Natural Alternatives International, Inc.

they gravitate to companies like NAI because of our exemplary record of product integrity, not to men- tion our multiple licensures, independent testing, and independent validation of our efforts.We’re not always the cheapest (and we take great pride in not being the cheapest) but we have the most value- added and properly-priced products in the market- place. “So,we think that there’s intrinsic value in that and, if you’re on the other side of the equation, and you’re a company with a brand, and you’d like to protect its integrity,who would you prefer to do business with–a start-up firm, a firm that’s been leveraged by private equity with significant debt servicing requirements, or a business with a com- pany that’s almost 40 years old, is debt-free, and with adequate cash in the bank to make the appro- priate investments in either capital equipment or research in order to bring even additional value to your product? “I think the proof is in the pudding. People are coming here because they want to sleep well at night and they don’t want to second guess whether their supplier is playing games or not.And that doesn’t happen here, so that’s a positive thing. “As to who our competitors are: there are a lot of companies engaged in manufacturing products. Some have one channel - they’re big in powder de- velopment; others may be big in tablet or chewable development; or in encapsulation.We do all the above, so we’re kind of a one-stop-shop.Again, in terms of public companies that are really competi- tors to ours–there aren’t reallymany left; I think we’re kind of the only pure play left in this space, and if you look at our balance sheet, it’s about as pristine as you can imagine.”