Revive Active signs export deal

Ireland’s fastest growing super supplement brand, Revive Active, which is produced, packaged and delivered across the world from its plant in Mullingar, has just signed a distribution deal in Nigeria worth over €1millon.

Revive Active employs 60 staff – 25 of them at the Mullingar plant – and plans to expand. The founder of the company and its CEO, Daithi O’Connor, spoke to the Westmeath Examiner during a visit to the plant for the launch of the Revive Active/Marathon Mind partnership (see facing page). The company is sponsoring Niall Breslin’s Mullingar Marathon Mind.

Mr O’Connor founded Revive Active in 2011 with a vision to be the leading health supplement company globally. “Revive Active passionately believes in doing things right,” he said. From humble beginnings, Daithí backed his vision with everything he had and built a business with strong foundations. Its unique products are formulated and made in Mullingar and sold in 2,000 outlets in Ireland and exported around the world.

“We are delighted to be a part of the first Marathon Mind in Mullingar. Having opened our Revive Active production plant here just three years ago and created local employment, we are very much at home in Mullingar. We look forward to welcoming over 1000 athletes to Mullingar and supporting their journey along the way,” Mr O’Connor said.

Revive Active have supported many sports teams and people over the years, including world record marathon holder Paula Radcliffe, international rugby player, James Ryan, Sheffield Utd, Sligo Rovers, GAA teams including Galway GAA, Armagh GAA and Olympians such as Kate Doherty.

Three of its products are Informed Sport Certified – Revive Active, Joint Complex and Zest Active – and therefore suitable for professional and elite athletes as they have been tested for substances prohibited in sport. They also suit marathon runners’ training.

Nigeria may not seem the obvious destination for a secondary market for a Mullingar Galway based business, but a chat on the golf course put Mr O’Connor in touch with an Irishman who was CEO of a pharma company based in Nigeria and “as the Irish support the Irish”, Revive Act was introduced to the largest pharmacy chain in Nigeria, MedPlus.

Revive Active launched in MedPlus, Nigeria in late 2019 and soon orders were doubling month on month, as demand increased in the capital, Lagos. The Revive Active retail and digital marketing teams worked closely with MedPlus to create awareness in a market that was completely new to the Irish brand.

“This has been a huge opportunity for us, and we are delighted to be partnering with a well-established pharmacy group like MedPlus as their professionalism and vision for our brand are refreshing and encouraging. For me, I’m delighted to be growing in a new market with enormous opportunity within Nigeria and West Africa,” Mr O’Connor said.

Nigeria has a population of 150 million, is in the same time-zone as Ireland, St Patrick is its patron saint, Guinness is a big brand there and people are aware of Ireland through the Irish missionaries. “We have contacts now established in neighbouring Ghana and we are currently researching the South African market, working with Enterprise Ireland and a local company on the ground,” Mr O’Connor added.

The exclusive distribution deal secured with MedPlus for the Revive Active brand in Nigeria has been approved through the Nigerian embassy in Dublin. Revive Active anticipate a product export value of over €1 million to Nigeria this year.