Fruta Vida International
Meet FVI's Owner, Management Team, Staff, And Manufacturer.

 

Anthony (Tony) Shaw - Founder, Owner, CEO
 Tony was raised in Washington, PA, thirty miles from Pittsburgh. He graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1969. In that same year, Tony entered the U.S. Marine Corps as a pilot.

He was stationed in Hawaii and Japan where he was commissioned and trained in F4 Jet Aircraft. While in the Marine Corps, Tony also served as a Squadron instructor and an Administrative Officer. He was given an honorable discharge in 1974.

After four years of owning a major appliance store in Pensacola, FL, Tony entered the cosmetics field as an independent distributor for Espree Cosmetics Corporation. Because of his success as a distributor, he was asked to join the Espree corporate staff in Dallas, TX to serve as National Development Director.

In January of 1981, Tony went to work for Mary Kay Cosmetics in Dallas as the Director of Sales Development. In his ten years with Mary Kay, Tony was involved in, and contributed to, every major program and improvement in sales, marketing, and administration implemented during that period.

Tony worked with Mary Kay Ash directly, traveled with her to many parts of the world, and directly represented her in his position with the company. In those ten years, he saw the growth of Mary Kay go from $50 Million to over $300 million.

Tony moved to California to become the Vice President of Marketing for Arbonne International in 1990, developing all marketing strategies for this direct sales cosmetics company. However, missing Texas, he left Arbonne to move back to Dallas.

Over the next two years, Tony immersed himself in the study of the formulation of both skin care products and nutritional supplements. Tony researched and developed a very successful line of diet supplements at that time, and his sales grew in excess of 500% during the next two years.

Tony left Dallas to move to the resort area of Austin, TX called Lakeway. Starting his own nutritional supplement development and distribution company, Uni Star Pro, there in 1993, Tony has never looked back. He developed contracts with fitness centers, health food stores, GNC, and more.

With the increased demand in the market for high-quality functional health beverages, Tony started his quest for a health drink with powerful Superfoods from the Amazon Rainforest. In finding the exact formula to fit his strict criteria of a quality product, Fruta Vida was created and became its own entity called Fruta Vida International at the official launch in January 2005.

Fruta Vida International quickly became Tony’s biggest success in his direct sales career as the company immediately attracted tens of thousands of new customers wanting to consume his "Taste of the Rainforest."

Tony Shaw's experience, integrity, and vision continue to guide Fruta Vida International, and he helps to lead the way as a forward thinker in the functional health beverage industry.

Management
Stephanie and Dean Field have over eight years of experience in direct sales and management. Stephanie started their business in 1998 as a way to earn an income that would allow Dean to break free from a high-level corporate management position that kept him from home and watching their four young children grow up.

Literally working during naptimes and bedtimes, within little over a year, Stephanie was able to create the momentum in their business to allow Dean to quit his job and come home to work their business together full-time. They have been working side-by-side ever since.

Stephanie and Dean were introduced to Fruta Vida International originally as clients, and soon became independent representatives because of what Fruta Vida had done to improve their health. With their previous business experience, they quickly replaced the income of their previous business within 5 1/2 short months.

They were subsequently invited by Fruta Vida's founder, Tony Shaw, to the corporate side of Fruta Vida International as Vice Presidents of Sales and Marketing, respectively. Their corporate responsibility is to provide Fruta Vida's entire field of representatives the training and guidance they need to not only serve Fruta Vida's customers in a timely, professional, and courtesy manner, but also to assist our independent associates in being able to create their own successful Fruta Vida businesses.

Meet Our Staff

Donna Bennett
Mgr. Customer Service

Sharon Clancy
Customer Service

Carli Capistran
Customer Service

Tammy Henderson
Customer Service

Tammy Cottle
Customer Service

Josh Smith
Customer Service

Jennifer Hopkins
Asst to VP of Sales & Mktg

Corporate Offices
Fruta Vida is a US based company with corporate offices in Austin, Texas - 4404 Weletka Dr. The company also operates a satellite office in the United Kingdom (serving Europe), in Jamaica (serving the Caribbean), and in Malaysia (serving the Pacific Rim).

 Fruta Vida Mission Statement
FVI is committed to bringing about professional results in the health and well being of its customers through the products it offers them. As it realizes these goals, FVI assures you one thing about Fruta Vida International that will never change: The integrity of the products it sells and the business philosophy that stands behind them.

Raw Materials
The raw materials that are brought together to create this unique blend of Brazilian flavors called Fruta Vida have been specifically chosen for their quality and the growers' commitment to the environment and the local people, as well. The horrible things that have happened to the rain forest in past years are well known. Local growers have joined together to protect the lands and the harvest that sustain the region.

GMP refers to the Good Manufacturing Practice Regulations promulgated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

These regulations, which have the force of law, require that manufacturers, processors, and packagers of drugs, medical devices, some food, and blood take proactive steps to ensure that their products are safe, pure, and effective.

GMP regulations require a quality approach to manufacturing, enabling companies to minimize or eliminate instances of contamination, mix ups, and errors. This in turn, protects the consumer from purchasing a product which is not effective or even dangerous.

Manufacturing
The manufacturer FVI contracts to produce its products, Garden State Nutritionals, is an FDA-inspected manufacturing facility that operates under strict Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). Garden State Nutritionals has built a reputation over three decades as a trusted leader in the formulation, development and manufacture of custom dietary supplements.

They are proud to have earned the highest available certification in America with an "A" Rating. The kosher-approved facilities have been audited and approved by leading independent bodies, as well.

From raw material analysis to final product inspection, every production step is carefully monitored and documented, with full accountability and in-process controls. The Technical Services, Analytical, Quality Control and Quality Assurance groups can offer you a level of scientific support unmatched in the industry.

In addition to a highly skilled Product Development group, a Scientific Advisory Board is maintained to keep abreast of the latest developments and technical innovations. This multidisciplinary team includes leading research scientists, molecular biologists, physicians, pharmacists, clinical nutritionists, herbalists, food technologists, and sports physiologists.

An experienced Regulatory Affairs group works with Fruta Vida and regional health authorities to ensure compliance with the documentation requirements of each country.

Fruta Vida International is very proud of its association with GSN. It once again ensures our clients that we will only offer them the very best. You can learn more about GSN by visiting their corporate website at: http://www.gardenstatenutritionals.com

GSN's Quality Assurance Department has broad responsibilities and authority in the following areas:

Quality Improvement - Quality improvement is based on the premise that all work activities can be planned, performed, measured, and improved. QA monitors our progress toward our corporate goal of building a culture in which improvement is continuous and an integral part of the organization.
Personnel GMP Training and Qualification - all employees who come into contact with our products must begin GMP training within the first month of employment. GMP training continues on a regular basis throughout the length of employment. Tests are given to monitor the effectiveness of training.
Internal Audits - QA inspectors monitor all phases of production to assess performance and adherence to GMP and to the SOPs of each department.
External Audits - QA oversees and supervises inspections and audits of our facilities by domestic and international regulatory bodies, as well as by customers and independent auditing firms.
Supplier Qualification - GSN maintains an audit program to verify our suppliers’ ability to provide consistent products that meet our strict quality requirements.
Document and Record Control - QA is responsible for maintaining all documents, records and Standard Operating Procedures, making sure that they are up to date.
Inspection and Acceptance Testing - QA has the authority to release and reject any component or finished product that does not meet specifications.
Non-Conformances - QA handles the identification, documentation, control, investigation and disposition of all non-conf.

The Quality Control/Analytical Development Department consists of a highly trained staff of 15 degreed chemists under the supervision of our resident Ph.D. The department performs testing and inspection pertaining to the approval and release of all incoming raw materials and finished products. We also have the ability to develop and validate new test methods, even for exotic herbal ingredients. Laboratory equipment and capabilities include:

Chemical Analysis (guarantees label claims for potency)
Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) and Near Infrared (N-IR) Spectrometers - for positive identification fingerprinting of incoming raw materials.
High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) - for accurate quantitative analysis of vitamins, amino acids and botanical actives. Our 7 Waters HPLC Instruments are all interfaced to a Millennium 32 Client/Server System for seamless data integration.
Perkin-Elmer Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometer (ICP) - for precise analysis of nutrient minerals and heavy metals.
Beckman UV/Visible Spectrometer - for quantitative analysis by light absorption.
Brinkmann Automatic Titrator - for wet chemical assays.
Tablet Dissolution/Disintegration Equipment - to guarantee conformance with rigid USP specifications.
Physical Analysis (guarantees consistency and uniformity)

Physical testing equipment determines tablet weight, hardness, thickness, and friability, as well as tap density and particle size of powders.
Microbiological Analysis (guarantees purity)
Our complete Microbiology Lab guarantees that raw materials and finished products comply with strict USP requirements.
Stability Analysis (guarantees shelf life)
Accelerated shelf-stability testing is performed in a range of humidified and non-humidified chambers.

GSN's reputation for quality extends around the world to clients in 36 countries. They are one of a select group of manufacturers to have received certification and approval from Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). As dietary supplements for the Australian market must be manufactured to pharmaceutical standards, TGA approval is the ultimate confirmation of superior quality.

Organically Grown Superfoods

All three of the superfoods used in Fruta Vida's proprietary formulation are also grown on organic farms in South America (Centroflora IBD certification). Having organically grown foods in our product simply means that the Acai, Yerba Mate, and Cupuacu fruit included in each bottle of Fruta Vida are produced naturally, without using conventional pesticides, petroleum-based fertilizers, or chemical processes. It's healthy for consumers and healthier for the growers in the fields.

Fruta Vida is very proud of our Organically Grown Foods distinction because this ensures our clients that they are consuming the very best in these three superfoods. The Centroflora Group developed a specific extract line elaborated with raw material deriving from biodinamic techniques farming and certificated by Biodinamic Institute (International Foundation for Organic Agriculture).

The IBD certification is a practice that developed from the need to identify the origin and processing of an organic food, differentiated and more valorized, establishing a trustful relationship with the consumer. It guarantees them the product origin, free of chemicals, respecting the environment and the worker, and giving to the producer, a differential to the market.

Its foundation is based on humanists principles, and acts all around Brazil and South America, contributing to the recovery, conservation, and preservation of the environment, and the developing of the work relationships, stimulating the social commitment of the certificated IBD projects.

Fruta Vida's Halal Certification

Fruta Vida is also HALAL Certified through the Islamic Food and Nutritional Council of America (INFANCA). We are very proud to add this certification to our Fruta Vida product to insure availability of our products to the Halal consuming community around the world.

What does this mean for you, if you're a consumer of Halal certified products? You can be confident that you are purchasing a product that has completed the stringent testing requirements that may be important to you.

IFANCA is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and maintains offices on the West Coast, USA, Toronto, Canada and Brussels, Belgium.

IFANCA certifies Halal food production in over 20 countries around the globe. IFANCA certified products are sold in nearly every country of the world. IFANCA certifies products in all food industries, cosmetics, meat & poultry slaughter, packaging materials and chemicals.

IFANCA has been recognized and endorsed by the following religious and government organizations:
Appointed by the Malaysian Government to certify foods from North America, Europe, and Asia (The ONLY organization from the USA to receive this honor.) - Islamic Committee Office of Thailand - Majelis Ulama Indonesia (M.U.I.) - Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (M.U.I.S.) - Muslim World League, Saudi Arabia - Philippine Hallal Association - USDA International Programs

Giving Back - Protecting The Rainforest

A portion of all Fruta Vida sales are donated to protect the vegetation and the people of the Amazon rainforest.

Back in 2004, with the formula for Fruta Vida now in hand, the next step was to find the right suppliers for the South American ingredients.

There are many environmental concerns to be faced when looking at any raw material harvest, but the Amazon has more than its share. Many of us are familiar with the issues of deforestation and poor farming practices that are eroding the soil.

As we researched locations throughout South America, we came to many other problems that covered environmental, social economic, and animal protection.

It became our goal to locate a supplier that was as committed to the protection of the vast rain forest as Fruta Vida International, but also shared our larger picture mentality.

We know from so many tragic situations in our own history and lessons learned around the world, that a single minded solution does not protect the environment. It is not enough to not use chemical alternatives that damage the soil for generations for the sake of a large crop this year, or limit clearing of forest to 2 acres instead of 5.

To protect any environment, you must cure the source.

We located a supplier in South America for the raw superfoods in our product that has established an organization (Centroflora) which addresses the sources to many elements that all contribute to the growing hazards of the Amazon rainforest. Click Here for more details.

Have a question? Please call us. We'll be happy to assist you. If you'd like to continue visiting our website, simply choose your topic of interest from the menu at the top of this page.

Janusz Kozdon
815 765 1621
Poplar Grove, Illinois

 

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