Ritual Launches Sleep Supplement – WWD

Ritual is betting on the sleep category. 

The supplement brand is launching its first sleep supplement, Ritual Sleep BioSeries Melatonin, $25 for 20 capsules.

While the sleep category may seem saturated — pharmacy aisles are filled with melatonin gummies and magnesium drinks — a report from McKinsey & Co. suggests 45 percent of consumers call better sleep “a very high priority” and that sleep is the “greatest unmet consumer need.” 

Ritual chief executive officer and founder Katerina Schneider said she saw the need from the brand’s customers. 

“Sleep came definitely out of our consumer research as something that was one of the pain points that our customers were suffering from,” she said. “When we started looking into the category, it was really interesting because we saw an opportunity to solve for and reimagine this category similarly to how we reimagine other categories through traceability.” 

With that, Ritual is aiming to bring consumers something new. To differentiate the product from all other gummies, capsules and powders on the market, Ritual is doubling down on traceability and employing its BioSeries technology, which times the melatonin release overnight to help users fall asleep, stay asleep and wake up refreshed, the company said. Specifically, the capsule features three tablets, each with different amounts and forms of melatonin.

“Melatonin is the most scientifically studied ingredient when it comes to to sleep overall, so that’s why we decided to lean into it,” Schneider said.

The first tablet uses one milligram of instant release melatonin for a user to fall asleep. The second tablet uses 3 milligrams of extended-release melatonin for quality sleep throughout the night. Finally, the third uses 1 milligram of extended-release melatonin that tapers off into the morning so users wake up feeling more refreshed. The brand claims this type of release technology is the first of its kind and competitors feature instant release melatonin, which can result in middle-of-the-night wakeups or groggy mornings when taken again in the middle of the night. Ritual is in the process of patenting the technology.

“Each tablet has a different amount of melatonin in it and a different release profile, so it allows us to get really granular and customize the way that the melatonin or really any ingredients that we wanted, but in this case, melatonin, it allows us to customize how and when it’s released from the product,” explained Arianne Young Vance, senior scientist at Ritual. 

According to Schneider, the impetus behind the technology was to help consumers actually stay asleep, as that was a major pain point. 

“A third of consumers said that they would fall asleep because melatonin has an impact so it obviously works…but then people wouldn’t necessarily stay asleep,” she said. “[BioSeries] literally allows us to mimic your body’s natural release of melatonin to really help us with that, to help people stay asleep.” 

In line with Ritual’s overall mission, this melatonin is traceable. According to Schneider, it is sourced from Italy, is more than 90 percent pure and has previously been used in pharmaceutical settings. As the brand launches this new supplement, it will also further its commitment to traceability by adding all carbon emission information on its site — the brand offsets all carbon emissions, but now consumers will be able to explore exact amounts for each product.

Ritual declined to share specific sales figures for this launch but noted the company crossed nine figures in revenue in 2021.