Finding berry pickers will challenge supplement company

By Margaret Bauman

Alaska Journal of Commerce

Wild Alaska blueberries are the key ingredient in a new dietary supplement concocted by an Anchorage biochemist who sees the gelcaps as an antidote for everything from aging to dementia.

"We've been working on the product for 10 years," said Maureen McKenzie, who has begun Internet marketing of AuroraBlue, a nutritional supplement derived from wild Alaska blueberries. "We have done an extensive amount of science. We have a patent on the berry blend, the chemistry involved, the drying process."

AuroraBlue is technically known as a nutraceutical, the formal name for a nutritional supplement, just as drugs are known as pharmaceuticals, McKenzie said.

McKenzie, a principal owner with Gordon Haines in Denali Biotechnologies, said she expects her customer base to be largely "nutritionally savvy customers and health care professionals concerned about dietary components that are essential, but not easy to get in the diet."

Wild blueberries, which grow in abundance in Alaska during summer months, are well known as a low fat, sodium free source of fiber and vitamin C. And with no pits and no required peeling, they are a snack of convenience.

McKenzie, who holds a combined doctorate in biochemistry from Rutgers and Princeton universities, has developed a formula that involves drying the berries to produce granules that are combined with omega-3 fatty acids and more.

Roughly 250 pounds of raw blueberries when dried will produce about 18-1/2 pounds of dried material, enough to make about 90,000 gelcaps, she said.

AuroraBlue, a patented formula, is marketed in containers of 60 gelcaps. The containers sell for $49.95 or 82 cents a gelcap, she said.

"It's not a cheap substance," McKenzie said. "That's why our niche is very nutritionally savvy customers, more educated and affluent, and nutritionally savvy professionals." Two capsules daily are recommended for maintenance of general wellness, she said.

McKenzie, who is currently an adjunct faculty member at the University of Florida Gainesville College of Pharmacy, said possible benefits of the gelcaps range from enhancement of strength and endurance to prevention of some effects of premature aging.

Ingredients in the gelcaps, namely the berries and an antioxidant called astaxanthin, work to rid from the body cells called free radicals. Free radicals attack more stable cells. The berries themselves contain antioxidants that are soluble in water.

The gelcaps also contain omega-3 fatty acids from cold-water fish, she said.

Nutricap Labs in Hickville, N.Y. is producing the gelcaps for Denali Biotechnologies. "We just got our first batch on Dec. 28," McKenzie said. Now Denali Biotechnologies is working with a marketing group to introduce its product to boutiques, vitamin and supplement shops, and medical professionals, she said.

Getting the product to market has been a long process because of a lack of financial support, she said.

The marketing process, however, is already producing orders.

The next challenge to overcome will be in gathering enough blueberries to ensure an ample supply of the product. In the coming year, the company hopes to produce a minimum of 1 million gelcaps, McKenzie said.

"If we can go higher, depending on the (berry) gatherers, that would be wonderful," she said. "We worry most about the gathering process."

McKenzie said she hopes to hire rural youth and other Alaskans to pick blueberries in season. "We may have to import some gatherers from the Lower 48, maybe college kids who need a job, if we can't find enough pickers," she said.

Web resources: Denali Biotechnologies - www.denali-biotechnologies.com