set up for people to see how vitamins are made," he says. "This way they get an opportunity to see first hand the process.

    The Las Vegas factory, he points out, is producing anywhere from 2 to 3 million capsules of vitamin E a day.

    "As more studies come out, vitamins are becoming widely accepted," Earl Courtney Jr. says. "The fresher the product, the more apt you are to get the nutrients. That's why it's better to have vitamins made here."

    The National Vitamin Co. is open from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday and 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

    For more information contact: National Vitamin Co., 7440 S. Industrial Road, Suite 210, Las Vegas, NV. 89139. Phone: (702) 269-9600. Fax: (702) 614-0262.

    Web site: www.nationalvitamin.com.