Vital Proteins is an American wellness and nutritional supplement brand best known for its collagen peptides, collagen powders, and collagen-based functional nutrition products. Founded in 2013 by Kurt Seidensticker, the company grew from a Chicago-based startup focused on ingestible collagen into a major consumer wellness brand with products spanning collagen, protein powders, capsules, gummies, beverages, and other supplements.[1]

Today, Vital Proteins operates within Nestlé Health Science, following Nestlé’s acquisition of a majority stake in the company in 2020 and completion of the acquisition in 2022.[2]

Founding

Vital Proteins was founded in 2013 by Kurt Seidensticker. According to the company’s own account, Seidensticker was an avid runner who experienced knee discomfort that interfered with his training. His search for a nutritional solution led him to ingestible collagen and ultimately inspired the creation of Vital Proteins.[1]

The original concept was relatively focused: make collagen supplementation convenient enough to incorporate into everyday life. Rather than positioning collagen exclusively as a specialist sports or medical product, Vital Proteins developed it as an everyday wellness ingredient that could be mixed into coffee, smoothies, water, oatmeal, and other foods.

This helped the company participate in the broader shift toward functional nutrition, where consumers increasingly looked for foods and supplements that could serve a particular wellness purpose.

Early growth

The company began as a Chicago-based startup and pursued a lifestyle-oriented approach to nutrition. Its leadership has described the company’s early strategy as an attempt to create a new category and disrupt the protein market through rapid product development and innovation.[1]

Its central product became Collagen Peptides, a hydrolyzed form of collagen designed to dissolve easily into hot or cold beverages and foods.

Vital Proteins subsequently expanded beyond its original collagen powder into different formats, flavours, and functional products.

Expansion into a lifestyle brand

Over time, Vital Proteins evolved from essentially a collagen-supplement company into a broader wellness brand.

Its current portfolio includes:

• Collagen peptides
• Advanced collagen formulations
• Protein and other powders
• Capsules
• Gummies
• Collagen and protein bars
• Functional beverages
• Fitness-oriented nutrition
• Products combining collagen with other functional ingredients

The company currently organizes its offerings around categories including wellness, hair, skin, nails, energy, active lifestyle, bones and joints, reflecting its broader positioning rather than simply selling collagen as a standalone ingredient.[1]

One of the most significant events in Vital Proteins’ corporate history occurred in 2020.

On June 10, 2020, Nestlé announced that its Nestlé Health Science division had agreed to acquire a majority stake in Vital Proteins. At the time, Nestlé described Vital Proteins as America’s leading collagen brand and a lifestyle and wellness platform offering supplements, beverages, and food products.[2]

The transaction was completed in July 2020, according to Nestlé’s reporting.[2]

Vital Proteins continued to operate as a standalone brand while gaining access to Nestlé Health Science’s resources, distribution capabilities, and nutritional-science infrastructure.[2]

In February 2022, Vital Proteins announced that Nestlé Health Science had completed its acquisition of the company.[1]

The acquisition was strategically significant because it gave Nestlé Health Science a strong position in the rapidly expanding consumer collagen and functional-wellness category.

Collagen Peptides

The flagship product is Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides.

The product consists of hydrolyzed collagen peptides, meaning collagen has been broken down into smaller peptide chains. Vital Proteins markets its collagen peptides as an easy-to-mix source of collagen that can be incorporated into drinks and foods.[1]

The company’s current product information highlights collagen sourced from grass-fed and pasture-raised cattle for its bovine collagen products and notes that its collagen peptides are made without gluten or dairy.[1]

Advanced Collagen Peptides

Vital Proteins has expanded its traditional collagen formulation with products containing additional functional ingredients.

For example, its Advanced Collagen Peptides formulation combines collagen peptides with ingredients such as hyaluronic acid and vitamin C, with the brand positioning it around skin, hair, nails, bones, and joints.[1]

Marine Collagen

The company also offers Marine Collagen, made from marine-sourced collagen. Vital Proteins has described its marine collagen as being made from wild-caught, non-GMO white fish.[1]

Gummies and capsules

Vital Proteins has moved beyond powders into more convenient supplement formats, including capsules and gummies. This allows the brand to reach consumers who prefer not to mix collagen into drinks or food.[1]

Protein and functional nutrition

The company has also expanded into broader performance and functional nutrition.

In 2026, for example, Vital Proteins introduced Advanced Collagen Peptides + Creatine, combining collagen peptides with creatine and positioning the product around exercise performance, recovery, and other wellness benefits.[1]

This illustrates the brand’s evolution from a narrowly defined collagen company toward a broader performance, wellness, and healthy-aging nutrition platform.

Vital Proteins’ core proposition can essentially be summarized as:

Make collagen and functional nutrition easy to incorporate into everyday life.

Rather than presenting supplements primarily as pharmaceutical-style products, Vital Proteins has historically used a lifestyle and wellness marketing model.

Its branding emphasizes:

• Everyday wellness
• Beauty from within
• Active lifestyles
• Healthy aging
• Fitness and recovery
• Convenience
• Premium ingredients
• Simple supplementation
• Integration into existing daily routines

The company describes its mission as empowering people to “live a full, vibrant life.”[1]

Collagen is the central ingredient around which the Vital Proteins brand was built.

Collagen is a structural protein found throughout the human body and is associated with connective tissues including skin, bones, cartilage, and tendons. Vital Proteins uses collagen supplementation as the foundation for products positioned around areas such as skin, hair, nails, bones, and joints.

Importantly, marketing claims about supplements should not automatically be interpreted as established medical outcomes. The scientific evidence for individual collagen benefits varies by outcome, formulation, and study, and dietary supplements are not substitutes for medical treatment.

Vital Proteins itself includes FDA-style disclaimers on its materials stating that its product claims have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and that its products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease.[2]

A major part of Vital Proteins’ differentiation has been its emphasis on ingredient sourcing, transparency, and relatively simple formulations.

The company says its collagen products can use sources such as grass-fed, pasture-raised bovine collagen and wild-caught marine collagen. It has also promoted a “clean label” philosophy emphasizing recognizable ingredients and avoiding artificial flavours, colours, sweeteners, and preservatives in its product lineup.[1]

Its current website similarly highlights characteristics such as:

• Grass-fed and pasture-raised bovine collagen
• Dairy-free and gluten-free collagen peptides
• No artificial sweeteners on highlighted products
• Paleo-friendly positioning
• Certified Kosher products[1]

These attributes are important to the brand because Vital Proteins competes not only on the functional ingredient itself but also on consumer trust and perceived product quality.

Vital Proteins has also become notable for its celebrity-driven marketing strategy.

One of the company’s most prominent partnerships has been with Jennifer Aniston. Vital Proteins announced a partnership with Aniston in November 2020, and she subsequently became one of the most recognizable public faces associated with the brand.[1]

The partnership was particularly relevant to Vital Proteins because Aniston’s public image overlaps with several of the brand’s major marketing themes:

• Wellness
• Beauty
• Healthy aging
• Fitness
• Daily routines
• Lifestyle

Vital Proteins has also worked with other high-profile personalities and influencers, helping it operate as much like a consumer lifestyle brand as a traditional supplement company. The company announced Addison Rae as a global brand ambassador in 2022.[1]

Vital Proteins has historically pursued broad mainstream distribution rather than limiting itself to specialty nutrition stores.

When Nestlé announced its majority investment in 2020, Vital Proteins had approximately 150 SKUs across 35,000 retail doors in North America and Europe, with distribution through retailers including Whole Foods, Costco, Target, Walgreens, and Kroger.[2]

This distribution strategy was important to the brand’s growth: collagen was transformed from a relatively niche supplement into a product that could be encountered in mainstream grocery, pharmacy, mass retail, and e-commerce environments.

Vital Proteins is now part of the Nestlé Health Science portfolio.

Nestlé Health Science is Nestlé’s health- and nutrition-focused business, and Vital Proteins sits alongside other nutrition and consumer-health brands within that broader portfolio. Nestlé identifies Vital Proteins among the businesses it acquired as part of its expansion in health and nutrition.[2]

Current Vital Proteins legal materials identify the operating entity as Nestlé HealthCare Nutrition, Inc. dba Vital Proteins or its affiliates/subsidiaries.[1]

Vital Proteins has increasingly incorporated sustainability into its brand identity.

The company states that it is a Certified B Corporation, meaning its social and environmental performance is assessed against B Lab’s standards. It also says it is working toward reducing plastic use and has begun removing scoops from some products as part of its packaging efforts.[1]

These initiatives reflect a broader change in the supplement industry, where consumers increasingly evaluate brands not only on ingredients and efficacy but also on:

• Packaging
• Environmental impact
• Supply-chain practices
• Corporate responsibility
• Transparency

Vital Proteins essentially operates across several interconnected consumer-nutrition channels:

1. Direct-to-consumer

The brand sells products through its own online store, allowing it to build a direct relationship with consumers and offer subscriptions and recurring purchases.[1]

2. Retail

Its products are distributed through major grocery, pharmacy, warehouse, and mass-retail channels.

3. Product innovation

The company continuously introduces new flavours, formats, and combinations of collagen with other functional ingredients.

4. Lifestyle marketing

Instead of marketing collagen exclusively as a nutritional ingredient, Vital Proteins integrates it into broader narratives around wellness, beauty, fitness, and everyday life.

Vital Proteins occupies a distinctive position between several industries:

Dietary supplements:
It competes with traditional vitamin and supplement companies.

Sports nutrition:
Its collagen and performance products compete with protein powders, recovery products, and other fitness supplements.

Beauty-from-within:
Its products compete with supplements marketed for skin, hair, and nails.

Functional foods and beverages:
Its powders and other products compete with functional drinks, bars, and foods.

Healthy-aging products:
Collagen’s association with skin, bones, joints, and mobility allows the brand to participate in the growing healthy-aging market.

Its biggest strategic advantage is arguably category ownership: Vital Proteins has made “collagen” almost synonymous with its brand identity in the minds of many mainstream consumers.

The evolution of Vital Proteins can be summarized in four stages:

2013 — Collagen startup

The company begins with a focused mission around ingestible collagen and wellness.

Mid-to-late 2010s — Category expansion

Vital Proteins grows its collagen portfolio and establishes itself as a recognizable consumer wellness brand.

2020–2022 — Nestlé era begins

Nestlé Health Science acquires a majority stake, providing greater resources, scale, and global reach.[2]

2020s — Broader functional nutrition platform

The brand expands into gummies, capsules, protein, performance nutrition, and formulations combining collagen with other functional ingredients. Its 2026 collagen-plus-creatine launch is an example of this broader strategy.[1]

At a high level, Vital Proteins can be understood through five characteristics:

Collagen-first — Collagen remains the defining ingredient and category.

Lifestyle-oriented — Products are designed to become part of daily routines rather than being treated solely as specialist supplements.

Premium — The brand emphasizes ingredient sourcing, formulation, and product quality.

Mainstream — Major retail distribution has made collagen accessible beyond specialty health-food consumers.

Celebrity/influencer driven — Partnerships with recognizable personalities have helped translate a relatively technical nutritional ingredient into a mainstream lifestyle proposition.

Vital Proteins is a Chicago-founded wellness nutrition brand established in 2013 that popularized collagen supplementation as an everyday lifestyle product and has since expanded into a broader functional-nutrition portfolio under Nestlé Health Science.[1][2]

1. Who We Are and How We Started: The Vital Proteins Story
2. Nestlé Health Science agrees to acquire stake in Vital Proteins