Our guest today is Barry Smith, the founder and chairman of Symprove, the probiotic product that’s good for your gut, helping people to live a healthier life. With the motto to ‘never give up’, he describes Symprove as an “overnight success, 33 years in the making”. Barry made it his life mission to get scientific proof that his formula had beneficial health effects. Why? He says because otherwise “it’s just Barry’s story time”. With scientific backing behind him from world-renowned research teams at University College London and more, and a place in the Sunday Times' Fast Track 100, Barry’s story is turning into one of success.
Symprove Ltd was founded in the belief that recovering and maintaining a healthy gut balance can help you live a fuller life. We hold that same belief today, but have stayed curious in the years since, dedicated to researching the microbiome and developing the Symprove formula. Unhappy with existing animal feed, Barry his own feed based on germinated grains – a form of probiotic. After witnessing the impact of this on his animals, Barry realised this could improve the wellbeing of humans. Based around a barley, a natural grain which has undergone fermentation, Symprove (known as Multigerm at the time) became available on the agricultural market in 1996 and was found to have a positive effect on a range of animals. Backed with funding for clinical research into human health and food supplements, the formula was refined for human use and Symprove was born in 2002. In 2010, following a period of research and clinical studies, Symprove was launched as a food supplement, available to the public for the first time.