If there is one thing I’ve learned in more than 30 years in sports nutrition, innovation, and performance science, it is this:
True innovation doesn’t happen in isolation.
It comes from decades of experience, global immersion, scientific collaboration, and a network of the world’s brightest minds.
NiHTEK® was not born from a laboratory alone. It was born from a lifetime spent inside gyms, supplement stores, R&D labs, global conferences, brand boardrooms, and sports nutrition universities.
It was built on real science, real relationships, and real-world application not trends, not guesswork, and definitely not imitation.
NiHTEK® exists today because every chapter of my career prepared me to build a company the industry has never seen before.
Let me share the journey that led to NiHTEK® and why it matters.
Where It All Began - A Teenager Falling in Love With Sports Nutrition
Like many people in the industry, my story started young. I was a teenager obsessed with lifting weights, experimenting with supplements, and trying to understand how protein, creatine, amino acids, and performance nutrition truly worked.
That passion became an obsession.
That obsession became my career.
And that career would eventually become NiHTEK®.
2001 Discovering the Power of Nutrition Through GNC Melbourne
My first step into the professional world was at GNC in Melbourne, where I didn’t hold a degree or a title only passion, curiosity, and a drive to help customers transform their health.
By 2001, I became:
GNC Salesman of the Year for all of Australia
But the real win wasn’t the award it was the realization that sports nutrition was far deeper than retail.
It was science.
It was human performance.
It was physiology, metabolism, research, and biochemical innovation.
This became the foundation of everything that came next.
2003 Branding & Marketing Director at BioNatural
In 2003, I moved into a senior corporate role as:
Branding & Marketing Director at BioNatural
Here, I learned the business behind sports nutrition:
- Formulation
- Ingredient science
- Global distribution
- Brand strategy
- R&D and product innovation
- Athlete-focused nutrition systems
I began working closely with researchers, formulators, and global nutrition specialists experiences that very few ingredient founders in the world ever have. It was at BioNatural that I realized:
Innovation can only happen when marketing, science, and performance come together. This truth became one of the core philosophies of NiHTEK®.
2005 Moving to China to Build the First Supplement Retail Chain
In 2005, I moved to China with one audacious idea:
To build the country’s first and only sports nutrition retail chain. That became World Health Store (WHS) a nationwide brand that introduced sports nutrition to an entirely new market.But the deeper lesson was something far more valuable:
Global markets think differently.
Athletes think differently.
Cultures think differently.
Formulators think differently.
And to innovate for the world, you must live in the world. WHS gave me the global perspective that would later shape all NiHTEK® ingredient innovation.
2017 Exiting WHS and Launching Sizzling Solutions
After exiting WHS in 2017, I founded Sizzling Solutions, a branding and strategy agency specializing in sports nutrition and performance brands.
Working with international supplement companies across the U.S., Japan, China, Australia, and Europe allowed me to:
- Analyze product failures and successes
- Understand market gaps
- See where innovation had stalled
- Identify the need for higher-quality branded ingredients
This period laid the strategic framework for NiHTEK® a company built not to follow the industry, but to redefine it.
2018 Founding GPNi® and Building Deep Scientific Roots
One of the most important chapters in my career came in 2018 when I founded the:
Global Performance Nutrition Institute (GPNi®)
GPNi® became the exclusive global education partner of the ISSN the world authority on sports nutrition research for nearly 30 years.
This was not just an education project.
It was my gateway to:
- Direct collaboration with top PhDs
- Accessing the latest sports nutrition research
- Understanding biochemical innovation
- Forming deep scientific relationships
- Working alongside researchers shaping global guidelines
These relationships are now embedded into NiHTEK®’s DNA. Most ingredient companies do not have this level of scientific alignment or access.
NiHTEK® does.
Becoming a Certified Sports Nutritionist (CISSN)
Despite decades of hands-on experience, I knew that scientific credibility matters.
So I completed the PNE Level-2 Masters + ISSN-CISSN Double Certification, earning the globally respected title:
Drew Campbell, CISSN
This was a turning point. It solidified my academic grounding and positioned me to lead ingredient innovation with both practical and scientific authority a combination almost no founder in the ingredient space holds.
2020 - The Birth of NiHTEK®
NiHTEK® was founded with one mission:
To engineer category-defining branded ingredients backed by science, technology, and innovation not trends.
From NiHPRO® to KARBFiX®, NiHTEK® is built on:
- Advanced hydrolysis technology
- Clean-label innovation
- Allergen-free performance
- Clinical-grade digestion and absorption
- Athlete-centric formulation
- Research-backed ingredient design
And most importantly:
A deep, global scientific network that supports continuous innovation something almost no competitor can match.
NiHTEK® stands alone because we come from sports nutrition.
We live in sports nutrition.
We lead in sports nutrition.
And our innovations empower brands to create the next generation of performance products.
Why NiHTEK® Is Different and Why That Matters
Almost every ingredient company in the world is built by:
- Commodity traders
- Accountants
- Factory owners
- Sales executives
Very few are founded by people who have:
- 30 years inside sports nutrition
- Global retail and brand experience
- Practical formulation knowledge
- Management experience
- Deep ISSN relationships
- Certification as a Sports Nutritionist
- Hands-on athlete performance experience
- An academic foundation in nutrition science
- Worldwide exposure across Australia, China, Japan, Europe, and the U.S.
NiHTEK® is different because I have lived every part of the industry from retail floors to R&D labs, from university research halls to elite athlete programs, from global supply chains to breakthrough ingredient innovation.
This is why NiHTEK® continues to create ingredients the world has never seen before.
The Future of Sports Nutrition Begins With Innovation
Everything I’ve learned, every relationship formed, every scientific collaboration, and every global experience has led to this moment:
NiHTEK® is here to lead the future of functional, performance, and health-driven ingredients.
We don’t follow categories.
We create them.
We don’t copy products.
We engineer technologies.
We don’t guess.
We innovate through science.
NiHTEK® is not just another ingredient company.
It is the outcome of a lifetime of experience and the beginning of a new chapter for our entire industry.
Welcome to the next era of performance nutrition.
Welcome to NiHTEK®.
— Drew Campbell, CISSN
Founder & Chairman, NiHTEK®
Founder & Chairman, GPNi®
Certified Sports Nutritionist (CISSN)
30+ Years Global Sports Nutrition Industry
