Upplement | Meet The Maker

This is part of uOpen’s ‘Meet The Maker’ interview series - your exclusive opportunity to get to know the real people and personalities behind the subscription boxes you know and love, and the ones you will soon come to!

Discover the fascinating stories behind how your favourite subscriptions originally came to be, the marvellous people involved in lovingly creating and curating each box, plus a few ‘behind the scenes’ snaps.

What sparked your decision to start up your box and how did you get started?

It all started with an operation I had, which was going to limit my food intake for a while, and I was concerned about nutritional deficiencies. Reading about (horrible) potential side effects like hair loss, illness and mood swings, I wanted to, of course, avoid that as much as possible.

We all know there's nothing more important than a healthy diet, but since that would be difficult for me, I looked to supplements to avoid deficiencies. But then where do you start?

I started researching myself, which was confusing and it was overwhelming. Just try searching 'supplements' online and there are a gazillion results. Each article contradicts the next, each magazine has its own viewpoint, and every week there is a new hyped miracle cure. I just wanted someone to tell me 'This is what you need to take to cover the bases'.  

At the time I was in a very challenging corporate job, with a big team, working day and night, lacking the time or patience to sort it out. In the end I paid a lot of money to see a specialist, who told me exactly what I should be taking. Feeling great, armed with my list of "essential" nutrients, I went to a health store, but there it gets much more confusing, as there are thousands of different bottles and hundreds of versions of each supplement.

I ended up with an overflowing pile of bottles, jars, sachets, and powders, and began manually preparing my daily mix. I had to double up some pills and chop others in half to meet my daily requirements.

After 2 weeks, one of the pots ran out. Then one of the other supplements made me nauseous and needed to be swapped. Then a different pot runs out and requires a trip to the shop all over again. It was a logistical nightmare. After 3 weeks I gave up - surely there is an easier solution to this. The idea for Upplement was born.

That's where my journey started. I became a certified advanced dietary supplement advisor and nutritional therapist. I discovered it's quite shocking what some companies get away with, the ingredients they use and their origin.

Aiming to be as clear and simple as possible, we combined EU guidelines with scientific research, cutting through the marketing hot air. We stripped everything that's not necessary to get to the core, together with GPs and dieticians.

Our health-defining Protocols are a quick and easy framework, giving you exactly what you need, each day. Every month, a box full of ready-to-go daily packets will magically appear in your letterbox. Just grab a daily pack on the way out of the door, pop them in your bag or just keep in your desk drawer at work. Supplements, simplified!

Describe your box in three words?

Convenient, premium, science-based.

Where did your box name come from?

We're removing everything (non-essential) we can to make the experience as easy and simple as possible, even the 'S' from Supplement! #SupplementsSimplified #Upplement

Are you a creator or curator?

Creator.

What was your most popular box?

Balance Protocol.

How many people are involved with producing your subscription box?

Our suppliers are all based in Europe (this was important for us, as the dietary supplement industry is highly regulated here, so traceability and transparency is much easier). So unsure how many people are involved with the actual manufacturing of the supplements at source, but here in London, about 3 people are involved with the production of the packets and box.

Which subscription boxes do you subscribe to?

Hotel Chocolat’s Discovery Box :)

Name a celebrity subscriber you’d love to have as a customer?

Meghan Markle 💅

If you could put anything in your box, with money or scarcity no object, what would it be?

It's challenging for everyone to create new habits, and since consistency is key when taking dietary supplements, I'd have some sort of artificially intelligent personal trainer build. This would make sure everyone would take their daily vitamin packets without error! Not sure what that would look like though!