Distribution

Flex, Nov, 2003

WHEN YOU BUY A SUPPLEMENT ONLINE or at your local retailer, all you know is who makes it and where you got it. What you don't see is what goes on behind the scenes. How did the retailer get the supplement from the manufacturer? That's where the crucial middleman, the distributor, comes into play--and Europa Sports is as big as they come.

DISTRIBUTION OF SUPPLEMENTS is by no means rocket science. Large companies, like Pinnacle, EAS and MuscleTech, send their products by the crate to the distributor, who then funnels them to myriad retailers, such as GNC, and to gyms, both large chains like Bally and smaller local clubs.

As far as distributors go, Europa is the industry's largest, serving more than 160 vendors (supplement companies) and approximately 7,000 retail outlets (gyms and health-food stores). "The distributor handles the unglamorous job of making sure the retailer gets the products to their shelves from the manufacturer and makes them available to the consumer," says Jeff Compton, chief operating officer of Europa. "In most cases we're the company that makes sure that what is seen in advertisements in M&F and FLEX is getting from the manufacturer to the shelf for the consumer to use.

"Eric Hillman [CEO of Europa] and I started the company in 1990," Compton adds. "I'm a former bodybuilder and Eric is an IFBB judge. We were sales reps for two other companies, where we were able to sell only a limited number of products. People would always ask us about supplements from companies we weren't working for. That's when we decided to start Europa. Now, we can provide just about any supplement from any manufacturer."