derma e of Simi Valley, CA won the Healing Lifestyles & Spas 2013 Earth Day Beauty Awards’ Best Multipurpose Product Award for its new Skin, Hair and Nail Oil.

Ontario, Canada-based Diva International partnered with New York City radio station KTU-FM to sponsor its annual KTUphoria concert on May 31. In June, Diva co-sponsored the Making Menstruation Matter Awards Ceremony, which is part of the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research’s 20th Biennial Conference at Marymount Manhattan College.

To combat a lack of contraception in Caribbean countries, Partners in Health teamed up with Sir Richard’s of Boulder, CO. For every condom purchased, Sir Richard’s donates one to a developing nation, with Haiti being the trial run. More than 1.6 million condoms have already been distributed in this country.

Four products from Trace Minerals Research of Ogden, UT—ConcenTrace Trace Mineral Drops, Mega-Mag, Ionic Magnesium and Optimal-pH—are now verified by the Non-GMO Project Standard to have avoided GMOs.

Sainthood Herbs of Pasadena, CA, has made Avatar its sales and marketing company.

Twice an hour at the Indy 500, a 30-second video featuring Vitamin Angels and singer-songwriter Tristan Prettyman appeared on the Jumbotron. You can watch the video here: http://youtu.be/3Arw2yX-1Fw.

In other news, industry is encouraged to support Vitamin Angels at a West Coast golf outing taking place at the Trump International Golf Course in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, on Sept. 23. That evening, a dinner will take place at Terranea Resort. Registration is being taken at www.vitaminangelsgolfwest.com.

Pharmacy Times placed Topricin Pain Relief and Healing Cream (from Topical BioMedics of Rhinebeck, NY) on its 2012–2013 list of nationally recommended over-the-counter health products. The product was “No. 1 Pharmacists Recommended” in the topical analgesics category, along with 17 other national OTC brands, and was the only homeopathic formula to earn that distinction. Pharmacists all over the country were surveyed.

The Natural, a retail store located in Middle Island, NY, won the Catch a Date with Terry Lemerond contest sponsored by EuroPharma USA, Green Bay, WI. The store will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Green Bay, WI to attend a Green Bay Packers football game with Lemerond, who will also conduct a private educational product training session featuring the latest scientific studies on natural medicines.

Backed by Apollo Global Management equity firm, Sprouts Farmers Market, headquartered in Arizona, filed for an initial public offering of its common stock to raise $300 million.

Published in WholeFoods Magazine, July 2013