An Interview with James Dutton, Nutricare Founder and CEO: ‘We Make Natural Innovative Health Care Products Because We Care’

The Silicon Review

“We hire talent based on passion and ethical alignment and we need to know what is motivating to our team, as individuals.”

The development of an immense, international wellness market may reflect consumers’ changing relationships with their health care. Perhaps more than ever, people are prioritizing lifestyle, taking health into their own hands, and spending money on their well-being.

In light of the foregoing, we’re thrilled to present Nutricare — an international company grounded in the successful commercialization of health and wellness FMCG products. Its flagship product, PATCH, a 100 percent natural bamboo bandage, is a certified Class-1 medical device, 100 percent compostable, hypoallergenic, and produces zero waste. From general practice physicians to those treating critical-care patients, PATCH services a huge part of the medical industry that currently cannot use other tapes and dressing due to high skin sensitivities. Needles to say, the product plays a crucial role in the medical industry. It’s is sold by 35,000 stores across 40 countries.

Nutricare was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Australia.

Proud Moment

Nutricare has won several awards including ‘Natural and Organics Award Europe 2019’, ‘Telstra Business Awards 2019’, ‘Nexty Award 2019’, ‘Nexty Consumer Choice 2020’, among others.

James Dutton, Nutricare Founder and CEO, spoke exclusively to The Silicon Review. Below is an excerpt.

Q. How does your solution align with the existing medical practice?

We’re proud to say that there’s nothing like PATCH in the world considering how COVID-19 has altered the way medical practitioners operate. We are closely aligned with them from around the world and have partnered with members of the NHS and front-liners in response to the pandemic to prevent skin irritation from masks.

Q. What are the challenges addressed by Nutricare and its presence in the wider social community?

At Nutricare, we’re passionate about making sure all people have access to wound care – nobody wants to hurt more when they’re already hurting. In particular, this couldn’t be more true when it comes to a section of the wound care industry that has been largely ignored for years.

This is why we invest heavily in our charitable outreach programs, consistently donating to those in need. In the last few months, we’ve proudly aligned with the organization ‘Trees for the Future’, which means that for every new store we’re ranged in a new tree gets planted. The long term benefits of PATCH are something that we try and raise as much awareness of as we can because every time a PATCH is used, it’s preventing another alternative plastic bandage from going straight to landfill. Playing in the same space of the largest companies in the world may seem like a pretty daunting challenge, but for us, it’s more of a cause-based mission; we’re here to redefine, not regurgitate.

Q. There are other players in this vertical. How do you distinguish yourself from the rest?

From the beginning, we were aware that existing in this space with some of the largest companies in the world would be no easy feat, but we knew that there was a huge gap in the market and that it could be done differently, and better. This is why we don’t like to think of ourselves as direct competitors, as we add value in a completely different way. We’re passionate about not only creating category-lifts for retailers but in a world of green-washing and overwhelming information, we want to make it simple for the end customer to make better choices.

The vast waste created in the industry and the sheer fact that approximately 25 percent of the global population cannot use their products due to adverse reactions (my son included) was the driver to recreate at every angle. Maintaining the energy and passion of a small business on a mission is something that also sets us apart…as you can’t teach that.

Q. Growing the company based on employees’ passions must be the priority. Do you ask your employees what they are interested in doing and how they would like to see their career unfold?

Absolutely, all the time! We hire talent based on passion and ethical alignment and we need to know what is motivating to our team, as individuals.

It’s kind of a two-pronged answer for this one as it’s incredibly important to know what an employee’s ambitions are in addition to their career ones. Sometimes they can be two different things and it’s crucial to understand this level of personal motivation so that they feel empowered within our walls.

Q. A good workplace stresses teamwork while still encouraging individual achievement and creativity. Does your company follow the same strategy?

Absolutely! The key is to make sure you build a team that genuinely cares about each other’s input. We have a fairly flat structure that means everyone’s opinions are welcome on just about every project. Our operations have input on marketing just as much as our sales team on warehousing. When your team collectively feels like their opinion is valued and listened to, only then they’re happy to celebrate the individual wins as well. We asked the team to contribute to this article by asking them what they resonate the most within their work for Nutricare, whilst it would be nice to include all their comments (but not format friendly), the collective sentiment was ‘helping to create change for the good, whilst being listened to and genuinely involved in the growth of the business keeps them engaged and motivated.’

Q. Trust is a difficult attribute to measure and a delicate dynamic to maintain. How do you maintain this with your employees?

Like you have suggested it is a difficult attribute to measure and honestly, we don’t measure it formally. It is probably an echo of what is said above regarding finding ‘your people’, when you assimilate your missions and motivations, and this is reflected in your team there is an instant feeling of trust. I will say that throughout my career, from the top down it’s often come down to transparency, which is much easier to embed within the culture from a small scale. We’re a pretty outspoken, lively, and honest bunch, and I think letting people ‘run with their ideas’ goes a long way in making them feel valued. Maybe it is maintained through a bit of magic.

Q. What does the future hold for Nutricare and its employees? Are exciting things on the way?

Great things! More category innovations, more challenges, more wins, and a whole lot of learning and growth that will help define the new age of conscious consumerism. Watch this space.

James Dutton: A Dynamic Entrepreneur

James Dutton, founder, serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Nutricare and its subsidiaries. An established and well-connected entrepreneur globally, James is respected for his outstanding adaptability and passion for growing companies from seed to capitalization through his practical and ‘hands-on’ approach. His unique street creed, skill sets, and knowledge have been gained over the last 30 years of his business career, spanning industries such as motorsport, finance, publishing, and e-commerce both at a national and international level. James’ motivation is his global vision ‘to be in every household in the world’, which is based on empowering consumers to have more choices that impact their everyday lives for the better. His prerequisite for all products is to add value to retailer categories through innovation, minimizing category duplication to eradicate waste. James has visited over 40 countries in his career and this deep understanding of consumers, trends, technology, and their varying impact on culture has consistently set him apart as an entrepreneur.