IN PROFILE
Why HIVITA is Doing Supplements Differently
Go Magazine sits down with HIVITA’s Michael Saba to talk about the 50-year-old Australian brand, the decision to keep supplements simple, the importance of practitioner advice and why science, sustainability and social purpose are shaping its next chapter.
G O MAG: You’ve spent many years in the wellness industry. What made you want to become involved with HIVITA? Michael Saba : I wasn’t actually looking to build another wellness company. But when I came across HIVITA, I felt there was something very special there that deserved to be protected and developed. HIVITA is an Australian company that was founded by a doctor around 50 years ago, on a very simple principle: people should be able to understand and trust the supplements they are taking. After spending years building a global wellness brand, I had become increasingly interested in what I felt was missing from the supplement market. I saw an opportunity to go in a different direction: fewer unnecessary complexities, greater transparency and a much stronger connection between quality supplements and professional health advice. One of my first conversations was with clinical nutritionist Sally O’Neil, whose clinical knowledge I had admired for years. I explained what I thought HIVITA could become, and she immediately understood the vision. Today Sal is a co- owner of HIVITA, alongside our scientist Norberto, and we have built a team of people who genuinely care about what the brand represents.
G O : What does doing supplements “differently” mean to you? Michael: For us, a big part of it comes back to simplicity. More than 90 percent of the HIVITA herbal range is based around single-herb formulations, with the remainder of the range largely consisting of individual vitamins and minerals. We want people to be able to look at a product and understand what they are taking. If you need magnesium, you can choose magnesium. The focus is on a particular ingredient rather than automatically combining it with a long list of others. That approach also gives practitioners greater flexibility. They can recommend particular ingredients according to the needs of the individual rather than having to work around a complicated blend. There are exceptions. Our HIVITA Women’s and Men’s Multivitamins contain a broad range of
G O : Why is the relationship with health practitioners so important to the brand? Michael: Because supplements should never just be about buying the latest product you have seen online or choosing something because it happens to be on promotion. People are individuals. Their diets, lifestyles and health needs are different, and that is where knowledgeable advice becomes incredibly valuable. It is one of the reasons HIVITA has deliberately chosen to support independent health food and organic retailers such as Go Vita. These are stores where customers can have a real conversation with people who understand natural health and can help them navigate what can otherwise be a very confusing category.
Every HIVITA product is made in
vitamins, minerals and herbs because a good multivitamin can provide a useful nutritional foundation. We see those foundational products and our targeted single- ingredient formulations as playing different roles.
Australia and packaged in glass, and we are working to minimise our use of plastic across the wider group.
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ISSUE 78 • 2026
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