ProCaps Laboratories
The world's finest supplements
ProCaps Laboratories was founded by Andrew Lessman in 1979, back in what some might consider "the early days" of vitamin supplements.
Today, it remains one of the few supplement companies that actually manufactures the vitamins it distributes -- and the only one in its class for uncompromising quality.
ProCaps Laboratories is still owned by the man who founded it and, through the years, his commitment to quality, service and ethical standards has never wavered. The company is not beholden to shareholders or investment bankers, and there is no Board of Directors to hinder Andrew's steadfast, single-minded dedication to your health and to the production of the most comprehensive nutritional supplements available.
The Early Days
Long before ProCaps Laboratories existed, Andrew Lessman had a vision -- to help educate the medical profession so, instead of merely treating disease, they would work to enhance health. In 1979, just as consumers were beginning to appreciate the crucial role of vitamins in the quality of life, Andrew -- an avid athlete, biochemist and law student -- was asked to give a series of seminars for doctors and other health professionals.
These seminars focused on the exciting biochemical research being published on the benefits of supplements. Although Andrew had not begun making his own supplements, he quickly realized (as did those attending his seminars) that most of the products available were of low quality and made without regard to the latest scientific research. Therefore, Andrew used his background in biochemistry to create vitamins for his own needs as well as those of fellow athletes, friends and the health professionals he had met during the seminars.
Just as they are today, the vitamins Andrew created in 1979 were perfectly balanced with exceptionally active components -- and they were the only 100% pure, additive-free vitamins in the world. Andrew also achieved another goal -- to make vitamins so gentle to the digestive system they would not cause stomach upset. Over the next 10 years, interest in Andrew's supplements became so widespread that he closed his successful law practice. Committing himself exclusively to the production of his vitamins, he named his new company The Winning Combination. From 1979 until the early 1990s, The Winning Combination's primary clients were - as the name suggests - elite athletes, celebrities, and professionals in the fields of fitness and medicine.
The Word Spreads — Directly
By the mid-1980s, Andrew Lessman and The Winning Combination (which later became known as YourVitamins, and ultimately ProCaps Laboratories) were confronted with a formidable challenge: how to bring the product line to an increasingly widening and receptive market without diminishing the line's unparalleled quality. Andrew knew quality could not be maintained if the products were permitted to languish on store shelves or sit in a huge mass-market warehouse. Andrew had to find a way to spread the word about his products while retaining direct control over how they were handled and stored. It was the only way he could truly assure the quality and potency of his products.
Andrew found that multilevel marketing was not an option. Individual distributors had neither the expertise nor the training to adequately represent any product in which hard science plays such an integral role, nor did they have the facilities to properly store the product. That left him with one alternative - Direct Response Marketing.
“Quality could not be maintained if the products were permitted to languish on store shelves.”
Quite simply, Direct Response Marketing eliminates the middle-man and allows the consumer to go straight to the manufacturer in order to make a purchase, without the intermediate step of going to a store. It is simple, straightforward, 100% efficient and absolutely reliable. Andrew could, and still does, maintain complete control over the quality, safety, potency and storage of his products, while the customer controls every other aspect of the transaction.
Andrew's earliest direct response advertisements were placed in leading magazines and newspapers, as well as on radio and television. These ads strictly adhered to Andrew's premise that, "if you make the best products in the world, the strongest bridge between you and a new customer is education." The advertisements were information-rich with no hype or exaggerated claims -- just straight science and straightforward facts. These ads were very well received, and the company began to grow rapidly as more and more people grew dissatisfied with ordinary retail supplements and sought a higher-quality alternative.
Direct to Television
During the late 1980s, a new phenomenon in direct marketing began to attract America's attention: Television Home Shopping. TV retailing was in its infancy when QVC approached Andrew Lessman to suggest that he be the first to offer nutritional supplements on television. Andrew was initially reluctant -- wary of the aggressive tendency of TV selling and the natural bias of television toward visual products like jewelry and electronics. But ultimately, Andrew elected to go on-air himself, without relying on the borrowed interest of a celebrity, and without adapting his presentation for TV's visual or "entertainment" requirements. Avoiding audacious showmanship and exhortation, his appearances remained heavily informative and education-based. The audience response far exceeded anyone's best expectations, confirming once again that people will listen to an honest, respectful presentation without sensationalism.
“People will listen to an honest, respectful presentation without sensationalism.”
After enjoying almost six years of unparalleled success at QVC, Andrew moved to the Home Shopping Network (HSN) in November of 1996. The move to HSN coincided with the company’s relocation from Santa Monica, California to a new state-of-the-art 125,000-square-foot facility in the high desert of Henderson, Nevada. The much larger facility and the desert's extremely low humidity allowed Andrew to make perfectly pure products he had not previously thought possible -- dramatically diversifying his product line to meet a much wider range of customer needs. The move also afforded Andrew the opportunity to change his company's name to something more representative of what the company had become. So, in 1997, Andrew made a gradual change from The Winning Combination to a name that would better describe where customers could go to get the world's best vitamins -- YourVitamins.
Today, Andrew is still passionate about nurturing and growing the company he founded in 1979 as well as providing the highest-quality, most effective supplements available. Based on cutting-edge nutritional science, new products continue to be formulated to enhance health, and new technology is being employed to deliver these nutrients more efficiently. To more accurately reflect Andrew’s dedication to improving health through the finest scientifically-supported supplements, Your Vitamins has now become ProCaps Laboratories.
Changing Times, Enduring Values
ProCaps Laboratories is constantly changing for the better, but the most important things never change. That is why ProCaps Laboratories continues to bring customers 100% pure, additive-free supplements based on solid and reliable science. No hype. No spin. No deceptive marketing tactics. And we are always available to answer your questions. Unlike most direct marketers who outsource their call centers to other states -- or even other countries -- ProCaps Laboratories has an in-house call center staffed with well-trained, deeply informed professionals to answer all customer questions and process all customer requests.
Since Andrew Lessman created his first supplement, ProCaps Laboratories has led the industry in research, development and innovation. Over the years, Andrew’s formulas have evolved based on new advancements in science and on the changing needs of our customers. Yet Andrew’s guiding principles continue to be the cornerstone of ProCaps Laboratories. These core beliefs are as true today as they were when Andrew first began: to enhance health naturally by sustaining and ethically creating the safest, purest and most effective nutritional supplements on earth.