#098: Nate Frazier & Ken Huntly - Why GNC? Strategy and Partnerships in 2023

Jun 5, 2023

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https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/nate-frazier-ken-huntly-gnc-2023-098

At the 2023 GNC Franchise Convention, Team PricePlow was a guest of Kaged’s, and Ben had a quick moment to talk with Nate Frazier (Chief Operating Officer) and Ken Huntly (VP of Sports Nutrition) to talk about GNC’s partnerships and strategies in 2023 and beyond.

This is a continuation of Episode #097 with Kaged’s Aaron Heidebreicht, where the men explore why a premium brand like Kaged needs to partner with GNC.

In this episode, Nate explains GNC’s emergence from the murky time period of 2020 through 2022, which faced challenge after challenge. They discuss the retailer’s focus on education, and how they’ve improved their sales culture to ensure quality customer experiences.

Ken then discusses what he’s looking for in new sports nutrition brands, and why Kaged checks every box, which paves the way for Kaged’s late summer 2023 launch of 27 new SKUs into GNC. The focus then shifts to Beyond Raw, the highly-innovative brand owned and run by GNC that ensures quality, standout ingredients inside.

Finally, GNC is approaching its 90th birthday, and is planning to be here another 90 years, so their strategy has to maintain a long-term outlook. This includes some expansion into product categories like longevity, and not just sports and diet that the retailer is so well-known for.

Listen and subscribe on your favorite podcast app or watch below on YouTube – we have much more incredible content coming:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyGuERKaOrQ

This is Part 2 of 2 episodes at the 2023 GNC Franchise Convention, where Team PricePlow attended as a guest of Kaged. Part 1 can be found in Episode #097, but is not required to understand this episode.

(0:00) – Introductions
(0:30) – Why GNC?
(2:10) – GNC emerges from the chaos of 2020/2021
(5:10) – Live Well
(5:45) – GNC’s Selling Culture
(9:20) – Education in the Supplement Industry
(12:00) – Partnerships: What does GNC look for in a partner?
(13:15) – Innovation
(16:15) – What does GNC want the industry to see?
(18:45) – Safety in Dietary Supplements
(21:15) – GNC’s importance in the industry

Thanks to Kaged and GNC for having Team PricePlow at the 2023 Franchise Convention! This was part 2 of 2 – if you haven’t done so already, head back to Episode #097 with Aaron Heidebreicht and Darin Decker of Kaged.

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