Category to Watch: Women’s Health
By Heather Granato, President, Women In Nutraceuticals (WIN) & President, Nutrachievement Inc.
Heather Granato, President, Women In Nutraceuticals (WIN) & President, Nutrachievement Inc. From a broader business perspective, we also see an increasing backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, with critics counterintuitively claiming these efforts create an unfair playing field and promote discrimination. McKinsey reported in 2024, only 78% of companies said gender diversity was a high priority, down from 87% just five years earlier; further, formal mentorship programs for women are on the decline, and progress is stagnant in the management pipeline, with only 81 women promoted to manager for every 100 men.
While in times of change, it can be tempting to hunker down and do things the way they’ve always been done, data on company performance makes this approach short-sighted. Women-led and -owned companies tend to have improved business performance, rising stock prices, and more engaged and satisfied employees. The opportunity, therefore, is to expand the way we think and who is at the table, embracing a mindset of abundance and opportunity. Companies across the nutraceutical industry can consider ways to de-bias the hiring and promotions process, and inspire employees and managers to practice allyship and build an inclusive culture.
We’re seeing tremendous innovation in product development, creative marketing campaigns, and more investment in science in female populations. Companies are utilizing machine learning and applying AI to large data sets to support the development of new products and target new markets. Developing more inclusive, gender-balanced teams will drive business forward, ensuring we not only deliver efficacious, safe products to our consumers, but also that our industry becomes a powerful example of the benefits that accrue when women are fairly represented from the C-suite to the lab.
