NNB Nutrition’s Pure, Potent, Precise Revolution: Shawn Wells & Dustin Elliott at SupplySide Global 2025

Shawn Wells and Dustin Elliott reveal NNB Nutrition’s Pure, Potent, Precise revolution at SupplySide Global 2025, discussing precision fermentation, Pürest Creatine, OnSwitch beverage innovation, and the future of pharmaceutical-grade supplement ingredients on Episode #192 of the PricePlow Podcast.

0:00 – Introduction and Mike’s Party Foul

Mike welcomes Shawn Wells and Dustin Elliott back to the podcast, noting it’s been about 35 episodes since their last appearance on Episode #152. Right as Mike attempts to open an OnSwitch beverage one-handed while holding the microphone, disaster strikes. The can spills across NNB’s booth, prompting Dustin to call out “Watch the audio equipment!” and Shawn to declare the first “party foul” of the recording. The beverage mishap becomes an unintentional but perfect introduction to OnSwitch, NNB’s collaborative concept drink featuring MitoBurn, enfinity Paraxanthine, and other cutting-edge ingredients in a mind-body resilience formula.

1:15 – SupplySide Global 2025 and Industry Growth

The conversation kicks off with reflections on how dramatically the supplement industry has expanded. Shawn notes that when he entered the industry 20-25 years ago, he never imagined it would reach its current scale. SupplySide West became SupplySide Global, now spanning multiple floors with massive booths representing billions of dollars in the supplement economy. Ben shares his own growth journey, recalling his first lonely SupplySide appearance where Mike set up meetings for him, contrasting it with today where people are requesting meetings with NNB and collaborative projects are flourishing.

3:45 – The NNB Party: Validation and Networking

Discussion turns to NNB’s first major industry party held Tuesday night before SupplySide officially kicked off. Dustin explains the party served as validation for how far NNB has come and what they mean to the industry. With venue capacity capped at 145 people, they were devastated to turn away dozens who wanted to attend. The event featured three new ingredient launches, giveaways of OnSwitch for people to be first to try, and premium hoodies that generated significant buzz. The party wasn’t just celebration but strategic networking, with attendees including a lead product developer from Coca-Cola who walked away with 20-30 contacts and immediately wanted to use multiple NNB ingredients.

6:45 – Building the NNB Dream Team

Shawn reflects on NNB’s strategic team building. He’s always had cool ideas for ingredients but needed Kylin and the science team to make them real through manufacturing, factories, and capital investment. When that foundation was established, Dustin was brought on to provide branding, marketing, positioning, and cohesive brand identity that “set fire to the gasoline” of NNB’s potential. Most recently, Blake Stanhouse joined as VP of Regulatory to ensure global compliance, proper GRAS status, patent protection, and defense against Chinese copycats. Each hire addresses specific growth bottlenecks, allowing NNB to scale while maintaining pharmaceutical-grade standards.

9:45 – OnSwitch: The Mind-Body Resilience Formula

NNB Nutrition is showcasing something big at SupplySide Global. Their new OnSwitch concept takes the “Mind & Body” approach with a massive 1500mg dose of MitoBurn L-BAIBA plus premium nootropics. This isn’t just another energy drink concept.

Dustin explains OnSwitch’s unique positioning. Initially conceived as an energy drink, the formulation evolved when they realized MitoBurn’s emerging wellness data from preclinical studies and UK-government-sponsored research on cirrhosis patients. MitoBurn is extraordinarily soluble at 737 grams per liter, allowing massive doses without affecting flavor or stability. This led to repositioning OnSwitch beyond energy as a lifestyle wellness resilience beverage that uplifts all aspects of the body. Shawn coined the tagline “mind-body resilience” to capture this holistic approach that combines energy, nootropic benefits, adaptogenic properties, and thermogenic effects in one comprehensive formula.

12:15 – The Birth of Pure Potent Precise

Mike notes that Episode #152 predated the Pure Potent Precise campaign. Dustin details the philosophy’s origins, contrasting NNB’s approach with the commodity ingredient treadmill where companies find three random herbs in Chinese or Ayurvedic medicine books, combine them, run a study versus placebo, and trademark the result. The Pure Potent Precise framework emerged from deeper strategic thinking about what truly differentiates premium ingredients.

Purity means removing extraneous plant constituents to isolate the active compound, eliminating lot-to-lot variability that plagues herbal extracts. A formulator can add other synergistic ingredients intentionally rather than hoping mystery constituents in an herb provide entourage effects.

15:45 – Potency: Reaching New Performance Levels

The Potent component addresses pharmaceutical-level dosing and manufacturing. NNB’s precision fermentation creates ingredients often under 100 milligrams that deliver what previously required four to five pills of whole herb extracts. Dustin emphasizes this isn’t just about smaller doses for sustainability… supplements formulated with NNB ingredients tomorrow will be objectively stronger than anything in the industry previously.

Tired of collagen that smells fishy or tastes off? NNB Nutrition’s Pürest Collagen solves batch inconsistency with DNA-verified grass-fed bovine sourcing, membrane filtration, and objective e-tongue testing.

Examples include 20mg of SalidroPure providing effects that require grams of Rhodiola rosea, or microdoses of compounds delivering unprecedented efficacy through pharmaceutical-grade purity and concentration.

18:00 – Precision: Eliminating the Noise

Precision solves the consistency crisis plaguing herbal supplements. Current COAs and specifications don’t reveal all constituents in herbs being ordered. With large enough quantities, powder color varies, texture changes, and consumers report different effects from the same ingredient across batches or brands. Genetic variations in response to herbs add another confounding factor. NNB’s isolated compounds eliminate this noise through perfect consistency batch-to-batch, allowing formulators to know exactly how ingredients will perform every time. When working with 20X concentrated compounds, how much do trace constituents really matter versus having complete control over the primary active?

21:45 – 6-Paradol vs Whole Grains of Paradise

Ben brings up an important formulator perspective on NNB’s transition from CaloriBurn GP (grains of paradise extract) to isolated 6-paradol. Years ago, NNB and PricePlow promoted CaloriBurn’s entourage effect benefits over generic grains of paradise. Now NNB offers pure 6-paradol through precision fermentation. Ben frames both as valuable tools giving formulators choice. Shawn explains that testing revealed some constituents potentially responsible for grains of paradise side effects, particularly GI distress. 6-paradol showed the least toxicity, highest achievable GRAS status, and minimal digestive issues. At effective doses, 6-paradol will actually be cheaper than whole grains of paradise while offering superior tolerability.

24:30 – The SalidroPure Success Story

Wild Rhodiola now protected by CITES – NNB Nutrition launches SalidroPURE as sustainable alternative, delivering pure salidroside through precision fermentation. The future of adaptogenic supplementation has arrived.

Mike highlights SalidroPure as the perfect stepping stone into Pure Potent Precise. Research always focused on salidroside as Rhodiola rosea’s key active, not the rosavin that was easier to extract. NNB’s ability to isolate salidroside at 90-98X concentration versus standard Rhodiola addresses what the science actually supports. When Rhodiola crenulata got added to the CITES endangered species list, NNB had already positioned the superior isolated compound. The ingredient became a proof of concept that pharmaceutical-grade isolation delivers better results than hoping whole plant matrices contain optimal ratios.

27:30 – Strategic Phase-Out of Non-Pure Compounds

Shawn clarifies NNB’s transition strategy. CaloriBurn (grains of paradise) remains available for existing customers but won’t be actively promoted going forward. The company is doubling down on pure compounds through the Pürest line and precision-fermented ingredients. Some synthetic ingredients remain in the portfolio at current manufacturing stages, but NNB is investing millions and years into developing fermentation processes for everything. The goal is completely vegan-friendly, solvent-free, toxin-free production that eliminates the environmental and purity concerns of traditional synthetic chemistry while achieving pharmaceutical-grade specifications.

29:00 – MitoBurn and Ergothioneine: Proof of Cost Efficiency

Discussion turns to how increased production volume drives down costs for fermented ingredients. Dustin notes that since joining NNB, ergothioneine prices have nearly halved simply from manufacturing efficiency improvements as volume grows. The more companies buy, the cheaper fermented ingredients become. Shawn adds that early adopter brands like Jeff Long’s companies used proper 1,500mg doses of MitoBurn years ago when it was expensive, demonstrating commitment to efficacy over cost savings. Those pioneers helped prove the market and drive volume that now makes these doses accessible to more brands.

30:45 – The Spaceship Booth: Differentiation and Brand

Walk into any GNC or Vitamin Shoppe and you’ll see the supplement revolution in action. NNB Nutrition’s ingredients like MitoBurn and CaloriBurn are now in bestselling products across the shelves. The era of fairy dusting is over -– educated consumers demanded better, and they got it.

Dustin discusses NNB’s booth transformation. Coming from sports nutrition branding, he brought in a booth designer from his Hardcore Sports days to build something resembling a spaceship rather than standard supplier booths. The design prioritizes technological advancement messaging with dramatic “X” multipliers showing ingredient potency around the exterior. Instead of lengthy text, bold graphics proclaim “Genius. Pure. Doubling Your Focus” and “Salidroside 90-98X” versus standard Rhodiola. The aesthetic resembles a premium sneaker or apparel company rather than typical raw material distributors, intentionally differentiating NNB in a crowded marketplace.

33:00 – The Podcast Room and Booth Functionality

Ben provides context on booth design strategy for listeners. The exterior broadcasts innovation to thousands walking by, with the eye-catching spaceship design and prime location between ADM and Cargill. Inside, a private podcast room features a green screen wall showing capabilities like liposomal technology, bead technology, and particle size modification that aren’t externally advertised. This private space allows high-end vendor meetings to explore customization possibilities beyond NNB’s flagship ingredients. The booth serves as both attraction and comprehensive business development center.

35:15 – Location Strategy: Learning and Evolving

Shawn explains NNB’s booth location evolution. Last year they occupied the very first booth by the entrance, giving away all their cans on day one from the zombie rush of attendees. This year they moved to a centrally-located 30×30 space between industry giants ADM and Cargill, drawing serious buyers who can write million-dollar checks. The new position balances visibility with quality traffic. Next year expands to 40×40, with plans for a 50×50 front-entrance booth by 2027. The company has doubled revenue year-over-year, and booth size reflects that aggressive growth trajectory.

37:45 – Cold Approaches from Major Retailers

Dustin shares a validation moment from the show. One of America’s largest supplement retailers, who’d never previously contacted NNB or used their ingredients, had their head of procurement stop cold at the booth purely because of its central location and striking appearance. Reading the exterior messaging, they immediately wanted three specific ingredients. The booth design and strategic placement are generating business development opportunities beyond NNB’s existing network, proving the investment in premium presence pays dividends in market access.

38:30 – Pürest Creatine: Disrupting a Commodity Market

NNB Nutrition’s Pürest Creatine achieves “not detected” levels for nasty contaminants like DHT and DCD that plague generic creatine — at nearly half the price of other premium sources. Finally, clean creatine that won’t break your budget.

The conversation shifts to Pürest Creatine. Shawn explains NNB’s strategy of never being commodity ingredient suppliers. With creatine having its moment and everyone recognizing its benefits, NNB saw an opportunity. Chinese creatine costs $4-5 per kilo with significant DCD, heavy metals, creatinine, and solvent contamination. German creatine costs $20-25 per kilo with six-month lead times. NNB aimed to exceed German quality by measurable margins, far surpass Chinese quality, and price under $10 per kilo to disrupt the market. The Pürest line creates a halo effect lifting all NNB ingredients toward gold-standard quality expectations.

40:45 – The Safety Question: Yesterday’s Data vs Tomorrow’s Quality

Dustin raises a controversial question about creatine safety. Current safety studies used specific manufacturing lots under controlled conditions. As creatine demand explodes, are consumers and brands using those same quality lots, or are they spot-buying from rotating manufacturers in a race to find cheapest pricing? As manufacturing accelerates to meet demand and drying processes speed up for cost reduction, contamination levels like creatinine, DCD, and DHT may increase. The question isn’t whether past creatine was safe, but whether tomorrow’s commodity creatine maintains that safety profile as the market experiences massive growth pressure.

43:15 – The Dose and Exposure Argument

Shawn reinforces the concern by noting increased dosing trends. Early athletes used 5g daily, but new cognitive function data has people taking up to 25g daily, creating tenfold exposure increases. If 5g at 96-98% purity means 200mg of “other stuff,” what happens at 25g doses? For older populations taking creatine for Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, or nursing home cognitive support, cumulative exposure to solvents and toxins becomes more concerning. This isn’t questioning creatine’s safety in principle but recognizing that manufacturing quality and user populations have both changed dramatically.

45:30 – Third-Party Testing Proposal

Ben advocates for rigorous third-party testing of commodity creatine sources to validate NNB’s concerns. While he acknowledges many reputable companies source quality creatine and perform due diligence, establishing baseline data on Chinese commodity sources would substantiate the need for premium options. Dustin agrees NNB has comparison data versus other Chinese and German suppliers showing Pürest exceeds specifications, but comprehensive third-party analysis from an independent nonprofit would add significant credibility to the quality gap argument and help consumers make informed decisions.

48:30 – Total Toxin Exposure Philosophy

Shawn Wells and Dustin Elliott of NNB Nutrition join the PricePlow Podcast for Episode #152 to discuss innovative ingredients that capture ongoing trends like GLP-1 and MPS. We also get into Dustin’s trip to China, NNB’s participation in XPO NRG with MitoPrime, and Shawn’s psychedelic experiences and his post-trip supplement stack.

The discussion expands to environmental toxins broadly. Shawn frames creatine quality within his personal philosophy of limiting total exposure to endocrine disruptors, phytoestrogens, metalloestrogens, microplastics, nanoplastics, and EMFs. Individually, switching from Teflon to stainless steel pans or eliminating fragrance in deodorant might seem insignificant. Collectively, reducing exposure across all sources becomes meaningful. Solvents in synthetic ingredient processing, even at small residue levels, add up when consuming 100 capsules daily as supplement enthusiasts do. Fermentation eliminates these concerns entirely through biological production without starter materials or solvents.

50:00 – Fermentation: The Clean Manufacturing Future

Shawn details why NNB invests heavily in precision fermentation despite its complexity and cost. Synthetic processes leave solvent residues as artifacts. Fermentation uses genetically modified bacteria fed with sugar to produce target compounds through entirely biological pathways. The result is vegan-friendly, environmentally clean production with zero solvents, zero residues, and zero synthetic toxins. As demonstrated by the two Helaina episodes on lactoferrin (#167 with Laura Katz and #180 with Dan Demarino and Anthony Clark), fermentation requires millions in investment and years of development to achieve commercial scale, but represents the ultimate purity solution NNB is working toward across their portfolio.

52:30 – Microplastics: The Inescapable Contamination

Conversation turns to microplastic ubiquity. Shawn shares his frustration researching elimination strategies. Plastic bottles are obvious, but cans are plastic-lined. Cardboard water containers are plastic-lined. Glass bottles with painted lids can be 50X worse than plastic bottles for contamination. BPA-free alternatives like BPS are actually worse. Municipal water arrives through PVC pipes high in PFAS. Even supplements in plastic containers contribute. Ben notes consumer testing showing Topo Chico glass bottles had among the highest microplastic concentrations, likely from manufacturing processes and painted lids despite the glass packaging.

54:45 – Blood Donation for Heavy Metal and Microplastics Reduction

Mike mentions therapeutic phlebotomy and blood donation as practical strategies for reducing accumulated heavy metals and potentially microplastics. The conversation acknowledges that TRT users donating blood regularly may inadvertently benefit from toxin clearance.

Shawn notes Bryan Johnson has demonstrated measurable reductions in plastic exposure through systematic elimination strategies, proving improvement is possible even if perfection isn’t. The discussion closes on the importance of doing what’s controllable while recognizing environmental toxin exposure is one more reason to demand pharmaceutical-grade ingredients in supplements taken daily.