Nakayama: Welcome to Japan and thank you for visiting us today.

　Trosin: Thank you for having me.

　Nakayama: Could you tell us the purpose of your trip to Japan?

　Trosin: First and foremost, I came here to research about the kind of strategies that are taken in Japan against doping and any support systems that are available for athletes. I also intend to introduce NSF and our activities to the people here. Therefore, I am very honored to meet with President Nakayama at this timing when Sun Chlorella had just achieved the NSF Certified for Sport® certification.

　Nakayama: Likewise, we are highly honored to welcome you, an NSF executive.

　Trosin: To begin with, why has Sun Chlorella, a company with a strong corporate image of providing nutritional supplements, enter the sports industry and achieve a certification that ensures that the product is free of prohibited substances for anti doping?

　Nakayama: Well, it all started when our U.S. subsidiary was contacted by a professional sports league, who wanted their players to take chlorella but was concerned whether our product contained any banned substances. That was the first time we learned the fact that professional sports leagues in the U.S. prohibits athletes from taking any supplement that has not passed the NSF International’s Certified for Sport® program. Without this certification approval with our products, no athlete who belongs to a major professional sports league – baseball, American football, ice hockey, golf – can consume our product. We took this situation seriously, and immediately began to take steps toward achieving this certification.

　Trosin: I see. NSF’s programs are offered under the condition that our quality management meets the Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulations of the U.S. Furthermore, our policy of monitoring prohibited substances lists and analyzing the safety of the substances contained in approved products on an ongoing basis has been highly acknowledged since our programs employs the highest risk management standards that no other programs do. In addition to providing athletes with information on the proper intake of supplements, NSF possesses information assets that are necessary to form the foundation for risk management, which is one of our unique features that makes us ahead of other certification bodies.

Nakayama: We highly acknowledge those features as well, which is why we decided to achieve the NSF Certified for Sport® certification　

Trosin: Thank you. And we would like to continue with our efforts in response to the high evaluations we have received.　

　Nakayama: Sun Chlorella has been researching on the health benefits of chlorella for years and years. Some of our discoveries include many evidences related to sports science. These results were also the reason why we decided to achieve the certification, so that athletes would be able to take our supplements since we were certain that our product would not only maintain their health but also boost their performance.
Sun Chlorella USA was established in 1982 as our subsidiary and has a history of distributing our supplements for over 30 years. Due to an increase of life expectancy, the number of older adults who enjoy playing sports and exercise are also rising, leading to a reevaluation of the health benefits of chlorella among a wide range of age groups in the U.S. today. Furthermore, recent trends are reflected in how the number of consumers is increasing among relatively younger age groups, which we assume as the proof of revaluation on the health benefits of chlorella with versatile type of society needs. .
I have known that many professional athletes also drink chlorella. I am thinking that the expansion of Sun Chlorella into the sports industry would be an opportunity to discover new qualities of our product.

　Trosin: I agree. Today, one of the critical issues in the sports industry is how new methods of doping are enabling cheating athletes to pass drug tests. There are also cases where an athlete’s career is threatened due to a careless intake of prohibited drugs. For all those inadvertent doping risks, we need to implement a risk management program with increased transparency. Japan will be hosting major sport events in 2019 and 2020, and we believe that NSF can serve as a benefit among Japanese athletes as these issues surrounding doping will likely gain more attention.

　Nakayama: Today, doping offences that stem from supplements have also surfaced in Japan, and demands are growing among athletes and sports associations regarding the provision of product safety information. Thus, a panel of experts has been established to discuss the framework for drug-free supplement certification. Our NSF Certified for Sport® Sun Chlorella ‘A’ Powder have entered the U.S. market last December, and we also plan to start selling in Japan this August.

　Trosin: With an addition of the NSF Certified for Sport® mark on Sun Chlorella ‘A’, a nutritional product that has been widely recognized in Japan for nearly 50 years, we hope that NSF would also get public exposure in this country.

　Nakayama: Our U.S. subsidiary is currently negotiating with several teams of the Big Four leagues and we have received orders from a few of them. We believe that our accomplishment in the U.S. would lead us to gain support in Japan. Some athletes in Japan have also started drinking our Sun Chlorella ‘A’ powder as well.

　Nakayama: I have heard that NSF has played a major role in creating guidelines of sports governance in the U.S., since NSF is the only official organization for professional sports leagues that provides programs that comply with anti-doping policies and regulations.

　Nakayama: I believe so too. As a principal chlorella supplier in Japan, we aim to provide our products to not only athletes but also to a wide range of customers, and at the same time advocate the importance of risk management programs. It is our sincere hope to continue working with NSF. As a company that supports the wellbeing of people, Sun Chlorella is determined to make new contributions through the sports industry. Mr. Trosin, thank you very much for this wonderful conversation..