Holistic Alternatives, Inc.

In 1973 a registered pharmacist named Steve Michaelis formed a company and named it A.O. Supply Company. This new company was founded to supply the needs of alternative and holistic minded practitioners who were searching for controversial and difficult to find supplements such as laetrile (vitamin B-17, amygdalin), hydrazine sulfate, DMSO, quality proteolytic enzymes, and other nutritional and dietary supplements. In the beginning, Steve had to use his professional expertise to compound some of these much needed and increasingly requested nutrients; even punching capsules himself with the help of his two sons Chuck and Ken. Research was done to determine the best source for the nutrients that the company carried that did not have to be manufactured by hand.

The company and Steve’s reputation grew rapidly. Soon he and his sons were working full time to deliver the quality supplements in a timely fashion. Most orders were (and still are) shipped out, the same day that they arrived. Unfortunately, many of the supplement companies that Steve had worked with began to make their products available only through multi-level marketing schemes. This problem along with attacks from the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in attempts to suppress the controversial supplements caused turmoil in the company.

After successfully defeating the FDA in federal court in 1978, Steve was again able to focus on quality sources for his customers. After struggling for many years with nutritional companies that were more interested in profits than providing quality products at fair prices to the public, Steve realized in late 1984 that he would have to come up with a solution to this dilemma. The solution was for Steve to utilize his pharmacy background, training, and experience to develop and formulate superior formulas. These formulas utilized not only time-tested ingredients of the formulas he had been using but incorporated ingredients which the latest research indicated were necessary to make the best possible product. The company continued to grow and so did the product line, despite the relentless attempt of the FDA to suppress the availability of the nutrients of a more controversial nature.

Although Steve’s victory over the FDA in 1978 resulted in the government being court ordered to return seized property, A.O. Supply Company was raided by the FDA again in 1989 and again in 1993. However, the company continued to flourish. Steve’s untimely death in 1994 left the company in the hands of his son Ken who had been managing the company since 1980 and had learned under his father’s instruction the business and political aspects of the company’s activities. Ken had learned much from his father and was equally dedicated to product quality. Unfortunately, Ken was squeezed out of A.O. Supply Company in early 1996 and within two years, A.O. Supply Company was defunct. Ken, however, did not sit idle. Within a month of his departure, he had the framework of two separate new companies built. The first company, which was named Holistic Alternatives, Inc. continued to handle the controversial and hard to find items that built the original company founded by his father, Steve. The second company was named Rocky Fork Formulas, Inc. and was set up to design and distribute the complimentary but less controversial nutrients to professionals.

Ken was involved in designing many of the company’s original formulas and realized that additional improvements and upgrading of formulas was necessary to keep up with current research in order to make the products as beneficial as possible. An effort was made to improve and expand the line emphasizing the gland support, proteolytic and digestive enzyme lines. In late 1997 Ken’s brother Chuck returned to the family business bringing with him a background in biochemistry. Chuck’s experience with analytical chemistry and food sterilization with two major food manufacturers soon became an integral part of the operations of Holistic Alternatives, Inc. and of course to the second company as well since they were formulating and providing professional formulas. Chuck took over the presidency and oversight of Rocky Fork Formulas, Inc. when he came on board in 1997. Chuck immediately began to research the product line to determine where changes should be made to improve existing formulas. Chuck also has put a great deal of effort into building a technical nutritional library and developing new formulas utilizing the most up to date research to benefit those seeking a natural approach to some of the most difficult metabolic disorders.

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