MARIETA YORDANOVA: UNLEASHING NATURE'S HEALING POTENTIAL

Creating your own company in a field that is still new on the Bulgarian market asks for boldness, the inevitable leap of faith and the will to overcome obstacles to succeed. Marieta Yordanova knows this well. Eight years ago the then mother of two with a background in psychology, marketing and brand management decided to found Biotica 1961, a company for organic food supplements. Today, she is mother of three children and Biotica 1961 is only one of the brands under the umbrella of Megasmart, a company that produces and promotes as well HerbaFix organic food supplements and My Organica organic cosmetics. "Our products are not always cheap, but their quality always justifies the trust that our clients put in their effectiveness and visible results," says Marieta Yordanova.

How was Biotica 1961 born?

Production of food supplements that target different health conditions was a natural and logical step in my life. Since I was a child I have been interested in different spiritual practices, Eastern medicine and healthy living, and have always looked for causality in everything. I was aware that health is the result of spiritual, psychological and physical balance. Without taking additional care, people with modern lifestyle can hardly achieve this balance.

I wanted to offer a new approach for alleviation of many conditions that is entirely based on the power of herb extracts. This was how the idea about Biotica 1961 was born. We relied on the production of adjuvants, an entirely new class of products on a natural basis that "work" together with standard medical methods in therapy of different diseases.

What problems your products target, what active ingredients are used and how is quality guaranteed?

Currently, the Megasmart brand includes over 90 products, both capsules and water- and ethanol-based tinctures targeting the most socially important health problems. Our cosmetic line includes series for body, hair, face and hand care. We have special series for babies and children, and an innovative line for sun protection. The creation of each product is a multistage process in which participate physicians, technologists, marketing experts. Our formulas do not compromise with quality and are designed to target specific problems, thus optimising treatment effectiveness. The production process complies with the ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 22000:2018 quality standards. All our products are tested for heavy metals.

Are organic health products a fashion or a necessity?

They are not a fashion at all. They are about maintaining our health in an informed and responsible way.

If you live in a clean, unpolluted area, your diet is balanced and you are physically active you most probably provide your organism with everything it needs to function properly. Organic products will not be a necessity for you. However, if you live in a stressful urban environment and your lifestyle is not balanced, you should consider how to regularly cleanse your body and provide it with supplements to compensate the deficiencies created by systemic malnourishment. This is also valid for cosmetics, especially one for children that should be sulphates, parabens and preservatives free. You need cosmetics that do not burden the organism, but nourish the cells. This is the leading principle in the development of our organic and natural cosmetics.

Megasmart is a company that puts innovation first. We constantly evolve, consult with experts in different fields of medicine and aim to offer effective formulas. We develop series for cleansing and detoxication, and for support of proper function of different organs and systems. Our cosmetic lines are high-end, with up to 99% clean substances.

What are your bestselling products?

It is hard to say. In food supplements, our clients choose our products after recommendation of their physician as a supporting therapy to conventional medical treatment, or after their personal decision. The most popular products are ones that target the most common health problems. In cosmetics, customers are most interested in face and baby care products. When the summer arrives we expect increased interest in our sunscreens. Their innovative formulas are times better than conventional ones.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

As the happy mother of three wonderful children my biggest challenge is balancing between my business and my family.

Megasmart is already in its mature phase of development as a company. The challenges we face are linked to the lack of control in the food supplement field, aggravated by so-called salespersons of illegitimate supplements on the Internet. They earn their profit abusing people's trust. They even copied one of our successful products, using unclean substances and ingredients. This caused us significant problems and great discomfort, but we succeeded in exercising our rights and obligations as a producer.

In 2020 the situation is even more complicated as a growing number of people look for the natural health provided by food ingredients. The market is very dynamic and responsibility seems to diminish. Consequently, the health of people is at risk not only in Bulgaria, but globally.

I believe that with the united efforts of all stakeholders in the field we can achieve improved safety, clearer rules and fair trade. Manufacturers should keep up with good standards, should be responsible and should know what they do. We work with carefully selected ingredient suppliers and technologists, and manufacturing, packaging and storage facilities. We always put responsibility first. However, the consumer is also responsible to use some common sense when buying supplements. They are advised to seek information for the particular brand before purchasing.

We believe that complex healthcare should be promoted that values not only phytonutrients but also healthy lifestyle, physical activity, balanced diet, reduced smoking and alcohol consumption. Physicians also need to create a new culture of behaviour.

We, at Megasmart, have focused on this for years. We are open to our customers and we work to impose this behaviour to our online and offline retailers, too. The results are already here.

How do you want Megasmart to develop?

I want Megasmart to be different. For us, not only growing dynamically is important, but also what new directions we can take. Being an innovator is the only way to make life difficult for people who imitate your products.

We plan to implement an individual approach to each client so that we can send customised advice, and food and physical regimes for their particular conditions. We aim to stay close to our patients and to support them. That is why customers can recognise us through our responsibility and the added value of every Megasmart product, including My Organica cosmetic line. We are a company targeted entirely towards what is good for health, and constantly work on developing new safe and effective solutions. 2019 was a year when we signed important agreements with partners in Europe and this year we will start appearing on the international market.

How can we find Megasmart products?

Our products are recognisable and can be found in many pharmacies in Bulgaria. As they are in the high-range category not every pharmacy has our full catalogue in stock, but they accept individual orders and deliveries.

The easiest and fastest way to order our products is from our corporate site www.biotica.bg. There you will also find the best food supplement for your particular health problem plus information on its ingredients. Our special blog is dedicated to different diseases and the most advanced treatment methods.