Vega One: A Nutritionists Perspective

Comment

Comment by Orien on February 11, 2012 at 3:28pm

Emma I'm embarrassed for you, being forced by your employer to defend their inferior and overpriced product.  You and I both know the WFHO price was not 74.99 prior to Vega One coming out.  Vega One will win fans among newcomers who never knew about WFHO (or just old customers with more money than sense), and business will be pretty good despite all the customers lost.  I wouldn't have lost so much respect for your company if they simply raised the price of WFHO because of demand, rather than put out this ridiculous marketing campaign, which I can only hope is because of a businessman in a suit and not Brendan Brazier.

Best wishes,

Orien

Comment by Thomas Sandberg on February 11, 2012 at 1:28pm

Forget the % smoke-screen: 15g of protein instead of 26g to start my day just doesn't cut it, and $74.99?!!! Where I am the WFHO is $64, guess I gitta do what the others around here are doing: stock up on all the WFHO I can and then what? I guess start looking to a different company for a product that's superior to Vega One, which when it was the WFHO was impossible, but now seems like it'll be easy...one of the employees at a local health food store in my area called the lower of ingredients, what was it again? Oh yes, I think she chose the word 'dumb'.

Comment by Vega Educator: Emma on February 10, 2012 at 10:33pm

Hi Sluze. Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns.

I'm not sure if you've been able to see Vega One in store's yet, but suggested retail will be around $69.99, and suggested retail for Health Optimizer is $74.99. Of course you will find promotions on at different retailers and you can check with your local retailer what their ongoing price will be.

Yes, I am a Vega employee, and a passionate one too. I really believe in our product and formulations because I use them every day, and did far earlier than starting with the company. I can confirm that we actually make less profit per tub, as we actually improved the quality of a number of ingredients, but did not pass this cost along to consumers. This includes better sourcing for several key minerals (like iron, manganese and magnesium), our probiotics and enzymes.

The extra 8.3g per scoop (scoop size varies slightly per flavour, depending on the weight of the natural flavours) is where we were able to double the probiotics and enzymes per scoop, add more overall greens, more antioxidants, protein and EFA's. There remains no added sugar or sodium. The sugar content is from the natural berry flavours and the pea protein. Pea protein also contains naturally occurring sodium.

Although our product comparisons are per scoop, I did a mathematical comparison of serving to serving using the natural flavour. 61g or Health Optimizer to 36g of Vega One. Even with the massive difference in volume there is an unchanged percentage (i.e. concentration) of the following nutritional factors: Protein (42% of overall volume in each serving), Omega 3 EFA's (4%), antioxidants (.3%, each 200mg), probiotics (each 1 billion) and enzymes (.4%, or 300mg). Chlorella content has decreased, yes, however because we wanted to offer a variety of greens instead, the overall % actually remains the same (4% of total serving). Vitamin and mineral content has decreased per serving, but per scoop remains unchanged. Lastly Maca has decreased (from 4% to 2%), but again, we felt the ability to retain the focus on the other, food based factors, was of more value to the overall serving.

The % comparison from above is a great illustration that even with a recommended serving size volume decrease, we retained the nutritional concentration of many key factors. This indicates the retention of quality, even with a serving size decrease. Again the one scoop serving size is a reflection of how the majority of users, were consuming the product.

If you have been using 2 scoops previously, given the retention of the strength of many of the key ingredients, you will likely find 1 scoop to be adequate (if not all, then most of the time). If you would like to create a similar nutritional profile to your former 2 scoops of Health Optimizer you can take 2 scoops to replicate vitamins and minerals, but 1.5-1.7 scoops would be enough to match your nutrients such as protein and EFA's.

I encourage you to consider which factors are more important to you: If it's enzymes, probiotics, antioxidants, and greens, you won't need to make any serving adjustments. If it's vitamins and minerals, then yes, two scoops would be 100% RDI, but don't forget food should always be the foundation for our vitamins and mineral sources. If the previous 26g protein content is the main nutritional factor, then I would recommend taking 1.7 scoops of Vega One.

I really encourage you to give Vega One a try, at it's one scoop serving size, and see how you feel after a period of use. We really feel confident you will continue to enjoy optimal health and dietary balance.

Thank you again for your questions and comments. I hope to keep in touch once you've had a chance to try Vega One.

Comment by Thomas Sandberg on February 10, 2012 at 10:32pm

Vega One is garbage, I don't want to have to ADD stuff to an 'all-in-one' shake??!! Forget about this 'scoop-for-scoop' smoke-screen, I go by servings and per serving 50% RDI is less than 100% and 15g of protein is less than 26g, so I need to add my own hemp/rice to bring it up to a decent amount of protein, add Maca and chlorella too for the same reason and add fruit etc. to get 100% RDI??!!! Vega One? More like Vega Half but still all my money? I'm gonna have to use 2 scoops--"two servings"--to equal 1 'serving' of Vega WFHO. Good job, Sequel and Brendan, you've pretty much convinced me to make my own shakes...wait--isn't that what Brendan used to do which ultimately lead to the creation of the Vega line of products? How does that make sense??

Comment by sluze on February 9, 2012 at 3:43pm

The initial draw of the WFHO, for me and I'm sure for most others, was it contained 100% of your daily recommended intake of vitamins and minerals in one simple shake. Now of course it had other benefits: probiotics, alkalinity, a healthy serving of protein (26g) and lots of fibre. The second I saw this product on the shelf at my health food store I thought 'now this is what I've been looking for, its got everything I need all in one shake' and again I'm quite sure that was the attraction for most people. I can't tell you how many people I have recommended this product to, simply b/c of how great it was - I lost 20 pounds using it as the basis for a new diet and lifestyle change, it has been amazing.

Now Vega has decided to change the formula, ostensibly to decrease the serving size from 2 scoops to 1. Which in and of itself sounds wonderful...however that is where the goodness ends and the marketing and money grabbing begins:

Vega One vs. Whole Food Health Optimizer

1. Lets start with with the serving size: right now, in the largest tub of WFHO, you get 15 servings of 71g each, Vega One offers you 20 servings of 43.8g - which clearly means you are getting LESS of the product per container but PAYING THE SAME PRICE.

2. Lets look at the 'one scoop' vs. 'two scoops' issue: Vega has said there reason for the change was `over whelming feed back` from customers that they wanted a 'one scoop solution' and THAT, NOT MONEY, was the impetus for the formula change. Here is the problem - to get the same NUTRITIONAL VALUE, that’s the key, from the product you still need to take 2 (count them 2) scoops. Simply look at the numbers: 35.5g of WFHO (1 scoop) offers you 50% of your daily recommended intake of vitamins and minerals. 43.8g of Vega One (1 scoop) gives you 50% of your daily recommended intake of vitamins and minerals...hmmm weird. So what are you getting for the extra 8.3g? Some sodium, some sugar, and a little bit of extra protein. See when the customer asked for a 'one scoop' solution I think the implication was that we wanted to get 'the same amount of NUTRIENTS per SERVING, not per SCOOP'.

3. Most auspicious (for them) and shameful in my mind, THE MONEY GRAB - Vega has changed the formula in a way that cheapens the product (decreases in maca and chlorella), INCREASES the amount of product per scoop (without greatly increasing the benefits per g), and DECREASES the package size...but wait, they have kept the price the SAME?!?! What does all this mean for us consumers you might be asking yourself, well, in my case I'll need 3 tubs a month instead of 2 if I want to maintain the same amount of health benefit and nutrient intake from their product. That is a 50% increase in revenue for Vega - if that doesn't SCREAM money grab, I don't know what does. 

Vega has turned on the marketing machine to try and over come these OBVIOUS issues with terms like 'changed for the better' and with the blog above (which is clearly written by a Vega mouth piece with ZERO objectivity; and apparently ZERO math skills) that tries to confuse you with 'per serving' and 'per scoop' comparisons so that it SOUNDS great...until you do the math. Th

Comment by Alexa on February 5, 2012 at 6:28pm

I am extremely excited to try this, my only complaint is that it still is incredibly high priced compared to other vegan protein powders per serving. 

Comment by Meg on February 5, 2012 at 12:22pm

I agree, I think 2 scoops was a bit much for me. I loved the flavor of just one with almond milk and frozen banana. Good to know the sodium is naturally occuring :) It will be great to try out the new formulation, I hope its as amazing as the WFHO! :)

Comment by Vega Educator: Emma on February 4, 2012 at 11:32am

Hi Orien. Thanks for charting out some comparisons.

-The smaller tub volume is a reflection of the smaller serving size. Again this is a reflection of the overwhelming response from Vega users, that one scoop was the preferred serving.

-Price per serving is less, making a daily Vega drink more affordable

-Less maca, and less chlorella yes, but in favour of increases in other nutrients users were asking for. The vegetable greens may be less expensive yes, but don't forget chlorella is from Japan, so its price in part reflects this distance. The greens are primarily from domestic (North American) sources, so are naturally less expensive, not less valuable.

-Your additional comments are correct, chia seeds are now added increasing the overall EFA content, taste is improved naturally through new sources of antioxidants, proteins, and greens.

Can't wait for you to try Vega One personally, I think you'll really be impressed, both for taste and nutritional profile.

Comment by Vega Educator: Emma on February 4, 2012 at 11:21am

Hi Meg, Thanks for your questions. There is no added sodium. The sodium listed is naturally occurring, primarily in the pea protein (same as how many foods contain naturally occurring sodium, beet greens, flour, kale etc...). And yes, Vega One is the reformulation of the WFHO. Hope you enjoy!

Comment by Meg on February 4, 2012 at 7:16am

I'm sorry, just to understand, is that WFHO? When did these changes take place? Also, I've been wondering for a while now, it says 100% RDA in sodium, is it just in the form of salt? Or is it now not added in? If you could clear this up that would be awesome! :) thanks so much!

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• Next ›
• Page