We are currently in a state of upheaval between the pharmaceutical and supplement industries explains Koray Akbiyik

But today, the dietary supplement market has reached a completely different status , which is increasingly being accepted by society, especially in the fitness and health industry.

We spoke to the founder of the Bps Pharma brand and asked him how he sees the development in society.

Q: Hello Mr. Akbiyik, how are you?

A: Thank you very much, but in my industry it is common to be on first-name terms, of course if that's okay with them.

Q: Yes, of course. Koray, you have been in the supplement industry for several years. For many large companies in the industry, your name and especially your brand has become a significant term. So far, you have only been active in the background. How is it that in recent years you have become more and more present than the person Koray Akbiyik.

A: Well, I've always had a great fondness for 3 things in life that have had a positive and fundamental impact on my development:

Through my father I got to know the power and healing properties of plants and their extracts. By the way, at the age of 6 I heard the first conversations about the properties of the plants and what they are used for. 

Sport and especially strength-testing sports such as weightlifting, bodybuilding, wrestling or martial arts in general stood for masculinity and vitality.

My father was really good at drawing and painting. He was a very creative and emotional person, which he was able to show in certain situations. On paper or creating something in the form of expressionism and graffiti were a balance for all areas of life for me.

These 3 important skills have led me to develop many products for well-known companies. Starting with the design and ending with the potential impact of the product. Most companies have enjoyed a kind of monopoly position in certain areas for a very long time with the marketing and products that I have developed together.

I was always happy and proud when I received recognition from my superiors. This was important to me and confirmed the value of the work. Finally, as a result of the effect and design of the product, this opens up a growing turnover for the company. It's a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Q: That all sounds very good. But why did you decide to start your own business?

A: I was fired in 2014, despite growing sales. Areas that I have completely built up were taken away from me with the statement that I am Koray and I would have no problem earning everything at 0 again. I didn't have to be told this statement twice and quit. Of course, I had my eye on a competing company that had wanted to persuade me to change for a long time. So far so good.

To cut a long story short, it was no different with this company. They take your knowledge, suck you out, and then they kick you out. Despite very good performance. But as they say in life: You can't connect the steps forward with each other, which way you go, or what you did and learned all this for. But retrospectively, the steps and paths you leave behind make sense in life. I believe that every person with a purpose or purpose in life has to be there for him. So in 2016 I founded my company Bps Pharma with just 200 euros and one product.

Q: That really sounds like a fight for survival. Tell us more. How did you manage to grow so fast?

A: Well, that's easy. In my previous work as a manager, I was always able to win new start-ups as customers, but they did not have the financial means to assert themselves on the market with their supplement business.

Some of you had good ideas and really good friendships developed that have lasted to this day. I have given these people the door to better conditions and also pushed them through at the company headquarters.

They promised me to increase their sales and thus also grew. They have kept their word. I am a person who believes in good and also evil, because these two things also belong together to keep the world in balance.

After years of being fired at the last company, I and my family had a pile of debt and no savings. No bank wanted to give me a loan or support me. The only ones who supported me in the situation at that time were my customers at the time, who were once in such a situation themselves, and each of them took up my product and were also very enthusiastic because they knew the intensity with which I developed my products. That's how it all began, and that's how it goes to this day. I am very grateful to each and every one of them for that. Karma.

Q: How has the supplement industry evolved compared to the pharmaceutical industry today?

A: To answer this question, we need to understand that the supplement industry used to be a part of the so-called alternative medicine to conventional medicine. In the late 70s, early 80s, the so-called bodybuilding scene developed in the USA, which was associated with Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was discovered that amino acids and protein were possible for the development of muscles in combination with hard training. 

Then more and more active ingredients and herbal extracts were added, which have more and more regenerative properties. However, there has always been a so-called parallel world with the unspoken abuse of anabolic steroids alongside the world of the supplement.

Q: What does that mean exactly?

A: The clandestine use of steroids was already a very big mistake. They hadn't even given the supplement industry the opportunity to keep up. The results with testosterone and other anabolic steroids in a very short time have been enormous.

However, by advancing and experimenting on a self-experiment, the side effects of steroid use could be contained. That with the help of supplements. Man is able to heal himself if certain points are adhered to. We are currently researching life-prolonging peptides that allow degenerative damage in the human body to heal on its own.

Everything in our body is controlled by peptides. We're not talking about drugs, we're talking about the power of amino acids. So conversely, this means: 

If medicine and the supplement industry were to work more closely together, they could benefit from each other in the interests of society in order to keep people healthy or to age healthily throughout their lives. The supplement industry is no longer an herbal pharmacy, but has developed into a true force that is on a par with the pharmaceutical industry.