A Florida functional supplement brand built on its own manufacturing floor is stepping into the trade show spotlight. Happy Soul will exhibit at Booth 773 during the Americas Food & Beverage Show & Conference, September 14–16 at the Miami Beach Convention Center—a show marking its 30th anniversary this year. For buyers at the event, the pitch is less about a new product category and more about who's actually making what's in the bottle.
The Vertical Integration Angle
Happy Soul launched in 2026 as the consumer-facing brand of a gummy manufacturer that has been producing for outside clients since 2019. Its entire lineup is made in a company-owned, cGMP-compliant facility in Lexington, North Carolina, on a 300kg automated line capable of producing up to 2.5 million gummies per week. All products are manufactured under 21 CFR Part 111 and third-party tested for potency and heavy metals—a compliance posture that matters increasingly to retail buyers navigating tightening supplement regulations.
The current SKU range spans Fruits & Veggies, Nootropic Mushroom, Hair Skin & Nails, Apple Cider Vinegar, Protein, Beet, and Shilajit gummies. Every product is built on a base of 83 fruits and vegetables, with no artificial dyes or flavors. The gummies' opaque appearance comes from the plant material itself rather than colorants—a point of differentiation as retailers face growing consumer scrutiny of synthetic additives in the supplement aisle.
"Most brands in this category rent their manufacturing and hope for the best," said Eli Elias, founder of Happy Soul. "We run the line. That means we control the formulation, the schedule, and the quality, and when a buyer asks how something is made, I can actually answer."
Private Label and Contract Manufacturing
Beyond the Happy Soul branded line, the Lexington facility is actively seeking private-label and contract manufacturing business for gummy candy and dietary supplement products. The company says hundreds of formulations are available for private label, and the plant takes on outside production for brands looking to manufacture in the United States—whether to compress supply chains or satisfy U.S. regulatory requirements. That dual positioning as both brand owner and toll manufacturer is an increasingly common strategy among vertically integrated supplement producers trying to maximize line utilization.
For distributors and retail buyers familiar with the volatility in imported supplement supply chains over the past several years, domestic production with a fixed-cost facility offers a different kind of sourcing conversation. Owning the line means Happy Soul can respond directly to a customer's volume, packaging, or timeline requirements without routing changes through a contract manufacturer. The functional beverage and supplement category has seen persistent lead-time instability from offshore production, making domestic alternatives a more compelling story at the trade-buyer level.
The Americas Food & Beverage Show draws buyers from retail, foodservice distribution, and hospitality procurement—audiences increasingly interested in better-for-you supplement and functional food products as consumer wellness spending continues to expand. Happy Soul's show presence signals a push to convert its manufacturing credibility into retail and distribution partnerships across the Florida market and beyond.
Retailers, distributors, and brands can schedule meetings with the team at Booth 773 or reach Eli Elias directly at eli@mysoulishappy.com.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
