# Vitabay ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Founded | 1999 | | Origin | Netherlands | | Headquarters | Maastricht | | Status | Active | | Distribution | Multi-channel | | Website | https://www.vitabay.ch/ | Vitabay is a family-run dietary-supplement brand founded in 1999 by the physician Dr. med. Harald Pfeffer and his son Jens Pfeffer [2]. Its range centres on vitamins, minerals, amino acids, plant extracts and colloidal minerals, with separate lines for skin, hair and "Anti-Aging & Beauty", alongside a small cosmetics section. The brand presents itself as "developed by physicians" and uses the tagline "Unser Wissen. Deine Gesundheit." ("Our knowledge. Your health."). The trademark is owned and operated by Vitabay C.V., a limited partnership registered in Maastricht in the Netherlands [5], while the company frames its product development and laboratory testing around Germany. Vitabay is active, sells through its own online shops as well as online pharmacies and large marketplaces, and in 2017 drew attention from the German consumer-testing organisation Stiftung Warentest over high-dose vitamin products [9]. ## Origin & founders According to the company, the idea for Vitabay was first raised in a conversation in Merano, in South Tyrol, where Harald Pfeffer told his son about a brand that would "think like a physician and accompany like a family" [3]. The two founded Vitabay together in 1999, describing it as a digital health brand that arrived long before dietary supplements became a trend. After closing his medical practice, Harald Pfeffer devoted himself to the business full time. The founding story is told almost entirely through the father. Vitabay's own pages describe a medical background shaping the formulas, and the brand's shop header pairs "since 1999" with the line "Von Medizinern entwickelt" (developed by physicians). Today, the company says, the family runs the brand in its second generation. The founding year and the founders' roles are documented only by the company itself; no independent account of the early years is documented. ## History & milestones Vitabay did not start with its own products. The company says it began as a partnership with several US manufacturers before moving into its own development. It describes this shift as a move "from partnership with US manufacturers to our own development in Germany". The brand dates the start of its own product development and research to 2005. Harald Pfeffer, the company says, then spent the years from 2006 to 2011 working intensively on longevity research and on the so-called Blue Zones, regions where people are often described as living unusually long lives. That interest still shows in the current range, which has a dedicated longevity line. In 2010 Vitabay launched its first own product in the category of foods for special medical purposes, known in German as "bilanzierte Diäten". These are products intended for the dietary management of particular medical conditions rather than for general wellbeing. Four years later, in 2014, the company developed Class IIa medical devices that it credits to Harald Pfeffer [2]. Class IIa is a medical-device risk class one step above the lowest category. Growth figures come from the company. Vitabay says it reached 250,000 customers for the first time in 2016, and its shop now advertises "more than 2,500,000 satisfied customers" [1]. In 2018 it lists the patenting of a light-protecting packaging glass, which it calls Leonith glass, among its milestones [2]; the website does not name a patent number or patent office. The most recent milestone the company records is a rebranding begun in 2022 across all of its departments. ## Ownership Vitabay is not part of a larger beauty or pharmaceutical group. The trading name and trademark belong to Vitabay C.V., which the brand's legal notice describes as the operator of its web presence. The partnership is registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce and has its address on Avenue Ceramique in Maastricht [5]. Where the brand is "from" depends on what is being measured. The legal seat is in the Netherlands, while the company's about page places its story in Germany, describing its own development there and promoting products as "laboratory-tested in Germany" [2]. Both statements come from the brand's own website, so they are less a contradiction than two different angles: a Dutch legal entity behind a brand whose development and testing the company ties to Germany. No acquisitions or sister brands are documented. ## Philosophy & positioning Vitabay describes itself through three short phrases: "Von Familie für Familie" (from family to family), "Medizinisches Wissen" (medical knowledge) and "Bewusst begleitet" (mindfully accompanied). On its founder page it names three guiding values: love of health, loyalty to customers and a passion for research. Its stated vision is "Gesundheit für alle, nicht für wenige", health for everyone rather than for a few [4]. The mission is phrased as "Aus Leidenschaft zum Gesundsein", roughly "out of a passion for being healthy". In practice, the company says, this means looking at a person's basic supply of nutrients as a whole rather than focusing on a single vitamin. It adds that it has spent more than two decades gathering knowledge about vitamins and minerals. The brand stresses three practical points in how it presents its products. It says it selects raw-material forms that the body absorbs well, that external laboratories in Germany test its products for heavy metals and microbiological contamination, and that many products come in light-protecting glass to keep them stable for longer. Vitabay also makes a resource claim: according to its vision page, its research means it needs markedly fewer natural raw materials to produce its active nutrients. Many products are fully vegan, the company says, and are marked with a vegan label on the individual product page [7]. No third-party certifications are documented. ## Products & innovation The catalogue is organised both by area of the body and by ingredient. Navigation categories include the immune system, heart and circulation, energy and concentration, sleep, digestion, joints and bones, women's health, pregnancy, eyes and ears, sport, weight management and liver support. Skin, hair and "Anti-Aging & Beauty" sit alongside these as their own collections, which is where the brand meets the beauty market most directly. By ingredient, the range runs from single vitamins such as B12, C, D and K2 to minerals like magnesium, zinc, selenium and iron, amino acids such as 5-HTP and taurine, and plant extracts including artichoke, turmeric, ginkgo and milk thistle. A separate group of colloidal minerals covers colloidal silver, gold, silicon, magnesium and zinc. Coenzyme Q10, green-lipped mussel, MSM, melatonin and omega-3 complete the list. Products come as capsules, tablets, drops, powders, liquids, sprays and creams or gels. The company highlights a handful of bestsellers. They include a vitamin D3 and K2 combination in vegan tablets, pregnenolone in vegan capsules, melatonin lozenges, astaxanthin softgels and a vegan omega-3 made from algae oil with DHA and EPA. Lifestyle lines named "Longevity", "Hybrid Athletes" and "Women's Health" group products by target audience, and a magnesium bisglycinate depot product was marked as new in 2026. Cosmetics play a small role. The brand's "Kosmetik" section is limited, with a wild yam cream marketed in connection with menopause, and a diosgenin gel appears elsewhere in the shop. The packaging glass the company calls Leonith glass is the one proprietary technology the company names: Vitabay says it protects supplements from the damaging effects of sunlight and considerably extends their shelf life. ## Controversies In September 2017, Stiftung Warentest published a spot check of 35 vitamin preparations bought in July of that year. It compared their daily doses with the maximum amounts for supplements recommended by Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) [9]. Two Vitabay products, both ordered through Amazon, were among those listed. According to the test, "Vitabay Vitamin A 10000 IE / IU" provided 3,000 µg of vitamin A per daily dose, 7.5 times the recommended maximum of 400 µg. "Vitabay Vitamin K" provided 1,200 µg of vitamin K per daily dose, 15 times the recommended maximum of 80 µg [9]. The report was a general review of high-dose vitamin products on the market rather than an investigation of Vitabay alone. No response from the company is documented. ## Current status Vitabay is active. Its knowledge magazine, "Unser Wissen", published new articles dated 11 September 2026 [8], and new products continue to appear in the shop. The company runs storefronts for Germany, Switzerland and Italy, and its legal notice lists a support team "for Germany and Europe" along with trademarks and domains in several further European countries. Beyond its own shops, the company says its products are sold "in online pharmacies, on the large marketplaces and in the TikTok Shop", with the same products and the same laboratory testing in every channel [2]. Online pharmacies carrying the brand include Shop Apotheke, DocMorris, medpex, APONEO and Sanicare, and it also sells through Amazon and Kaufland. Vitabay maintains Instagram and TikTok accounts under the handles vitabay.de and vitabay_de. ## Timeline {#belagg-timeline} | Year | Event | Source | |---|---|---| | 1999 | Vitabay founded; originally began as a partnership with various US companies | https://www.vitabay.ch/pages/ueber-vitabay | | 2005 | Start of own product development and research to launch its own range | https://www.vitabay.ch/pages/ueber-vitabay | | 2006 | 2006–2011: Harald Pfeffer works intensively on longevity research and the Blue Zones (brand-stated) | https://www.vitabay.ch/pages/dr-med-harald-pfeffer | | 2010 | First own product in the 'bilanzierte Diäten' (foods for special medical purposes) category | https://www.vitabay.ch/pages/ueber-vitabay | | 2014 | Class IIa medical devices developed, originating from Dr. med. Harald Pfeffer | https://www.vitabay.ch/pages/ueber-vitabay | | 2016 | Reached 250,000 customers for the first time (brand-stated) | https://www.vitabay.ch/pages/ueber-vitabay | | 2018 | Patenting of 'Leonith Glas' light-protecting glass (brand-stated) | https://www.vitabay.ch/pages/ueber-vitabay | | 2022 | Start of a rebranding across all departments | https://www.vitabay.ch/pages/ueber-vitabay | ## Signature products {#belagg-products} - **Vitamin D3 20.000 I.E. + K2 200 µg - 180 vegane Tabletten** — ## Unsere Bestseller Die Produkte, zu denen ihr am häufigsten greift — https://www.vitabay.ch/pages/ueber-vitabay - **Pregnenolon 50 mg – vegane Kapseln** — Pregnenolon 50 mg – vegane Kapseln — https://www.vitabay.ch/pages/ueber-vitabay - **Melatonin 3mg Lutschtabletten** — Melatonin 3mg Lutschtabletten — https://www.vitabay.ch/pages/ueber-vitabay - **Astaxanthin 12mg - 90 Softgelkapseln** — Astaxanthin 12mg - 90 Softgelkapseln — https://www.vitabay.ch/pages/ueber-vitabay - **Omega 3 Vegan - 60 Algenöl-Softgelkapseln mit 1100 mg Omega 3, DHA & EPA** — Omega 3 Vegan - 60 Algenöl-Softgelkapseln mit 1100 mg Omega 3, DHA & EPA — https://www.vitabay.ch/pages/ueber-vitabay ## Proprietary technologies & patents {#belagg-tech} - Leonith Glas (light-protecting glass packaging for supplements) — https://www.vitabay.ch/pages/ueber-vitabay - Leonith Glas (2018, brand-stated; patent number/office not given) — https://www.vitabay.ch/pages/ueber-vitabay ## Mentioned in {#belagg-press} - **Stiftung Warentest (test.de)** (2017) — '35 Vitaminpräparate im Check (exemplarisch)' (21.09.2017): spot check of 35 vitamin products bought in July 2017, compared with BfR-recommended maximum amounts for supplements. Two Vitabay products were listed (Vitabay Vitamin A 10000 IE / IU; Vitabay Vitamin K). — https://www.test.de/Vitamine-Viele-Praeparate-sind-deutlich-zu-hoch-dosiert-5220730-5223608/ ## Sources 1. (T1) https://www.vitabay.ch/ 2. (T1) https://www.vitabay.ch/pages/ueber-vitabay 3. (T2) https://www.vitabay.ch/pages/dr-med-harald-pfeffer 4. (T2) https://www.vitabay.ch/pages/unser-vision 5. (T2) https://www.vitabay.ch/policies/legal-notice 7. (T2) https://www.vitabay.ch/pages/hilfe-faq 8. (T2) https://www.vitabay.ch/blogs/wissen 9. (T3) https://www.test.de/Vitamine-Viele-Praeparate-sind-deutlich-zu-hoch-dosiert-5220730-5223608/ --- Glowpedia · · Published 2026-10-13 Please cite with a link to the article URL.