World Biz Magazine (WBM) has been awarding business leaders across the world who are making major strides in their industries. Jean-Marie Raymond has been shortlisted by WBM researchers and independent judges among 40,000 leaders, and only 100 CEOs in the world have received this distinction.

about Jean-Marie Raymond and his vision and beginnings

Jean-Marie Raymond is a passionate entrepreneur who had a clear vision of recovering the healing power of botanicals, applying breakthrough green technology, and obtaining botanical extracts backed by science.

French by birth, Jean-Marie Raymond completed his education in Marketing and Information Technology in France, England, and Spain, obtaining an Executive MBA at the Instituto de Empresas (IE) in Madrid. His professional career comprises nearly 20 years in the field of botanical and natural ingredients for food supplements.

In 2009, Jean-Marie Raymond founded Pharmactive, developing a breakthrough idea and vision that came to life with the traditional and Mediterranean plant of saffron.

Establishing the highest quality standards as a core value of the business combined with continued R&D investment, Pharmactive was the first company to introduce saffron extract in the market for mood improvement.

"Jean-Marie Raymond is a natural leader with a clear vision, who knows how to motivate his team and how to get the best out of everyone," said Julia Díaz, head of Marketing at Pharmactive.

Rediscovering ancient botanicals with eco-friendly practices

Jean-Marie Raymond has been a visionary in the world of botanicals, recovering ancient ingredients such as affron a saffron extract of premium quality, and ABG +, aged black garlic extract, and applying eco-friendly practices to obtain the best purity and concentration.

He saw the extraordinary therapeutic power of plants, and the healing benefits for our health, and at the same time, he designed an eco-friendly extraction process. 

Jean-Marie Raymond, shared: "We use AFF ON Cool-Tech™, a natural proprietary extraction process that maintains peak freshness, purity, and potency of our botanicals. The clean and green technology process is gentle on the plant and safeguards the potent bioactive compounds. It does not use harmful solvents, synthetics, or additives. It is a fully eco-friendly and low-energy technique that requires minimal industrial processing and generates very low waste."

Leading continuous growth since 2017

Pharmactive has experienced continuous growth since its foundation, and this growth has only accelerated since 2017. The company has doubled the number of employees and has logged an average annual sales growth greater than 23%, driven primarily by the success of its premium products affron® saffron extract and ABG10+, a pioneering black garlic extract.

In July 2021, private equity group Siparex, Paris, took a minority stake in Pharmactive. This transaction will allow Pharmactive to accelerate its ambitious development plans through external growth and expand its portfolio of natural ingredients and international commercial presence.

"Positioned in a booming market, Pharmactive is an innovative company led by an experienced and enthusiastic founding manager," said Pierre Bordeaux Montrieux, managing director of Siparex Midcap.

"Jean-Marie Raymond stands out in particular with his unique validation positioning and systematic scientific analysis of premium products," added Stéphane Agaësse, senior investment manager within Siparex Midcap. "We are proud to support him in this new phase of development."