On June 25th, 2024, the website Behind MLM posted an article titled “Terry LaCore, Underwood & Harding sell Pruvit to themselves,” which, in fact, is what I find most misleading. Now, for the most part I find Behind MLM reliable when reporting on Ponzi and Pyramid Schemes. However, the site writers tend to take a highly biased view when writing reviews on direct sales and network marketing companies, such as Pruvit; similar to the writers at TINA (Truth In Advertising.) I understand advocating for a specific consumer group, but we should still present the facts accurately and do our best to inform the public of the truth the facts provide. In this article, I will share the history and timeline of the Pruvit story.
DISCLOSURE: Lacore Enterprises and Pruvit Ventures LLC were former clients of mine. Terry Lacore, Brian Underwood, and Chris Harding are longtime personal friends. I served as a personal advisor to Brian Underwood before and during the early years of Pruvit.
Pruvit Timeline:
- 2014 – Pruvit Ventures is incorporated in the state of Texas
- 2015 – Pruvit Ventures Inc. files a Federal Lawsuit against Access Global Sciences and Forever Green for Fraud, Business Disparagement, Tortious Interference with Non-Exclusive Sublicense Agreement, and Lanham Act Violations.
- 2018 – Pruvit enters the DSN Top 100 direct sales companies at #67
- 2019 – ForeverGreen, Axcess Global Sciences, and Pruvit Ventures settled litigation with Pruvit prevailing, opening the door for them to become the world’s leader in Exogenous Ketones with the product KETO//OS.
- 2021 – Pruvit is recognized as the 34th largest direct sales company, with $363 million in revenues.
- 2022 – FBFK Law Firm Completes Record $1.3B Industry Deal Merging Meal Kit Leader Sunbasket With Keto Lifestyle Company Prüvit. This move was part of the larger vision Underwood had for Pruvit. Pruvit would sell Sunbasket meals through the Pruvit affiliates known as Pruvers.
- 2022 – Intelligent Foods, the parent company of Pruvit, acquires Gobble, giving them the #1 and #2 brands, based on revenues in the direct-to-consumer meal kit market with combined revenues of $1.740 billion (based on 2017 revenues.) Ooshma Garg will be named CEO of both companies with Gobble Executives Thomas Ricci, Chris Woodford, and Katerina Zaporozhetz joining her leadership team.
- 2023 – Pruvit is still listed at #34 in the DSN Top 100 Direct Sales Companies Worldwide.
- 2023 – Pruvit lost its ambassador and corporate executive, Jessie Lee Ward, who passed away on September 16, 2023, after a brief and valiant fight against colon cancer. During her tenure with Pruvit, her team grew to include 1.6 million customers and 21,000 promoters spanning 41 countries.
- 2023 – Pruvit co-founders, Brian Underwood, Terry Lacore, and Chris Harding decide it is time to word on bringing the company back under their exclusive control.
- 2024—In the first quarter of 2024, Underwood announced at the MORE event that the team was in the final stages of requiring control of Pruvit. On June 11, 2024, Health and Nutrition Platform Intelligent Brands Divests Nutraceuticals Division Pruvit in a $107 Million Deal. Lacore and Harding, through their investment firm Adventures Capital, have now regained control of Pruvit.
Intelligent Brands has announced the divestiture of its nutraceuticals division, Pruvit, to the buyer group Adventures Capital. The transaction is valued at $107 million. Pruvit is a market leader in exogenous ketones, which are bioidentical, bioavailable supplements that provide many of the health benefits of endogenous ketones and support a keto-inspired lifestyle.
In the future, Intelligent Brands will concentrate exclusively on its advanced food manufacturing capabilities and operate under the name Intelligent Foods. Intelligent Foods includes top direct-to-consumer meal-kit and prepared meals brands Sunbasket and Gobble, as well as providing high-quality meal manufacturing for various direct-to-consumer, retail, and food service clients.
“We are extremely excited for Pruvit’s next chapter. Pruvit is an extraordinary brand, with a passionate set of customers focused on living their healthiest lives and an unequaled network of individual distributors globally. The buyer group, Adventures Capital, particularly given its affiliation with the LaCore family of companies, will bring the capabilities, expertise, and capital to grow Pruvit to its full potential.”
Intelligent Brands CEO Elizabeth Stephenson
“Pruvit has enormous potential to change lives. Both by helping people live healthier lifestyles and also by providing an incredible set of opportunities for our individual distributors to build profitable, growing, entrepreneur-led businesses.”
Pruvit CEO, Brian Underwood
Stephenson went on to say, “Intelligent Brands was founded to build a platform of boutique health and wellness brands. This broad scope prevented adequate investment in our brands. The creation of two standalone companies will allow each company to flourish.”
She continues, “Over the past two years, our food division has transformed into a profitable, growing, fully integrated meal kit and meal manufacturing company, with both our wholly-owned Sunbasket and Gobble brands, as well as a robust private label co-manufacturing platform. Our ability to deliver high-quality, healthy, premium meals is unmatched by any of our competitors, and our combined manufacturing capabilities set the standard for meal quality, customization, and food safety. We’re ready to strengthen our focus on growing this truly innovative food platform.”
ABOUT INTELLIGENT BRANDS:
Intelligent Brands is a holding company that focuses on the health and wellness space and owns leading consumer brands such as Sunbasket, Gobble, and previously, Pruvit. The company is headquartered in Melissa, Texas, and operates across the US. In the future, Intelligent Brands will operate under the name Intelligent Foods, with a focus on healthy food and nutrition.
ABOUT INTELLIGENT FOODS:
Intelligent Foods was established in 2021 with a mission to produce high-quality, healthy meals and meal kits, distributed directly to consumers as well as through traditional channels such as retail and food service. Its portfolio includes brands like Sunbasket and Gobble. The company also manufactures nutritious meals and meal kits for a variety of clients. Known for its innovative culinary expertise, product innovation, and top-notch manufacturing and distribution capabilities, Intelligent Foods is based in Melissa, Texas.
ABOUT PRUVIT:
Pruvit is the leading provider of exogenous ketones in the market. It offers users a bio-identical, bio-available ketone that replicates the function of endogenous ketones, which can only be produced naturally by strictly following a ketogenic diet. Pruvit supports users in making various healthy lifestyle choices. The company is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.
