2013 Business Class Honoree: National Enzyme Co. Inc.

In 1979, when now-President and CEO Anthony Collier took a second mortgage on his home to buy National Enzyme Co. Inc. from Dr. Edward Howell, group exercise fads were gaining prominence, Dexatrim was a breakthrough drug and health food was still a fringe movement.

Founded by “Doc” Howell in Chicago in 1932, NEC is the oldest enzyme company in the U.S., holding approximately 80 percent of the global enzyme market. Nestled on Highway 160 in Forsyth, just 500 yards from Lake Taneycomo, the company’s picturesque setting mirrors its position as a worldwide industry leader.  However, Collier says in today’s over-processed landscape of convenience food, their success is indicative of a widespread dietary problem.

“Enzymes are catalysts – what ‘Doc’ always called the ‘manual workers of the biological world’— doing the heavy lifting of breaking down the food we eat,” Collier says. “They naturally occur in most all foods, but he discovered that the then-new practice of pasteurization was killing the enzymes.”

While all modern processed food is subject to such heat, enzyme deficiency is also increased by the agricultural practice of engineering enzymes out of produce lines to increase shelflife. Currently, Collier says, only fruits and vegetables grown from heirloom seeds are likely to retain natural enzymes.

Today, the company that was launched with three employees continues to specialize in nutritional supplements for humans and livestock, creating custom enzyme formulas sold to manufacturers of private label nutritional supplements in 42 countries.“That’s 99 percent of our business – it’s what we do,” says Collier. “We make specialized formulas for each of those companies, but you will not see a National Enzyme Co. label on any shelf, anywhere. I changed that approach when I took over the company.”  

A disciple of the Henry Ford management philosophy, Collier has used that and other changes to grow the company to an international name in the nutritional supplement industry. With 112 local employees, the company has been named a five-time Exporter of the Year by the Missouri Department of Agriculture. Leveraging their inclusion in the proprietary formulas of 300 products sold under 46 brand labels – including General Nutrition Center products and Now Foods – NEC’s three-year growth has averaged a healthy 9.5 percent.

Despite global reach, NEC remains at its heart a locally rooted company, supporting a wide variety of charities through the company-based foundation Gift of Hope. Founded in 1989, employees raised $700,000 that first year to adopt a family at Christmas time. The foundation is now supported through regular payroll deductions[[In-content Ad]]