With 35 years in the natural health community, can you tell us more about the early days of Innovite?
In 1983, Donna and Cornelius Pasare (original founders of Innovite) left the security of their careers as an architect and an engineer and bravely founded Innovite from a modest Toronto basement office. Troubled by the environmental problems of their daily lives and the lack of local natural health options, they resolved to search for innovative health products to supply to the Canadian market.
Despite a limited budget, Innovite gained a strong grassroots following, growing steadily thanks to enthusiastic word-of-mouth recommendations from health food staff and consumers. Innovite’s positive reputation for bringing new and effective traditional medicines to the natural health community was also growing fast.
How does the most recent change for the brand affect Canadians?
When CanPrev purchased the Innovite brand from Inoyan Laboratories Inc. earlier this year, no one could have been happier than Innovite founders Cornelius and Donna Pasare. The Pasares—now retired from the industry—paid a visit recently to CanPrev to meet owners and founders, Tanya and Franco Salituro, and reconnect with the brand they had sold a few years ago.
“We are honoured to have acquired Innovite, a brand steeped in Canadian heritage,” said Tanya Salituro. “Innovite is a company that, over its rich 35-year history, has been an integral thread in the fabric of the health food movement here in Canada.”
“We are excited to create further opportunities for growth and innovation in the Canadian nutraceutical market,” added Franco Salituro. “The combined capabilities will further cement the presence of a genuine, all-Canadian innovation hub for natural health products, better serving Canadians with research-driven products uniquely designed for the Canadian market.”
35 years later, Innovite is now at home with CanPrev. And the love for natural health remains. “We’re happy to see that Innovite is in good hands,” said original founder, Cornelius Pasare. “We’re looking forward to continuing Innovites’ proud Canadian legacy,” said Tanya Salituro.
Where does Innovite see itself in the natural health community, today?
Standing up for good health was something Innovites’ original founders, Donna and Cornelius Pasare, deeply believed in, and that is still our mission today.
We’re optimists who love to make things happen. We’re about exploring and developing health products that matter, so that people can feel their best. We believe it’s never too late to try something new. Our goal is to harness unique natural medicine that engages Canadians to feel good, feel better, and live well. We may have first met over 35 years ago or maybe we are just meeting today. Either way, we are grateful to have found our community, our people—people who care about sharing natural health choices that work and help our fellow Canadians feel better.
For the love of natural health; that’s truly why we’re here.
PIONEERING NATURAL HEALTH SINCE 1983.