363 - Creating a Category Leader: The Absorption Company's Rise to Erewhon's #1 Functional Health Brand

8 snips

Oct 21, 2025

Zeke Bronfman, co-founder and CEO of The Absorption Company, dives into creating a leading supplement brand focused on bioavailability. He shares how his background in health entrepreneurship guided the founding of a company that optimizes nutrient absorption. Zeke reveals the success of their community-driven pre-launch strategy, leveraging celebrity co-founders while emphasizing the importance of direct-to-consumer subscriptions. He also discusses lessons in e-commerce, supply chain efficiency, and the upcoming innovative products that aim to triple growth.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Absorption Is The Real Supplement Problem

Most supplements fail because bodies absorb only ~16% of active nutrients.
Zeke argues the future question will be how many milligrams you actually absorb, not how many you take.

ANECDOTE

Founders United By Bloodwork Wake-Up Call

Zeke and co-founders met actors Ian and Nikki who had harmful results from poorly absorbing supplements.
They combined a patented absorption technology with branding and community to launch the company.

ADVICE

Use A Private Pre-Launch Community

Build a private pre-launch community to create exclusivity and retention.
Zeke accepted followers manually and sold out the pre-launch supply within 12 hours.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Zeke Bronfman is the co-founder and CEO of The Absorption Company, a brand pioneering highly bioavailable supplements engineered for optimal nutrient absorption. With a background in health and wellness entrepreneurship—including a previous successful beverage exit—Zeke leads a team on a mission to address a major gap in supplement efficacy by focusing on real, measurable impact for consumers.

In this episode of DTC Pod, Zeke details the journey of building The Absorption Company from inception to rapid retail success in outlets like Erewhon. He talks about the science behind absorption, launching with a powerful community-driven strategy, and the importance of brand-led product innovation. Zeke also offers practical advice on supply chain management, leveraging celebrity co-founders, and lessons learned about optimizing e-commerce for long-term growth.

Episode brought to you by Stord

Interact with other DTC experts and access our monthly fireside chats with industry leaders on DTC Pod Slack.

On this episode of DTC Pod, we cover:
1. The founding story of The Absorption Company
2. Why most supplements fail—and how absorption is the next frontier
3. Creating a viral pre-launch private Instagram community
4. Setting a brand apart with science-backed, lifestyle-driven design
5. Early product development and MVP lessons
6. Direct-to-consumer subscription as a growth engine
7. Amazon, TikTok Shop, and the online channel mix
8. The strategic approach to selective retail partnerships
9. Managing the supply chain: co-packers, fulfillment, and scaling ops
10. How to keep operations simple, resilient, and cost-effective
11. Lessons in traffic acquisition: organic, paid, and influencer mix
12. Celebrity founder advantages, limits, and effective deployment
13. Funding, initial capital requirements, and brand investment
14. Biggest founder learnings and operational takeaways
15. What’s ahead: innovation pipeline and future growth

Timestamps
00:00 Intro to Zeke Bronfman and The Absorption Company
02:44 The absorption problem in supplements
04:40 Why bioavailability is the future of wellness supplements
06:11 Bringing the brand to life: Team, tech, and community-building
07:47 The private Instagram launch strategy and viral pre-sale
09:27 The power of exclusivity and early consumer engagement
11:12 Product MVP and standout branding decisions
13:26 Early sales strategy: DTC, Amazon, retail mix
15:04 Why big-box retail isn’t always the right move
17:57 Scaling DTC: Subscription, platform choices, and LTV
19:04 Driving traffic: Paid, organic, influencer, and celebrity co-founder impact
20:38 TikTok Shop: Affiliate, Live, and what works (and doesn’t)
22:36 Capital, startup costs, and launching with impact
25:32 Building a scalable supply chain and minimizing complexity
27:25 Fulfillment operations and splitting inventory
29:00 Entering boutique/strategic retail as a marketing lever
30:52 Biggest learnings and missteps scaling Absorption Company
33:13 Lessons using celebrity/influencer as a brand amplifier
36:10 What’s next: Upcoming innovations and business growth
36:50 Where to follow Absorption Company

Show notes powered by Castmagic

Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.

Additional episodes you might like:

• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth

• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content

• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views

• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands

• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook

• #243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands

-----
Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?
Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you.

Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?
Check out our newsletter here.

Projects the DTC Pod team is working on:
DTCetc - all our favorite brands on the internet
Olivea - the extra virgin olive oil & hydroxytyrosol supplement
Castmagic - AI Workspace for Content

DTCPod Instagram
DTCPod Twitter
DTCPod TikTok

Ezekiel Bronfman - Co-Founder and CEO of The Absorption Company
Blaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Castmagic
Ramon Berrios - Co-Founder of Castmagic