The company debuted its Every Phase herbal drops catered to women’s hormonal health – aligning with the growing trend in the food and beverage space.
CPG brands are increasingly targeting women’s life-stage needs – from PMS and hormone balance to fertility and menopause across functional food and beverage products. Fortification is a popular strategy to deliver targeted nutrients.
Brands in the space, like Levelle Nutrition, which offers “physiologically relevant” powders for women’s nutrition, according to CEO Linda Alvarez, signal a new wave of CPG products catered to female health.
Every Phase will be available direct-to-consumer on Apothékary’s website and at Ulta stores, giving the product visibility in core wellness and mainstream beauty retail. The drops contain adaptogens, like shatavari root to support reproductive health and ease PMS symptoms and chaste tree berry to support menstrual cycle regulation, according to Tina Shim, SVP of marketing for Apothékary.
Capital investment and retail expansion
In October 2024, Apothékary launched tinctures in more than 400 Sprouts Farmers Market stores nationwide, its first brick-and-mortar placement. The format shift – from powders to liquid drops – reflected consumer demand for potency and convenience, particularly among women looking for functional, plant-based wellness.
Just one month later, Apothékary secured an $8 million pre-Series A round led by Shiseido’s LIFT Ventures, raising total equity funding above $15 million. The strategic capital came as the brand prepared to launch Every Phase, a tincture designed to support hormone balance – part of a broader strategy to normalize natural, non-hormonal solutions for women navigating PMS, perimenopause and other life stages.
Shim explained the larger mission: “We just really want to be able to make herbal science and herbal results available to as many people as possible.”
Packaging and education for Ulta audiences
When entering Ulta, Apothékary discovered the need to meet beauty shoppers with clearer cues and education.
At Sprouts, the typical customer was already supplement-savvy – comfortable reading ingredient panels, comparing blends and seeking certifications like organic or non-GMO. For them, Apothékary leaned on functional formulations and shelf presence within the natural wellness set.
At Ulta, however, the consumer was different: curious about wellness, but often unfamiliar with tinctures. These shoppers were more benefit-driven – looking for stress relief, energy or hormone balance – rather than botanical details. That required packaging that clearly spelled out outcomes, bold visuals to illustrate usage and influencer-driven education.
“We call out a lot more things about certifications [and] the product benefits,” said Shim, pointing to shelf-ready designs that highlight functional claims like “hormone support” and “stress relief,” for Ulta customers.
She added: “We had some people at our pop-up literally start putting it on their skin because they thought it was a facial serum.” To avoid confusion, Apothékary introduced “dropper-to-mouth” imagery and partnered with influencers to demonstrate usage.
Advice for CPG brands expanding into retail
Shim outlined three pillars that helped Apothékary scale across channels:
- Start with core channel demand and scale when ready: Apothékary waited to enter Sprouts until it had supply reliability. As Shim noted, many consumers were purchasing Apothekary’s products online, but when seeking new products, they headed to retail.
- Packaging matters, especially when crossing categories: Using earth-toned, beauty-inspired designed helped the brand stand out in Sprouts’ vitamin aisles – and were further refined for Ulta with bold benefit-focused labels.
- Educate new audiences, especially when crossing categories: Where natural-food shoppers care about blends and ingredients, beauty shoppers focus on tangible benefits – and may need help understanding novel formats like tinctures.
- Listen to consumers to guide category expansion: Through surveys and feedback, Apothekary learned that tincture potency, not just format was valued – and that women wanted natural, non-hormonal hormone balance solutions, informing its Every Phrase launch.
