I am still in awe of Mathew, British Sea Buckthorn co-director completing his Iron man challenge. 3.8km sea swim; 180km cycle ride over the mountains of Mallorca followed by a full marathon. Being fit and enough practice was only part of his game – it also executed a great plan. A plan to conserve and use energy to make it through in under the 16 hours allocated. It is inspirational.
As British Sea buckthorn rolls onto another R&D year it also rolls into a new plan. Harvest 2015 has defined how we will harvest in the future and improve efficiency. The plan for this winter will also see us working with new companies promoting sea buckthorn in the UK as a superfruit.
Working with others to promote your product is about developing market awareness. The VW issues that broke last week show that brands are not always as shiny as they seem. Consumer trust is the holy grail for all companies. Tarnish it, and it can take years to remove the blemish. But transgressions are human errors. Consumers look for perfection, and perfection we should deliver, but mistakes will happen. They are the learning curve that creates quality and defines brands.
Superfruit was a term developed in 2005 to describe a natural product with exceptional qualities. It was abused by some in making health benefit claims that could not be substantiated. One of the results was the EU Nutrition and health Claim regulations. Laws to protect the consumer and to guide the manufacturer.
Two weeks ago at a Growth Accelerator masterclass my presentation on sea buckthorn explained the nutritional power of the fruit with all its bioactive compounds. One of the audience cut through all my detail and stated – so its a superfruit. Simplicity returns. It was not the term superfruit that was discredited back in the mid 2000s, it was the actions that tarnished it.
Back in 2012 a Julian Mellentine report on innovative functional food products stated the need for clarity; backed by authority and defining difference. Our plan in 2015/16 will be to see sea buckthorn in the UK market as European superfruit. The reaction from companies at the LUNCH 2015 exhibition last Friday proved there is interest and demand. So with Iron Man resolve this will be a classic development year.