Expatriate Kiwi Craig Silbery was the toast of the probiotics industry last year after the sale of his top-selling Life-Space business to Chinese interests for more than $750 million.
Born and raised in Wellington, Silbery graduated from Otago University in 1994 with a BSc in human movement and psychology before heading across the Tasman to take on various retail sales and management roles in Melbourne with the likes of Mars Petcare and Masterfoods.
The move into probiotics came in 2005 when Silbery became the managing director of Space Vitamins and began importing new strains of probiotics from the US. Shortly afterward, he teamed up with a family-owned vitamins business led by Ben McHarg and established Evolution Health as the brand owner, manufacturer and supplier of a range of nutritional health supplements and products.
What followed was a hard slog developing Australia’s first over-the-counter probiotic formula for pregnant women and babies. Launched in 2013, Life-Space quickly established itself as the top-selling brand in Australia, and the top online brand in China, where sales grew by 350% in 2016.
Two years later came an offer too good to refuse when China’s By-Health dietary supplements company bought the Life-Space Group, netting Silbery more than $150m for his 20% stake.
Unfazed by the financial windfall, Silbery told NBR: “People come to work for the evolution of health, not for financial gains. The real story is what we bring to the community.”
The community would also benefit from the proceeds of the sale, he said at the time.
“I’m working with financial organisations to figure out how I should give back. There’s a lot to learn and understand so every dollar I give back has maximum effect.”
Silbery has stayed on as chief executive of Evolution Health, and says on his new website what gets him out of bed in the morning is “the thirst for new knowledge and knowing that we are making a difference.”
The company is “uniquely positioned” to take its brands global “and that’s really, really exciting,” he says.
In 2011, Silbery’s romantic proposal to his fiance was reported by Australian media. He apparently attached a ring to his greyhound’s collar as they took a walk through a local park where they first met. His wife, who later starred in an Australian TV series, revealed in 2017 they had since split.
Silbery’s advice to other entrepreneurs is that they shouldn’t be afraid to go into partnerships, and they need to continually work on the business model.
“In my early days, I didn’t have the business model right. I didn’t have enough products, I didn’t have my margins right. I had to work on the business model over a number of years to get it to a point where the business flourished but didn’t require further investment or further investors.”