NOW Foods, the Bloomingdale, Ill.-based natural supplement manufacturer approaching its 60th year in operation, launched a consumer-facing brand campaign on June 1 titled "Start Now," anchored by newly retired four-time Olympic medalist and cross-country skier Jessie Diggins. The push marks one of the brand's more prominent athlete-influencer investments in recent memory, targeting the fast-growing intersection of sports nutrition, functional food, and everyday wellness—a segment that continues to attract retail and foodservice channel dollars alike.
The campaign does not disclose media spend or SKU-level sales figures, but the breadth of the talent roster signals a meaningful brand-marketing commitment. Alongside Diggins, NOW enlisted Celebrity Yoga, Pilates, and Meditation Expert Kristin McGee; NY Times bestselling author and running expert Elyse Kopecky; NourishMoveLove fitness platform founder Lindsey Bomgren; and Registered Dietitian Nutritionist DJ Blatner. The all-female collective is positioned to address a core supplement-purchasing demographic: women aged 25–54 who index heavily on consistency-driven wellness routines and are increasingly sourcing functional ingredients through both retail and on-premise channels.
For foodservice operators, the relevance is structural. Sports-nutrition and supplement brands that build mainstream consumer trust through lifestyle campaigns have a documented track record of accelerating placement in non-traditional foodservice venues—gym cafés, hospital retail, college dining, and fast-casual concepts with functional menu builds. NOW's move mirrors playbooks executed by peers in the better-for-you segment, where brand equity built at retail routinely pulls through to foodservice distribution conversations. Operators in the health-and-wellness daypart should note the campaign's emphasis on "daily habits" and "consistency," messaging that translates directly into subscription-style LTO programming and loyalty-anchored menu architecture.
Diggins, who closed a 14-year competitive skiing career and is transitioning to ultramarathon running and speaking, gives NOW a credibility bridge between elite-performance consumers and aspirational everyday athletes—a dual audience that functional-food operators have struggled to serve simultaneously. The campaign hub at nowfoods.com/startnow offers routine-based content designed to keep consumers engaged between purchase cycles, a retention mechanic that parallels loyalty programming now standard across full-service and fast-casual chains.
NOW has not disclosed franchise or licensing arrangements, AUV targets, or foodservice distribution expansion plans tied to this campaign. However, brand-awareness investments of this profile typically precede or accompany category expansion conversations with distributors and group purchasing organizations. Operators building out wellness-forward retail sets or grab-and-go functional-nutrition programs would be well-positioned to monitor NOW's trade channel activity in the back half of 2026. For context on how supplement and functional-food brands are reshaping operator purchasing decisions and non-commercial foodservice menus, sourcing teams should track this campaign's retail pull-through data as a leading indicator.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
