THE HEALTHY POWER OF PHYTOPLANKTON
Entrepreneur hopes his superfood will become a global brand, writes Rick Spence.
Does David Hunter have a fish story for you! Actually, a fishfood story.
A native of Maple Ridge, B.C., Hunter was selling Alaskan glacier water before he discovered a product that was even better for you than H20: phytoplankton. While it is said that ancient ice is just water with a sexy storyline, plankton faces the challenge of being a unique superfood with a fishy aftertaste.
Hunter has put 10 years into selling Canadians on the nutritive potential of Karen, a line of phytoplankton products named after his late mother. With his help, Fitoplancton Marino of Cadiz, Spain, has now become the first firm in the world licensed to produce human food based on microalgae, and Canada is the company’s crucial test market.
“My job is to strategically find a way to let Canadians know this amazing plant has the potential to change everyone’s lives,” says Hunter. “If we do it right, this could be a global brand.”
You may know that phytoplankton are single-celled algae floating in lakes and oceans. Absorbing energy from the sun, they form the base of the aquatic food web. Even the mighty blue whale eats only krill, a shrimplike crustacean that dines directly on phytoplankton.
Clearly, there is power in plankton: but what kind, and how much, we don’t know. Hunter’s company, Blugenics Innovations of Sackville, N.B., sells phytoplankton in tablet form as a vitamin-like supplement for “maintenance of good health.” It’s also available as a powder to mix with water or juice, and in a skin lotion for relief of psoriasis and rosacea.
In the absence of clinical tests, Blugenics is limited in its health claims. Karen packages, for instance, boast only that they contain zeaxanthin, an antioxidant.
But the company’s literature also hints at anti-aging properties and improvements in cell regeneration. Blugenics’ website includes customer testimonials that say Karen helped them feel more energized, sleep better and overcome gluten allergies. None of these claims has been proven.
The company is also beginning tests to determine how phytoplankton fares against irritable bowel syndrome.
Hunter started taking phytoplankton a decade ago. He says it helped his digestion, relieved his migraines, beat a skin rash and helped him lose 40 pounds.
It was also the start of a long journey. Early on, Hunter had been a partner in a bottled-water firm in Alaska. He proved a savvy salesman, helping the company extend distribution throughout the Western U.S. But partnership problems cropped up, and Hunter left in 2005.
That same day he got a call from a friend, Tom Harper, who ran a B.C. shellfish farm. To cut costs, he had developed his own mollusk food: a gooey paste based on phytoplankton. He was shocked to see that algae-fed clams grew up to twice normal size.
When Harper, a diabetic, ate his own product, he found it relieved pain and reduced his dependence on insulin. He called Hunter to recruit him to help sell phytoplankton to the world.
The partnership was brief; when Harper sold the business, Hunter was on the outs again. Looking for another supplier, he discovered Fitoplancton Marino, a company founded by scientist Carlos Unamunzaga that used phytoplankton to make fish food. That partnership has lasted a decade. Working out of his home, with three employees, Hunter sold $1.8 million worth of phytoplankton powder in 18 months.
But in 2008, Health Canada started cracking down on unlicensed vendors of natural food products.
“Phytoplankton was a new discovery,” says Hunter. “It didn’t have a history.” They shut the business to focus on gaining federal approvals. Hunter moved his family to low-cost Sackville, where they opened a sandwich restaurant to pay the bills. Before working there all day, he would get up at 5 a.m. to work on product development and approvals.
After five years, Hunter was ready to go again. He developed the Karen brand, built a Facebook following and started calling on drugstores. He used a unique approach: he asked prospects if he could pick their brains over how they would sell the product.
Many took samples to try, and ended up not just stocking the product, but promoting it to other pharmacists. Today Karen has a network of 1,200 retailers, and a staff of 12. Last year the company sold 48,000 units, for revenue of about $1.8 million. This year’s target is $2.5 million.
Hunter admits the company won’t be profitable this year. “We’re still in investment mode,” he says. As a result, he’s devised an entrepreneurial employment deal. He owns 10 per cent of Blugenics, and Marino 90 per cent. But Hunter now gets a salary. “I didn’t want to take all the risk,” he says. “Now I don’t have to worry if the cash flow is tight.”
Beyond retail sales, Hunter is talking to Canadian processors about incorporating phytoplankton into salad dressings, processed fish and granola bars.
If phytoplankton becomes the health food of the future, Hunter hopes Canada will show the way. “I believe that when this thing catches on, Karen will be the Kleenex of phytoplankton, the best-known brand.”
My job is to ... let Canadians know this amazing plant has the potential to change everyone’s lives.