High expectations for the dietary supplement industry, driven by confidence in the CRN team and the commitment of member companies
Steve Mister President & CEO
With nearly two decades of experience at the helm of CRN, Steve Mister fully appreciates how challenging the last year has been for CRN’s members. After two years of unprecedented surges in sales and revenues, partially attributable to consumer response to the pandemic, the economic picture recalibrated to a decidedly less robust expansion in 2023, inspiring a reshuffling of priorities, forecasts, and expectations.
For his part, Mister’s expectations remain right where they always have been: high. He says that despite all of the regulatory challenges facing the industry—from drug preclusion, to state age-restriction bills, to FDA’s reorganization efforts—CRN members will successfully navigate through the choppy waters ahead. He points to both the association’s staff and the members deep commitment to improving consumer health as the sources of his confidence.
“Make no mistake, the industry is in a precarious place right now—there are issues that could go south very quickly,” says Mister. “But we have navigated difficult issues in the past, and it’s times like these, when the value of CRN is most evident, when a strong, unified voice is perhaps all that stands between a bust and a boom. This voice has never been stronger when I consider the team we have in place right now here at CRN.”
Mister says small and big companies alike should regard their membership as an insurance policy or retirement savings—investments made day to day to assure a brighter long-term future. “As we always do, CRN is addressing these threats with judicious, carefully calculated responses. Our behind-the-scenes efforts don’t always grab headlines, but they produce results for our members.” He says the combined expertise and ‘depth of bench’ from the staff team gives CRN the edge. CRN staff appreciate the history, culture and market forces at play and the dynamics of which tactics are likely to succeed. And he credits a dedicated Board of Directors for guiding these policy decisions.
“The supplement industry is facing formidable threats,” Mister says. “Going it alone, or with another association that doesn’t understand the space like we do, is a risk serious, profit-driven companies should not take.”