Why we don’t make one giant all-in-one fertility supplement

When we first started developing our fertility supplements, I wanted to create an all-in-one.

When I was trying to conceive, I got thoroughly fed up with having multiple bottles on the go and filling pill organisers. One powder with everything in it sounded like the dream: simple, convenient and easy to remember.

But once we started formulating, it became clear that while an all-in-one fertility supplement is certainly possible, creating one would involve compromises I wasn’t willing to make.

Omega-3 is an oil

One of the first challenges is very simple: omega-3 is an oil.

It can be processed into a form that can be added to a powder, but doing so requires additional ingredients and adds bulk to the finished formula.

That may be one reason why many all-in-one fertility supplements simply leave omega-3 out altogether.

For us, keeping omega-3 in its natural oil format made more sense than forcing it into a powder simply for the sake of having everything in one container.

Meaningful doses take up space

Then there’s CoQ10.

CoQ10 at a meaningful dose takes up a surprising amount of room. And when you’re trying to squeeze lots of different nutrients into one formula, something has to give.

I was reminded of this recently while killing time in Superdrug as my husband was at the dentist. Whenever I’m in a pharmacy, I inevitably end up inspecting the fertility supplements.

One well-known male conception supplement prominently mentioned CoQ10 on the front of the pack. So naturally, I turned it over to see how much it actually contained.

2mg.

For comparison, our male CoQ10 supplement contains 400mg — 200 times as much.

That doesn’t mean that every ingredient in every supplement needs to be included at the highest possible dose. But it does illustrate one of the problems with an all-in-one approach: including an ingredient is not necessarily the same thing as including a meaningful amount of it.

Keeping CoQ10 separate also gives you more flexibility over how much you take and when.

One tub doesn’t necessarily mean fewer capsules

There’s another practical point that’s easy to overlook.

Even if we had blended everything together into one formula, it wouldn’t have magically become one tiny capsule or one effortless scoop.

Nutrients take up physical space. Meaningful doses take up more of it.

So the end result could still have been multiple capsules, multiple servings or a very large scoop each day — just packaged together under the label of “all-in-one”.

And what about powders?

Powders can sound very appealing, particularly if you don’t enjoy swallowing capsules.

But we’ve also heard from customers that powders can be fiddly, awkward to take away for a few days and sometimes prone to staining glasses or cups.

If swallowing capsules is the main concern, there is another option. The capsules in Fundamental Woman, Fundamental Man and CoQ10 can be opened and the powder inside added to a smoothie or juice instead.

Omega-3, being an oil, remains separate.

Three products, three clear jobs

So rather than forcing everything into one giant tub, we created our Fertility Fundamentals as three products with three clear jobs.

Keeping them separate gives us more flexibility over:

• the format of each ingredient
• the amount included
• when and how it is taken
• the other ingredients needed in the formula

It may not look quite as simple as one enormous “all-in-one” bottle.

But for us, simplicity isn’t just about the number of containers on the shelf. It’s about creating products in formats that make sense, using doses we’re comfortable with, and avoiding unnecessary compromises just to make everything fit into one formula.

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