The Vega Story

Vega began with a vision, determination, and a serendipitous relationship that bore the first Vega product, now called Vega One.

Told from the onset that a plant-based diet wouldn't cut it on the professional Ironman circuit, Brendan Brazier's nutritional journey began with unpromising results. Several months of chronic hunger, the need to constantly eat and a decline in energy culminated in a decline in athletic performance.

Brendan's stubborn curiosity persevered however, and after many years of research, trials and tribulations, he created a plant-based, whole food diet that worked better than he had ever expected. Brendan went on to become one of the top professional Ironman triathletes in Canada, crediting his diet for his success competing in one of the world's most demanding sports.

For years Brendan packed plant-based whole foods into a daily blended shake to supply his body with premium fuel in liquid form for easy digestion. It worked great at home, but when he traveled it became troublesome dragging around a blender and shopping for (or packing along) his favourite whole food ingredients. Brendan began searching for a convenient, healthy, plant-based, whole food derived, all-in-one protein and nutritional supplement option, but was disappointed in his findings.

He found most protein shakes on the market were whey protein-based—off limits for a vegan. Though some vegetarian options existed, they were almost exclusively soy protein-based, an ingredient Brendan was trying to cut back on due to his concerns regarding GMOs and phytoestrogens. All the protein supplements he found were also lacking in essential fatty acids, especially Omega-3, which required additional supplementation to deliver the all-in-one nutrition he was after. To make matters worse, most contained large quantities of low-quality carbohydrates (e.g,. maltodextrin), artificial flavors, colors and sweeteners—all ingredients Brendan wanted to avoid.

Brendan realized there was a need for an all-in-one nutritional shake that did not compromise quality, nourishing ingredients for convenience. He approached several nutritional supplement manufacturers, but everyone told him it wouldn't work—”you can't put whole food ingredients into a commercial protein shake or meal replacement” they said. "It would have too short a shelf-life, low product demand, poor taste and texture, and too high a cost" they said. There were too many negatives and not enough positives to warrant such a product. So Brendan put his idea on the back-burner and continued to lug his trusty blender and cooler-full of whole foods wherever he traveled.

A couple of years later, Brendan was struck by a car while training on his bike and injured his leg. Told by his doctor to take 6 months off from training and competing, Brendan sought alternative options. He underwent intense physiotherapy and began taking a product his naturopath recommended called ChlorEssence, hoping the high level of growth factors in it would help heal his injury. At the same time, Brendan also began taking a supplement called MacaSure, helping him deal with the physical and emotional stress of his injury.

Within 8 weeks of rehabilitation, all the while taking 10g of ChlorEssence and 10g of MacaSure a day, Brendan made a full recovery. Though he was not in his top form, remarkably, he was able to compete professionally again, participating in the Ironman Canada triathlon event and finishing the gruelling race despite his recent injury. Brendan was so pleased with his rapid recovery that he contacted Sequel Naturals, makers of ChlorEssence and MacaSure, and shared his success story with the company's President, Charles Chang.

Brendan and Charles also discussed the concept of producing a complete, whole food-derived nutritional shake that was made from 100% plant-based ingredients. Only now, Brendan wanted to include ChlorEssence and MacaSure in every serving of this nutritional shake as well. Charles was intrigued by the passion of this young athlete and he loved the idea of the whole food-derived nutritional shake. Aware of the many challenges that developing such a product would present, Charles was confident that together they would be able to overcome them.

Brendan was given the job of product formulator and Sequel Naturals would take care of the ingredient sourcing, production, quality control, packaging, sales and distribution. They agreed that this nutritional shake would be made without compromises and had to meet several key criteria:

1. Made with all natural, plant-based ingredients (absolutely no animal products)
2. Made primarily with whole foods in their freshest, least processed form possible
3. Provide a balance of protein, carbohydrates and healthy fats, plus a significant contribution to your daily intake of vitamins and minerals when mixed in plain water
4. Feature proteins from a diverse variety of vegetarian sources that combine to deliver a complete essential amino acid profile
5. Provide carbohydrates that are naturally occurring, complex and low-glycemic, with no added sugars or sugar-derivatives
6. Deliver essential fatty acids of the highest quality, the majority being Omega-3s, with no trans fats
7. Free of dairy, gluten and soy
8. Include no artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners
9. Taste good with pleasant texture and flavour when mixed with plain water
10. Easy to prepare for on-the-go convenience

After a year of product formulation and testing, the first version of Brendan's nutritional shake was a close replica of Brendan's favourite blender smoothie. Now available in its third generation of the formula, all the ingredients in Vega One nutritional shake were chosen by Brendan to work synergistically to nourish the body and reduce nutritional stress. And now Brendan doesn't have to lug his old blender with him when he travels anymore.

Prologue

Vega One (and its predecessors, Vega Whole Food Meal Replacement and Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer) has been so successful it inspired the development of all the Vega products you know and love. Each new Vega product is formulated based on the Guiding Principles of Vega and Brendan's passion for clean, plant-based nutrition. Rooted in the shared belief that the closest you can get to perfection is constant improvement, Brendan and Vega are on a continual mission to discover new ingredients and explore new ideas on how to make existing—and future—Vega products even better.