From a young age, Frank Sr. developed an interest in the properties of plants from the teachings of his grandmother, who herself was well versed in the healing powers of plants.
While working and managing a construction business, Senior studies at night school, expanding his knowledge of botanical medicine, herbal healing, and chemistry.
In 1972, Frank decided to finally take his passion and turn it into a business. With his wife and business partner, Josephine, the couple dedicated themselves to launching a business that would produce high-quality herbal extracts and nutritional products to help support, promote, and enhance healthier lifestyles. Working out of a space no larger than a garage, Frank and Josephine set up an extract manufacturing plant where they produced the first full line of herbal extracts to the market, filled bottles, and applied labels by hand.
With a belief that nature knows best, Senior develops a cold extraction process that seeks to deliver more of the plant active constituents in the ratios found in nature than traditional processes. He named that proprietary process, Bio-Chelated®.
Frank realized that creating the highest-quality products required the highest-quality raw materials. So, he loaded up his Winnebago with his wife and kids and set out in the summer to meet herb collectors across the country. He wanted to meet these wild crafters face-to-face and to see their herbs first-hand, forging relationships that hold strong even today.
Bio-Botanica rapidly outgrew its small space. Within a few years, the company needed to move to a more modern manufacturing site where the D’Amelio’s pioneered the distribution of liquid herbal extracts to retail health stores. As the company continued to expand and grow, so did its reputation as a manufacturer of exceptional, high quality products.
The D’Amelio’s purchase property in Hauppauge, Long Island, and began building an 18,000 square foot manufacturing facility. Bio-Botanica found its new home at 75 Commerce Drive, where it still lives today.
Recognizing customers were frustrated with poor quality and adulteration in competitor products, Senior is one of the first in the natural products industry to invest in state-of-the-art testing equipment to ensure Bio-Botanica customers receive only the highest quality products. These new testing methods included Advanced Botanical Fingerprint Technology®, which identifies the scientific markers (or unique “fingerprints”) of each plant, allowing Frank to set standards for proving the authenticity of each herb.
After years of development, Senior refined his process to be able to produce the first line of alcohol-free liquid extracts on the market. This innovation opens the use of botanical extracts to children and people who needed to avoid alcohol for religious, moral, or health reasons.
Frank and Josephine wanted to further expand and extend their natural herbal extract business into other industries through the sale of bulk ingredients. Bio-Botanica began being marketed as a manufacturer of high-quality botanical extract ingredients for personal care, food, beverage and dietary supplement industries, while a new company, Nature’s Answer®, was created to sell a line of consumer-packaged goods in the natural health products industry. A strong CPG brand allows Bio-Botanica to keep a pulse on market trends which it shares with its ingredient customers to their benefit.
With the company continuing to grow, Bio-Botanica jumped at the opportunity to buy Innovative Labs, a dietary supplement manufacturer housed in the building next door at 85 Commerce Drive in Hauppauge. This acquisition allowed the company to further diversify its revenues and expand its services as a Contract Development Manufacturing Organization (CDMO). Bio-Botanica can now support customers with turnkey service from farm to CPG.
The company acquires Conpak, a small manufacturer of personal care products located not far away, in Bohemia, New York. This acquisition allows the company to manufacture its toothpaste products for its growing PerioBrite® oral care line and offer turn-key service for its growing list of ingredient customers in the personal care and cosmetic industries.
A growing business requires more space! An addition to the 85 Commerce Building grows the corporate campus to 175,000 ft2 between the two buildings. Bio-Botanica facilities are FDA registered and inspected manufacturing facilities complete with quality control, research & development lab, modern warehousing, and professional office space.
We suffered a great loss with the unexpected and way too early passing of Senior in 2021. His vision of creating a company that inspires, empowers and enhances the quality of life for all, made Bio-Botanica what it is today. Please visit our Founders page to learn more about this visionary leader who left a positive impact on all he met.
Frank D’Amelio, Jr. was integral in the expansion of this company, working side by side with his Parents, driving it into new industries and business channels. Under his leadership we continue to grow the business with a focus on the core beliefs that the company was founded on: Customer First; Quality; Teamwork; Safety; Embracing Change; and Integrity.
2023 Bio-Botanica, a division of Bio Answer Holdings Inc. All Rights Reserved.
