By Elan Sudberg

A new year is upon us, which means once again I take a snippet of time to reflect on the previous year for both Alkemist Labs and myself personally.

2023 was a banner year for Alkemist Labs and can be validated with the normal KPIs like revenue, profit, EBIDTA, goals met, and all the other usual benchmarks. But what about other measurables???

I am proud to share we now pay more to industry trade associations (AHPA, UNPA, CRN, NASC, CHPA, and NPA) than ever before!!! Why am I excited about that? Well, because we did well last year (and the year before that and the year before that and the…) and so in the name of fairness, we are happy to pay more for our trade association membership as we test more for the industry. They do so much to support our businesses, it’s only right to be honest in calculating our dues.

Alkemist’s client base continues to grow and diversify into new industries. There are more brands earning and proudly marketing the Alkemist Assured logo than ever before. We found out the ingredient suppliers and contract manufacturers want in on this as well and couldn’t be more excited to partner with some of the best in the industry.

We finally launched the full suite of testing, Identity, Purity, and Potency and can offer the industry one stop ISO accredited testing for botanicals and fungi. I’m proud of my staff, in particular Lab Director Anthony Fontana, for all their hard work adding so many new services.

On the personal side, I am proud to share that as I maintained my speaking up against many of the contemporary narratives, I have not yet been canceled. In fact, I was bombarded at SSW last year by folks who love my voice, don’t have the freedom in their careers or personal life to join my voice and ask for more. I have more real and engaging connections on LinkedIn than ever before.

Most exciting for me was my time with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In addition to his excellent stance on environmentalism and health freedom, which everyone reading this should appreciate, #rfkjr‘s stance on legalizing psychedelics is refreshing and unlike any other presidential candidate to date.

I attended a private and intimate reception with him and like-minded people and have never been excited about a presidential candidate before like I am with him. I can proudly share that while RFK Jr is well aligned with my personal values, he could be our next industry champion (boy, do we need a new champion…) who actually takes supplements and leads a healthy life.

As we move into the new year, I’m thankful for the support of our clients and colleagues, and excited to see what 2024 brings.