Redwood City, California (November 12, 2025) – As Ethical Naturals Inc. (ENI) marks 20 years since its founding, a look at its history reflects identifying product vulnerabilities, and developing and fostering ingredients that demonstrate best practices to combat those failings.
In the fall of 2005 Cal Bewicke and Leo Liu began to lay the foundations of ENI as a new company with a clear vision of what was needed in the botanical supply chain of the day. Over two decades the company has developed a portfolio of research supported branded ingredients and a track record of advocating for best practices in the nutraceuticals industry.
“At the time ENI was launched, levels of adulteration in the U.S. botanical market were rampant,” said ENI CEO Cal Bewicke. “Little or no testing took place, and the testing that was done generally lacked the detail to detect even basic adulteration. It was sometimes described as the wild west of botanicals.”
ENI was founded to counter these trends, to supply premium standardized botanical extracts with guaranteed integrity: products that were passed through a program that defined identity, potency, and freedom from contamination. ENI established the rigorous ProfileProven quality assurance program and testing laboratory and the company was built on the founding principle of ‘Nature Verified by Science,’ that continues to guide the mission and decisions it makes today.
“Ethical Naturals represents what is so great about our industry”, said Loren Israelsen, Founder and President of the United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA). “Cal Bewicke and his staff have built a reputation for being straight shooters, taking quality seriously and contributing to the betterment of our industry community. I have known Cal for many years, and it gives me great pleasure to salute him and Ethical Naturals on the occasion of their 20th anniversary.”
In 2005 Ginkgo biloba extracts claiming 24% flavoneglycosides were all over the market for $30 – $40/kg, a price far below true production cost. ENI’s first step was to address this one issue directly. ENI QC Director Lora Xiong worked with American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP) and Eurofins to produce the substantial Ginkgo Brand QC Report.1 This included detailed testing of 20 branded Ginkgo products and raw material samples and a full review by noted herbal expert Roy Upton, President of American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP). Only 6 samples of the 20 samples passed the detailed screening and potency tests done by Eurofins, which spurred the industry to improve ginkgo product quality testing practices.
“AHP worked directly with Ethical Naturals to raise awareness about the widespread adulteration that exists on the Ginkgo biloba extract market in the United States and provide ways for reputable manufacturers to identify good quality from adulterated materials,” said Roy Upton, President of American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP). “We wish Ethical Naturals all the best for their next 20 years and commend them for the many efforts they have made in fostering quality and integrity in the botanical ingredient supplement chain.”
ENI has continued to work on the ongoing quality issues in botanical extracts, and advocated for best practices. Many of their key findings and methods have been shared with the botanical industry.
Mark Blumenthal, Founder & Executive Director, American Botanical Council added: “I congratulate my old friend Cal Bewicke and his partner Leo Liu on the 20th anniversary of their company, Ethical Naturals. I have known Cal for over 40 years as a friend and colleague in the herb industry. I consider him to be innovative, earnest, honest, and ethical. Cal is one of a small group of six colleagues who encouraged me to create what became the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program in a meeting at SupplySide West in October 2010. I consider him to be one of the spiritual founders of what has become the world’s largest authenticity and antifraud education program dealing with botanical ingredients.”
Building the supply chain partnerships that lead to today
ENI has never been a trading company, shopping around for the lowest price; they’ve carefully chosen and audited the very best manufacturers in China, Europe, and the US, working with them on development of quality specifications and long-term supply stability. In this way, their suppliers have essentially become working partners, facing with transparency the challenges of raw material shortages, shipping outages, and now tariffs. The benefits are shared by both sides, and most importantly, passed on to that other group of ENI partners, their valued customer base.
A solar powered facility for distribution and manufacturing
As ENI established their strong base of business it became clear to Cal and Leo that there would be many benefits to both ENI and its customers in also supplying products in finished product, private label form. Using Leo’s previous experience in supplement manufacturing, they built-out a facility for blending, encapsulating, and bottling. The facility was then cGMP Certified by NSF and remains so to this day. This capability provides a dynamic and direct service to many ENI customers, the final step in assuring that ENI’s products remain true ‘From Field to Finished Product’.
They then installed solar power. ENI co-founder Leo Liu, who directs operation of the facility, stated: “The private label ability has been very useful to our customers, but production systems use a lot of power, so solar was a clear choice for us. It’s made a big difference in our energy bills and is right in-line with our environmental goals.”
Proprietary products and clinical studies
As ENI grew in experience and outreach, the company expanded its horizons to include a range of proprietary products that have established strong positions in US and international markets. These include:
· GreenGrown glucosamine: a vegetable source glucosamine produced by fermentation and protected by manufacturing and identity patents that assure 100% vegetable source.
· AlphaWave L-Theanine: a unique source of purified L-Theanine with relaxation and mental acuity benefits supported by ENI’s three clinical studies2&3. AlphaWave was recently approved by Australian Therapeutic Good Authority (TGA), and is now the only form of L-Theanine allowed to be sold for manufacturing in Australia.
· Cranberex Cranberry Extract: high-level PAC’s tested by DMAC method and supported by studies from Rutgers University.
· Polyphenol-C: Vitamin-C enhanced with fruit berry polyphenols, backed by studies for superior anti-oxidant support.
Teamwork: the core of ENI
Close teamwork with both manufacturers and customers is what makes the supplies flow. But to both Cal and Leo, it’s the internal teamwork that’s really at the heart of the company’s accomplishments. As Cal says: “The core members of our team have been with us since we founded the company and others for 12 years and more. That really means a lot. We’ve gone through easy and tough times together, and experienced successes and failures. You learn how to laugh and share the friendship. So many of the great ideas behind our company have been contributions from the members of our team.”
ENI now has several new clinical studies in progress, one scheduled for publication soon.
1. https://www.ethicalnaturals.com/PDFs/Ginkgo_Brand_QC_Report-2006.pdf
2. Evans, M., McDonald, A.C., Xiong, L. et al. A Randomized, Triple-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Study to Investigate the Efficacy of a Single Dose of AlphaWave® L-Theanine on Stress in a Healthy Adult Population. Neurol Ther 10, 1061–1078 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40120-021-00284-x
3. Moulin, M., Crowley, D.C., Xiong, L. et al. Safety and Efficacy of AlphaWave® L-Theanine Supplementation for 28 Days in Healthy Adults with Moderate Stress: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Neurol Ther 13, 1135–1153 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40120-024-00624-7