The right team, products, plans: Health Asure Inc. (H&BA Vendor Outlook 2002).

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. -Health Asure Inc. is building its presence in the highly competitive oral care and nutritional supplement markets with both new and established products.

Incorporated in March 2001, Health Asure was formed when its parent company Nature's Products Inc. acquired the assets of Breath Asure Inc., adding to its established line of dietary supplements BreathAsure's oral care products: MintAsure Mint Coated Capsules, OraBlast Chewy MegaMints and BreathAsure Dental Gum.

The company says that the combination of Nature's Products' manufacturing capabilities with Breath Asure's distribution network and branding expertise is creating beneficial new synergies. Evidence of that is the current launch of their new HealthAsure Bear Essentials Children's Gummi Bear Vitamins.

The product's two SKUs, Multi Vitamin and Vitamin C formulas, are gaining distribution at food, drug and mass channels, as well as at health food stores. Backed by trade and consumer advertising as well as retail promotional programs, the gummi bear vitamins are providing the HealthAsure brand valuable exposure in the Nutritionals category.

But the mainstay of the company is still MintAsure Mint Coated Capsules, the second generation of the BreathAsure Original Capsule.

The original product was developed by a husband and wife team that loved garlicky foods but could not find an effective breath freshener to kill the garlic breath. After developing a solution, they found nothing like it on the market, and so decided to start a business with the capsules in 1992.

BreathAsure established its popularity through direct response and health food store distribution before rolling out to the mass retail market. The company's advertising and public relations ...