Muscling in on the nutrition business

34-year old bodybuilder Zef Eisenberg isn't someone you’d think could be pushed around. So it’s a surprise to learn that he started his niche sports nutrition business because he was “forced into it”.

As a bodybuilder, 34-year old Zef Eisenberg isn't someone you'd think could be pushed around. So it's a surprise to learn that he started his niche sports nutrition business back in 1995 because he was "forced into it". Forced is perhaps a slight exaggeration. Two years previously, the north London gym instructor had written an expos of the sports nutrition business, stating which approaches worked building muscle and burning fat and what products were plain rubbish. The book won a cult following, leading to pleas for Eisenberg to get into sports nutrition himself. His readers were unimpressed with what was already available, as was he.

Much of what Eisenberg saw was "cheap a-z multivitamins with a sprinkle of things... that cost a pound in the supermarket. What I wanted in terms of quality and specifications wasn't out there". So Eisenberg decided to make his own nutrition range, with ingredients selected on the basis of scientific research and clinical studies. This proved expensive, but as Eisenberg puts it: "If you need to compromise, you just don't make the product."

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Jody Clarke

Jody studied at the University of Limerick and was a senior writer for MoneyWeek. Jody is experienced in interviewing, for example digging into the lives of an ex-M15 agent and quirky business owners who have made millions. Jody’s other areas of expertise include advice on funds, stocks and house prices.