Got a headache? Take a pill.
It seems many North Americans no longer follow this advice, but rather treat their aches, pains, infections and diseases with products extracted from plants.
St. John’s Wort, echinacea, ginseng, borage, evening primrose, flax seed – these plants, once mainstays of the apothocary’s shelf, are again in vogue.
It’s a booming business called the nutraceutical industry and Saskatchewan’s few players are organizing to increase their share of the multi-billion dollar market.
The Saskatchewan Nutraceutical Network, officially launched last week, took its cue from an established success story, the biotechnology sector.
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It began to grow in Saskatchewan after the creation in 1989 of Ag-West Biotech, a provincially funded, non-profit organization given the task of being an industry catalyst. It brought together businesses and researchers, addressing regulatory issues and promoting Saskatchewan’s biotech industry internationally.
“We are trying to set it up like Ag-West, but we are different because it has some money to invest in small companies. We do not have that,” said Kelly Fitzpatrick, president of the nutraceutical network.
Network is the key word.
“A lot of members are real small. They are one, two, three, four-people companies, just starting out with really good ideas and products, but they don’t know anybody.
“So they phone me and I say this is who you need to talk to.”
With $1 million from the Canada-Saskatchewan Agri-Food Innovation Fund, the network has been guaranteed four years of funding.
The 35 members range from an elk breeders association and herb growers to the National Research Council’s Plant Biotechnology Institute.
Brent Zettl of Prairie Plant Systems in Saskatoon, said he was joining the network to keep tabs on who might need the services of his company.
Among other things, Prairie Plant Systems mass propagates nutraceutical plants for companies that specialize in marketing nutraceuticals to pass on to their growers.
“There are some familiar faces,” he said as he surveyed the crowd at the association’s inaugural general meeting. “But every once in a while there is a new development. All these companies are on the move. No one is sitting still so it is important to keep abreast of what is moving and where it is going to determine where our next stage of involvement will take place.”
Doug and Melody Machmer of Mid Northern Growers, who produce medicinal plants on their farm near Moose Jaw, Sask., became network members for the contacts and to try to shape the growth of the industry.
“We have high quality here in Saskatchewan and we don’t want the raw product shipped out of province, not processed,” said Melody.
“The Nutraceutical Network is trying to encourage processors to get going so that we don’t do what we’ve done all these years with our cattle and grain.”
Some processing already takes place in the province. Fitzpatrick estimates Saskatchewan processors have sales of $30-$40 million a year.
Bill Reynolds, a Toronto-based consultant specializing in the nutraceutical and functional food sector, said the network is being set up at the right time.
The nutraceutical market, already estimated to be worth about $12 billion in the United States and more than $1 billion in Canada, is about to shift into overdrive, he said.
Whereas sales growth in North America has been running at 15-20 percent annually, the increase in 1999-2000 could leap to 50-100 percent, Reynolds said.
A key driver in the growth is the fact major pharmacy chains and food stores such as Shoppers Drug Mart and Loblaws are rushing to introduce nutraceutical sections in their stores, he said.
“There is a paradigm shift. We have nutraceuticals, functional foods and we see them expanding into the prescription and (over-the-counter drug) market. It is expanding into the food market. It’s is expanding into the natural food market.”
Another big boost to the sector is the interest shown by the popular news media. A profile done by a national television news magazine can make a star out of an unknown.
Fitzpatrick noted that in 1995 St. John’s Wort, said to treat depression, was virtually unknown. By 1997 it had become the second biggest selling botanical nutraceutical because two U.S. news programs did items based on an article in the New England Journal of Medicine.
“One of our big challenges is to figure out what is going to be the next big block buster, or the next big five,” she said.
What’s in a name?
Nutraceuticals
Products processed from foods and sold as medicine and demonstrated to have a health benefit, such as providing protection from chronic disease. Examples are flax oil or a herbal product containing echinacea.
Functional foods
Regular foods that show health benefits beyond basic nutrition. Examples are oat bran and modified fatty acid canola.
Plant-based cosmetics
Sometimes called dermaceuticals, they are extracts from plants that have been shown to have a beneficial effect on the skin. Examples are borage oil or willowherb phytochemicals.
