Chairman and CEO of Catalo Natural Health Group Calvin Chan on bringing the best of nature into our everyday lives
“The meaning of Catalo? It all begins with care.” At Catalo Natural Health Group, Calvin Chan treats the well-being of his customers like his own through natural health supplements tailored to every need.
Nurturing with nature
Calvin Chan founded Catalo Natural Health Group in 2003. When SARS hit Hong Kong the same year, he saw increased demand for Catalo products as people became extremely health conscious. “Because we started our business during this time, we developed a vision: we needed to keep people healthy. When you are sick, you should go to the doctor. But when you are not, you need to stay healthy, and we are here to help.”
Catalo is on a mission to bring nature into people’s everyday lives through natural health supplements for vitality and longevity. “Many people live in cities now, and we believe that we need to give them what they are missing out from nature: the nutrients they need to balance the impact city life has on their health.”
Back to the home base
Nearly two decades after the establishment of Catalo, the pandemic threw Chan one of the biggest curveballs on his entrepreneurial journey. While there was a massive demand for immunity-boosting products in Hong Kong, where Catalo is based, Chan and his team could not stock their local shops with unstable supplies from their US factories. He found himself thinking, “What if the next thing that hits the city is not a disease like Covid-19 but a war? What would we do without planes and ships?” He realised that one of Catalo’s biggest strengths lies in its manufacturer-to-consumer ecosystem, an advantage that can be solidified with a factory in Hong Kong. With ambitions to develop the Greater Bay Area market, he ultimately chose to establish another production base in Hong Kong with the help of the Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP).
“Hong Kong is an international hub. We hope to create synergy with our factories in America, and Hong Kong gives us this freedom,” he explains. “In terms of developing the Greater Bay Area and mainland Chinese market, products made in Hong Kong enjoy CEPA zero tariff benefits, which is a great incentive. It gives us a competitive edge while still utilising ingredients from America and Europe.”
He adds that finding a suitable space was challenging in a compact city like Hong Kong. “HKSTP provided us with a solution—a space with a 15-metre-high ceiling, no less, which is very hard to come by in Hong Kong. It is also part of its Tai Po InnoPark, which gives us the resources and connections to grow our business.”
Chan hopes to build a transparent facility open to visits from businesses and schools alike to elevate the image and standards of the Hong Kong natural health industry. He says, “Although we have not had our grand opening at HKSTP, we are already considering expansion. We hope to utilise InnoPark’s resources and technology to become a global leader and show the world that Hong Kong has good technology, good brands and good products.”
Out of love
While a lot has changed over the past few years, Chan hopes to continue giving people the gift of health through Catalo. “We wish to aggressively expand our market share because that means we can reach and help more people,” he says. “We hope to use food technology such as 3D printing in manufacturing nutritional products. We want to not just focus on food but also explore health technology to create an all-in-one lifestyle and optimise people’s health. I hope that on this journey, Catalo can combine nature’s power with man-made technology and continue contributing to people’s health.”