Artemis International: 30 Years of Science-Backed Berry and Botanical Innovation

For the past 30 years, Artemis International has demonstrated a deep commitment to science and integrity. The company has carefully grown and curated its portfolio by working closely with suppliers and customers to develop substantiated, high-quality, safe, and sustainable products that consumers can rely on to support their health. This is why Artemis International is Nutritional Outlook's 2025 Best of the Industry, Supplier.

Beginnings: From Colors to Health Benefits

In its early years, Artemis International (Fort Wayne, IN) initially focused on supplying dark berry ingredients that provided natural color for food and beverage products. However, interest in the potential health benefits of berries began at the company's outset. Artemis' origins can be traced to a fateful business trip to Poland that the company's founder, Jan Mills, took in the 1990s. While meeting with aronia berry growers, Mills, who was pregnant at the time, was given juice from aronia berries and told it would be good for the baby. Mills returned to the U.S. and began consulting with experts in the food and beverage space and universities to learn that the anthocyanins in aronia could be valuable colorants at a time when artificial colors were falling out of favor. This was the foundation of Artemis International, but Mills' interest in the potential health benefits of aronia and, by extension, other dark berries, did not subside. Artemis worked with universities to increase research into this area until Artemis came to a decision to sell its color business in 2005 and firmly commit to science and research of berries as a nutraceutical ingredient.

“It was a leap of faith,” explains Leslie Gallo, president of Artemis International. “We had a business that was built on color, and there we were, jumping into the science of berries. And here we are, 30 years later. I think we pulled it off. It's what we love to do: discover new berries, botanicals, other blends, and what makes them tick and what makes them healthy.”

The Importance of Research

Research is an integral part of the Artemis business model, driven by a passion for advancing the substantiation of high-quality ingredients and educating industry about them. Their approach to substantiation includes acknowledging the historical use of berries or botanicals, combined with existing studies that demonstrate benefits in other areas, plus proprietary studies that demonstrate clinically relevant outcomes as well as the mechanisms of action behind the benefits.

In particular, Artemis is proud of the substantiation of its European black elderberry extract ElderCraft, explains Melanie Bush, vice president of science and research at Artemis International. Their studies on this extract span preliminary in vitro studies to large-scale human clinical trials. The research demonstrated health benefits in three interrelated categories: immune support, antiviral mechanisms, and digestive health as prebiotic activity.

“Those are some particular studies that we really feel have been cutting edge in the industry and have really advanced the consumer awareness of elderberry,” explains Bush. “And we'll continue to do that sort of rigor with our studies with several other ingredients as well.”

Given the costs associated with those scientific pursuits, Artemis is strategic about how it conducts and implements research. For example, prioritizing research on ingredients and benefits involves examining the strongest rationale for an ingredient, whether in a market need or trend, gaps in knowledge, a need for further substantiation, or exploring new categories, Bush explains. Additionally, Artemis tries to understand how consumers make their purchases and works to connect the consumer with the science, says Gallo. Artemis typically stays within its area of expertise, with plant-based botanicals or polyphenols from berries, though conversations with customers provide guidance into the next areas of exploration.

We have established a reputation in the industry as being leaders and experts in authenticity...so our customers trust our ingredients.” — Melanie Bush, Artemis International

“We talk with our customers extensively to try to align with what their needs are and with what their next steps or innovations are going to be,” Bush explains. These areas include increasing understanding of ingredients in a particular blend or a new area that hasn’t yet been explored. “Often we are approached by organizations or even universities that have their own projects where they're looking for really high-quality materials, and they know that they can trust Artemis for that,” she adds. “Maybe they need a standardized extract so that they can have consistent potency with a particular bioactive they're investigating. We're happy to work with them and provide material and any expertise that we can.”

Maintaining Quality Standards

The Artemis portfolio recently expanded to include botanicals, fungi, and a new vegan calcium ingredient, WholeCal. But incorporating new ingredients involves a rigorous vetting process, based on quality standards, health benefits, and trustworthiness. Artemis aligns only with manufacturing facility partners that share their mission and passion for the highest quality ingredients, Bush explains, and customer relationships are also viewed as partnerships.

“We have established a reputation in the industry as being leaders and experts in authenticity, even taking upon ourselves an anti-adulteration initiative so our customers trust our ingredients,” she states. “We make sure that we are on top of the standard regulatory requirements by the FDA and proper FSMA procedures and make sure that the health and hygiene certifications are in place and all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed with the new manufacturing partner qualification program. But we also go the extra mile to ensure that we have done extra analytical testing using our own internal and third-party labs to analyze any results on C of As and make sure that identity, purity, and potency standards are there.”

Maintaining consumer trust not only in the products but also in the industry is essential. In living this belief, Artemis became a driving force behind the anti-adulteration initiative for elderberry as part of the American Botanical Council’s (ABC) Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program (BAPP). Artemis reached out to ABC after noticing the adulteration in both finished products and the supply chain of ingredients before the COVID-19 pandemic, which then increased the demand for elderberry, exacerbating the issue, Bush explains. “It spurred a desire to do a full-scale investigation,” she adds. “So we at Artemis spearheaded a collaborative investigation involving different industry stakeholders, third-party labs, and different industry organizations, all working together to provide input to ABC as part of their botanical adulterants prevention program to identify how much of this adulteration problem was out there, whether there were any particular streams, what to look for, how to educate consumers, and how to test for it. And eventually it was actually an award-nominated initiative, because it really did have an impact.”

One main takeaway from this situation was the importance of working with reputable suppliers that demonstrate testing expertise and transparency and that are able to show traceability, Bush explains. Combatting adulteration involves brand responsibility and consumer education, Gallo adds. “We're all in this together, is what it boils down to,” she states.

Ensuring Sustainability in the Supply Chain

When working with naturally sourced ingredients, navigating multiple variables, such as climate change, in a sustainable supply chain can be a challenge. As one example, Gallo notes that one of the worst elderberry harvests occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. To strengthen their supply chain, Artemis focuses on a strategy grounded in careful planning, grower support, and best practices to withstand environmental factors. Geographic diversification of sources is important, Gallo explains, as is working with growers in finding the best practices for the fields. This includes examining nutrient programs, reducing pesticides, and ensuring healthy soil. Providing external nutrients to fortify a crop against late frosts or excessive heat or dry spells is also important.

“From sustainable harvesting processes to fair trade practices across the board to responsible cultivation, we do everything we can to assure we get as much of a harvest as we possibly can and really participate in the process so that we are really developing best practices to withstand Mother Nature,” Gallo explains. “In some cases, for our most popular ingredients, we're holding a year to two years of raw material supply to make our extracts so that we don't get caught as we did in prior years. With each year, we learn where we need to fill a gap and do better the next year.”

I’m proud of our team, the reputation that we have, the trust that we built. I’m proud that we are 30 years old and thriving, [and] growing.” — Leslie Gallo, Artemis International

Celebrating 30 Years and Looking Toward the Future

This year, Artemis celebrates its 30-year anniversary. In describing what she is most proud of with this company, Gallo highlights its growth and remarkable team, and ultimately the customers benefit from this longevity and deep relationships. “It's a very female-centric company, and I think we bring certain sensitivities to the process and servicing our customers,” Gallo explains. “I'm proud of our team, the reputation that we have, and the trust that we built. I'm proud that we are 30 years old and thriving, growing, and looking forward to really thriving well beyond this year, and it's really due to our whole team.”

Bush explained she felt she had grown up with the company, having first encountered Artemis 20 years ago as a graduate student conducting research on berry extracts. “It's such a source of pride to be a part of a company like Artemis that really sets a standard for how companies should be run in today's day and age, in terms of mentorship, promoting women in STEM and in C-suite level positions, and healthy work-life balance, allowing for flexibility that ends up retaining the most talented people who share in the passions. The length of time employees have been with the company is a testament to that. It's been a wild ride, and I feel like the best is yet to come.”

Click here for more on Nutritional Outlook's 2025 Best of the Industry Awards.