Al Licata, Ph.D., Founder, World Organic Corp. An early pioneer in the industry, Dr. Licata was a retailer, manufacturer, wholesaler, and for a time owned stock in a distributor. He became successful and well-known in the natural food industry, serving on the national Board of Directors for the NNFA. Al established the first budget for the association, was Convention Chairman, and served as liaison to the California FDA.
Dr. Licata also served as President of the Golden West Nutritional Foods Association (largest NNFA regional). They would often have 400 to 500 people at their meetings and one day table top shows. He was also the President his regional National Health Federation chapter. For a time, Al was also a stockholder and on the Board of Directors of Nature’s Best Distributors. And he counted such well-known industry leaders as Jack LaLanne, Carlton Fredricks, Gaylord Hauser, Bernard Jensen, and many more as friends.
In 1969, Dr. Licata started World Organic Corp. to sell his Liquid Chlorophyll and many of his private label products nationwide. He brought in his brother Vincent Licata, and the two of them were together for many national and regional trade shows. World Organic is best known for selling America’s Premier Chlorophyll.
Dr. Licata grew his single health food store into a small chain of five stores in Southern California called Licata’s California Nutrition Centers. Early on in 1960, he started his own private-label line of vitamins called “Nutri-Cal,” and formulated many of the items. They were Al’s specialties, and before long other laboratories copied them. His Liquid Chlorophyll was originally under the Nutri-Cal brand. Many of his original formulas are now standards in the industry.
Dr. Licata's stores, with his private label and strategic purchasing, had gross margins of 65-70%. Al would buy in large quantities himself, once partnered with Trader Joe’s on 40,000 pounds of Psyllium, and even bought all the peanut butter in Norganic’s warehouse just before peanut prices went up in the 1970s. One of Al's “firsts” was designing a “cool room” in his stores where customers could walk in a refrigerated room containing produce, flours, grains and nuts to keep them fresh.
In 1972 as World Organic expanded, Dr. Licata designed and built Winning Laboratories to manufacture vitamins. To garner business, he gave some stock to a salesman and some to the chemist. Unfortunately, the salesmen, he found out later, conspired to push Dr. Licata out. He even received threatening calls to burn and harm his stores and family, so the FBI tapped his phones while police kept the latter under surveillance. He then sold the lab to Revco Drug Stores (900 stores at the time), but was at peace.
Ever the family man, one of the Licata family's yearly highlights was attending the NNFA conventions around the U.S.
By the late 1980s, Dr. Licata was selling more outside his stores than in them, and closed most of the locations. In 1991, he bought two wholesale companies, Nature’s Concept and Vita-Vista, which also sold private label supplements. With his son Paul as President, they increased the lines from 69 to now well over 350 stock Private Label supplements under the Licata Enterprise banner.
Licata Enterprise provides private label supplements to some of the largest and smallest stores and companies in the industry. They have five brands as well: Nature’s Concept, Vita-Vista, Nu-Vista (professional line), Setebaid and Fiesta Nutricion bilingual label.
Dr. Licata thus ran two companies: World Organic sold through distributors, and Licata Enterprises sold direct. He formulated many unique formulas and counseled hundreds of customers in nutrition. He also received a Ph.D. in Nutrition; the program while rigorous was not accredited. Al would still come into the office the last couple of few years, and even in the hospital before his passing was discussing new formula ideas and production with his son Paul.
Dr. Licata was active in other areas as well. He and his brother Paul Licata, M.D., built two industrial buildings. Al helped form the Opera Pacific Foundation in Orange County. Then, Dr. Donald Verleur tapped him as Treasurer on the Olive Crest Board of Directors. Olive Crest is a non-profit preventing child abuse and restoring children and families in crisis. Later he was involved in building two small hydroelectric plants.
Al's love for nature began when he received his degree in Geometra in Italy. This combines agronomy (agricultural engineering) and land surveying and building. With all his chemistry, biology and agricultural courses, he came to appreciate the element Chlorophyll and its effect on plants and the human body. This would later translate into his selling Liquid Chlorophyll.
He received his Ph.D. in Economics and Commerce at the University of Palermo, Italy, one of the oldest Universities in Europe. For a time, he assessed property for taxation around the Agrigento, Sicily, Italy region. Growing up in Italy, a fun fact is during high school in Rome, he used to take a short cut through the Colosseum on the way to school! He came to America in 1946 to be with the rest of his family.
A proud family man, he was married for 68 years to his wife Carmela until she passed after an accident in 2019. Carmela would help Al prepare and type the in-store sales flyers, substituted in the stores, and worked in the company office until she passed.
Al was a member of Calvary Church Santa Ana for some 40 years, and served in many capacities in his former church Trinity Baptist. He was also a member of The Gideon’s. He is remembered for his smile, generous nature, and a keen business man who always kept God first.
Al is survived by brother Paul, son Paul (wife Sandi), David, grandchildren Julie, Andrea, and Allison, and great grandchildren, Charlie, Raegan, Avalina and Killian. Raegan was born just two weeks after his passing.
