Farmana is the culmination of careers spent in the dietary supplement, nutrition and wellness industries, according to Jason Dyer, who founded the business with Ashley Lizotte.
The two spent years researching their product — a powdered drink nutritional supplement that is based on healthy whole foods.
Dyer joined the team at Green Bay’s Enzymatic Therapy, a manufacturer and provider of therapeutic dosage natural medicines and nutritional supplements, in 2004.
“You know, when I first came to the industry, I really didn’t know what to expect. I was a little skeptical,” he says. “I heard a lot of mixed stories — you know, it’s just ‘very expensive urine.’”
But working for Enzymatic, and then for Nature’s Way after it purchased Enzymatic in 2008, allowed Dyer to learn more about the business. It was a personal experience, however, that cemented his belief that there are effective ways to improve health through supplements and healthy eating.
His grandfather struggled with Alzheimer’s disease, and Dyer says doctors did what they could, but it was a challenge for his grandmother and his whole family.
“We ended up using some ginkgo extract that we had from our parent company at Nature’s Way in Germany. And it helped to improve the quality of life between he and my grandmother, at least for two or three years,” he says. “For me, that’s where it really clicked. It was like, OK, there’s something to this.”
His business (and life) partner Lizotte was born into the industry, according to Dyer. Her family founded Designs for Health, the No. 1 practitioner‑recommended supplement brand in the country. Lizotte has a master’s degree in nutrition and spent years working with doctors and developing nutritional supplements.
They saw a gap in supplements that were not based on healthy foods or didn’t taste pleasant — or both, so they began researching how that could change and were surprised to learn that many fruits and vegetables are less nutrient dense than they were 50 years ago.
“Nine out of 10 U.S. adults aren’t consuming enough fruits and vegetables every day. And even if you are, you’re not getting enough nutrition from that to give your body what it needs to continue to move forward,” Dyer says.
Dyer and Lizotte set out to formulate a blend with a foundation of diverse fruits, veggies, greens and mushrooms containing a wide range of vitamins, minerals, polyphenols and fiber.
They did that by talking to agricultural partners, suppliers and processors for two years, asking about regenerative farm practices, water and soil conservation, crop rotation, harvest techniques, food preservation that conserves nutrients, and building relationships.
“It was inspiring, because we found a lot more people doing the right thing than we had expected to find. And when you get into the conversations, you can really hear the passion coming through,” Dyer says.
They began testing 14 formulas and narrowed that to four that support digestion, hydration, performance and immunity. Each blend is 50% whole foods and 50% functional ingredients.
The functional ingredients in Farmana products are simple, straightforward and have extensive clinical data and safety, according to Dyer.
Dyer says he and Lizotte continue to explore opportunities for additional formulas — including some that address a growing interest in protein supplementation.
Farmana sells its products online and through some smaller retailers in Wisconsin, as well as in markets on the East and West coasts. The smaller retailers, he says, can move the needle because they often reach an engaged audience.
“It’s the direct communication we have with consumers that’s been the most eye‑opening for us,” Dyer says.
