Progress during a pandemic. For some international businesses, that might sound impossible. For Missouri-based BioZyme® Inc., that’s exactly what the year 2020 leading into 2021 meant. Growth in sales, improvements in facilities and increased efficiencies in production were just some of the ways that BioZyme measured its progress during the past year.
While most of the sales team was forced to cease travel, and the international team is still under lockdown, new technologies replaced face-to-face interactions. Zoom, Teams and FaceTime became regular business tools as the sales staff learned to rely more heavily on telecommunication to build and foster relationships when many of their customers were not ready for that face-to-face interaction. However, those methods of communication often meant they could meet with more people during the course of the day, saving drive time in between meetings, and that helped boost the company’s growth up into the double digits compared to the previous year.
“I always tease our sales team that people get married via the Internet never even meeting in-person many times or at least very few times and if you can build that serious of a relationship using the Internet, we should be able to do just as well with our customers. Why I believe those Internet relationships work is because people want them to work and because each person is relevant to the other,” said Lisa Norton, President and COO of BioZyme Inc. “Supporting our customers works exactly the same way when we choose to get involved with the same intent. I believe the reason we were able to grow during the pandemic is two-fold. We were as relevant as an Internet dating relationship, and we were blessed to be in an industry that is based on very hard-working resilient people who do not give up.”
In addition to growing sales by double digits in 2020, BioZyme also introduced new products to the marketplace relevant to a variety of species, while conducting research and preparing more product launches for early 2021. In 2020, two new HEAT products were introduced including VitaFerm Concept•Aid® 5/S HEAT® and DuraFerm® Sheep Concept•Aid® HEAT®. In addition, an economical line of beef cattle mineral that still contains Amaferm® and is ideal for maintenance, VitaFerm® Conserve™ was introduced. Sure Champ® Joint Juice a joint supplement powered by MHB3® Hyaluronan, the most highly researched and proven hyaluronic acid available, was developed to naturally support, promote and enhance joint and soft tissue health. Finally, the Vita Charge® Stress Tub was reformulated to include a heat-tolerant probiotic.
Sales growth has led to the need for foundational and physical growth, as well. At BioZyme’s world-headquarters in Saint Joseph, Missouri, a scheduled three-week plant shut down occurred allowing for time for intense upgrades. The significant plant improvements are making production, inventory, ordering and shipping more efficient for the 70-year-old company.
In addition, BioZyme’s sister company, Cogent Solutions Group based in Lexington, Kentucky, relocated to a more expansive facility in May, tripling its manufacturing footprint and doubling its production capacity. The move to a larger facility for Cogent increased batch volume capacity for increased efficiency. Since this move, with the proficiency to produce and package liquids and gels, all BioZyme small pack production moved to Cogent, allowing for BioZyme to increase its efficiencies as well.
“In 2020 and in 2021 we are committed to building infrastructure. This investment is for two reasons. Continuous quality improvement through automation and new technologies for industry impact. Both would be progress toward the future of our industry, which is going to be focused on doing more with less,” Norton said.
As BioZyme and its employees look to the future, they strive to provide, safe accurate products, not only domestically but internationally. The International Sales Team meets daily via earlier mentioned telecommunication tools to establish and build business relationships with the distribution partners it has with 31 countries across the globe. Establishing those partners, providing trainings and teaching about the precision based prebiotic Amaferm® is key to growing business while providing the best nutritional care possible to animals around the world.
“I push myself and our leadership team to annually create innovations that don’t forget that utilizing partnerships is the most responsible and sustainable way to do things. I believe true partnerships are the only way our industry will be successful in the environment that is being placed in front of us. These partnerships must lead to care that comes full circle or using the more popular phrase in the industry, success from farm to table. 2021 will be a big year for BioZyme as we are launching some very innovative solutions that can best be described as entrepreneurial. I always try to stay cognizant of the fact that many believe that entrepreneurship is crossing the fine line between crazy and genius, but I like to believe the best way to succeed is to understand that success lies in the journey (crazy or genius), not the destination,” Norton said.
Uncertainties remain as we move into 2021. For BioZyme Inc., those challenges become opportunities for growth, opportunities to expand a customer base and manufacture products for a diverse line of customers who want to provide the optimal animal nutrition to their livestock and companion animals. BioZyme is known for its supplement brands VitaFerm®, Sure Champ®, Vita Charge®, DuraFerm®, Vitalize®, and Backyard Boost®. The company also manufactures and markets Amaferm, the key additive in all its supplements.