Epycure was born from the desire to change the way we take care of ourselves. It will soon be 2 years that we have been developing formulas of plants, vitamins and minerals that are vegan, eco-responsible and above all, Made in France. Far from the taboo around “food supplements”, vitamins, plants and minerals are now proven to act on our health and well-being. Obviously, they do not act alone and must be combined with a varied and balanced diet, i.e. consumption of foods rich in nutrients.
Our goal from the start? Offer you products adapted to your needs, simple, effective, natural, French, that you can use with your eyes closed! As you know, we make a point of being 100% transparent about our formulas and ingredients. As our products are developed FOR you and WITH you, today, we want to go further, and tell you everything about the development of our products!
You are ready ? From the analysis of your needs to delivery to your mailboxes, we explain everything to you!
Your needs & desires
We need you !
The entire Epycure team is mobilizing to monitor your needs , current trends, market innovations, and essential seasonal products.
At the same time, to develop our products, we also, and above all, need you. This is why we put so much emphasis on you on our different networks! We ask you about the issues you want to address and the type of product you want. It's essential for us to start by listening to your needs.
This involves short questions, on our Instagram stories, about your current state of health, or through slightly more detailed questionnaires prepared by Hélène, our Research & Development manager, and Romain, our CRM manager. They write a complete Typeform questionnaire hand in hand to find out your main needs and your desires for formulas. It is then the turn of our Marketing Team to share the questionnaire on our different networks.
Once your answers are recorded, Hélène and the entire Marketing team analyze them in depth to understand what would help you improve on a daily basis and brainstorm on the format of the product to develop. At the end of this brainstorming, that's it, the development project is validated and the research can begin!
Our Research
It's not magic, it's science! ;)
Hélène goes in search of innovative and effective vitamins, plants and minerals. His priority? Offer you formulas that combine naturalness, effectiveness and pleasure , for maximum results! Each formula is designed, developed in-house and manufactured in our partner laboratories exclusively for you.
His research is organized around several stages:
- Research and sourcing of innovative, effective and local ingredients ;
- Search for scientific articles proving their effectiveness;
- Study of the advantages & disadvantages of different galenics (gummies, powder, capsule, chewable tablet, etc.) to choose the most suitable;
- Discussions with our partner laboratories to find the best dosages of active ingredients (based on age, gender, etc.);
- Study of the regulations in force: active ingredients authorized or not, dosages and claims, associated precautions for use (pregnant, breastfeeding women, children, etc.), etc.
From her initial research, Hélène selects a set of active ingredients that seem essential to develop a product with proven effectiveness, meeting your needs. It also validates the dosage form to be used to optimize the absorption of active ingredients by the body.
The development of our products naturally meets strict requirements. Hélène will prepare a brief to explain to subcontractors the product we want to develop. This brief brings together information concerning the formula and galenics of the new product but also the naturalness and effectiveness of the active ingredients, Made in France, the vegan side and eco-responsible packaging. Developing a product that brings together all our requirements is often a big challenge that we are happy to take on each time. We want to be proud of our formulas and that you like them as much as we do.
The Product Brief
To list our many requirements
Now is the time to contact our specialized partner laboratories and propose our project to them. Working with these subcontractors allows us to benefit from the know-how of experts. Hélène selects them based on their expertise and the desired dosage (gummies, herbal tea, capsules, etc.), their sensitivity to the naturalness of the products, their values, and their location. Indeed, producing elsewhere than in France has never been a question. We prefer to turn to French laboratories for their know-how, but also to ensure transport of finished products without aircraft. This proximity allows us to guarantee the quality and traceability of each product while being eco-friendly.
Today, our gummies are manufactured in Saumur, our capsules in Moréac, our powders in Francheville, our boxes in Meaux, our bottles in Mandre-Les-Roses, our logistics center is located in Montargis and our offices in Paris.
We must also take into account the quantity we wish to produce, since order minimums differ depending on the laboratory. We do not want to overproduce and risk having losses (expirations, unsold items, etc.), which is why we favor laboratories that offer order minimums low enough so that we can produce as we go along, as needed. Requirement.
Once the laboratories have been selected based on these criteria, Hélène sends them a product brief in which our requirements appear.
Bye bye harmful ingredients, hello naturalness and innovation!
- An effective formula : source ingredients whose benefits and effectiveness are proven by science through clinical studies and whose dosages are carefully chosen for visible results. We tell you everything about our ingredients !
- A natural formula : develop natural formulas, without artificial flavors or colors, to help you soothe your daily aches and pains in a natural way. 95% is the average naturalness of our products.
You are probably wondering why our formulas are not all 100% natural.
Effectiveness or Naturalness? We recently asked you the question in one of our questionnaires, and you told us that you prioritize efficiency. For you, as for us, efficiency comes first. This slight drop in the percentage of naturalness is most often due to vitamins and minerals. Our choice regarding effectiveness is linked to the concentration of active ingredients since we want to stay on an acceptable dosage, i.e. 2 capsules per day and not 10. Choosing a natural vitamin implies the use of a higher concentration of active ingredients to achieve the same effectiveness as a synthetic vitamin. Except that the space in our 2 capsules is limited so if we choose a natural vitamin we will no longer have room to put all the other active ingredients selected for their benefits, the effectiveness will therefore be reduced. We are of course on the lookout for innovations. Obtaining 100% natural vitamins and minerals that are just as effective and concentrated as synthetic ones is a real challenge that we want to take on!
- A formula that is pleasant to consume: choose products enriched with 100% natural flavors to make them even more pleasant to consume. We of course think of our chlorophyll capsules , our delicious gummies , our wild berry tablets or even our peach powders.
- A vegan formula : develop formulas without any ingredients of animal origin or from the intensive livestock industry. And, in accordance with regulations, our products are of course cruelty free.
- A clean and highly tolerated formula : develop formulas without lactose, gluten, GMOs or nano-particles to help you take care of yourself by excluding all controversial substances and support you in complete safety.
- Eco-responsible packaging : using reusable containers, made from recycled or recyclable materials and reducing the use of cardboard and plastic is a priority for us.
We use materials such as kraft, glass, aluminum and wheat fiber to use a minimum of plastic and reduce our environmental impact. We offer glass pill bottles and bottles, stainless steel boxes, reusable, to be refilled using our kraft doypacks. Finally, we group all your orders and we favor compact and lightweight formats that go through the mailbox to avoid lost packages, re-deposited and therefore unnecessary journeys for our delivery people. The entire team is mobilizing to develop new solutions to further reduce our environmental impact.
Based on all these requirements, the subcontractor gives us feedback on the feasibility of the project and gives us a production cost. The goal is still to offer you a product at an affordable price.
There is then a whole series of back and forths between Hélène and the laboratories, and tests to find the ideal formula.
Product testing
To offer you the highest quality product possible
Now comes a crucial stage in the development of our products: the testing phase. It allows us to see if the products conform to what we initially imagined and if they can be put on the market as is.
The first tests take place in the laboratory and include tests of:
- Capsule filling : to see if all the desired active ingredients fit into 2 capsules, always with the aim of having an acceptable and non-binding dosage!
- Taste : to see if tastes such as those of spirulina or saffron are not too pronounced and do not take too much over the chosen natural aroma, if there is one.
- Texture : to see if the gummies and chewable tablets in particular have a pleasant texture (not sticky or too soft for gummies and not too crumbly for tablets for example).
- Color : to see if the color of the product is pretty and attractive and if it does not clash with the taste (red gummies with a mint flavor would surely seem very strange to you).
We are almost there …
It's the turn of the entire Epycure team to test the products and give their opinion. Everyone fills out a small sheet on which they detail their feelings regarding the texture, taste, color, etc. Hélène collects all the feedback and communicates with the laboratory to make essential modifications. The team tests the products as many times as it deems necessary.
Packaging
Packs as beautiful as they are eco-responsible
The development of packaging is a very, very important phase of product development in our eyes. All we want is to make you smile with our pretty, colorful packs , and that's the work of Moïna, our favorite artistic director.
Hélène writes a short brief to list the essential information that must appear on the pack to comply with the regulations and above all so that you know what has been put in the product, how to consume it on a daily basis and what precautions to take.
Moïna & Angélique imagine pretty visuals for the product so that you understand at first glance what its use will be. Hélène checks that all important information is clearly mentioned on the pack and is legible enough.
Once the visual of the pack is ready, Hélène can declare the product to the DGCCRF (Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and Fraud Repression) on TéléIcare (online declaration tool for food supplements) and wait their return to see if the product complies with regulations and can be marketed.
The DGCCRF is a French administration reporting to the Ministry of the Economy which ensures the proper functioning of markets. Its role is to control the marketing of new products to ensure consumer safety in particular.
Behind the scenes of manufacturing
From idea to pill
Upon receipt of validation from the DGCCRF , our partner laboratory orders all the ingredients from suppliers, selected in advance according to our requirements, and we take care of ordering the containers. The lab can finally launch production . At the same time, the labels are printed and the packaging prepared for the packaging of our formula. Microbiological analyzes are carried out to certify that the product is compliant and safe for the customer. Finally, the laboratory ships the products to our logistics center.
Logistic
Your packages prepared with small onions
That's it, the products are received by our logistics center in Montargis. Your orders are prepared every day, with love , by Sigolène and Gwendoline. Your pill bottles are engraved, your first names and packaging dates are written by hand on the packs, the flyers are carefully chosen and placed in your packages, in short they are prepared with care! They are then dropped off at the post office and delivered to your home within the next 2 – 3 days !
Yes, unlike the large pharmaceutical laboratories, where it can take up to two years and a lot of journeys between the products leaving the factory and reaching you, with us the journeys as well as the delays are limited to the Maximum!
Customer Care service
We take care of you until the end...
Our work is not finished! We even offer you personalized support by giving you some advice and recommendations every week to optimize the effects of your treatment.
We ask you for a little feedback with each order using our questionnaire to find out if your customer experience went well. We are always very happy to read your feedback which helps us progress every day.
Obviously, if you have the slightest question or question about the order, the product, the use, the delivery, you can contact our great Customer Care Team , made up of Flore and Margot, at any time. Both very responsive, they are keen to help you as best as possible, as quickly as possible.
Thank you again for your feedback which is truly valuable to us!
See you soon
