NEW INNOVATORS:NUTRITION GURUS have long praised seeds as the heroes of the food chain when it comes to stocking up on antioxidants and essential fatty acids. Now Wexford entrepreneurs, Barrie Rogers and Ray Owens, are blazing a trail with Chia, a South American seed they say is right at the top of the superfoods league.
Chia has been grown by the indigenous peoples of Mexico since 2700 BC but appears to have remained a well-kept secret. Its nutritional value is only now being appreciated by the wider world. Owens came across it in the US three years ago and, having tried it with positive results, convinced Rogers that Chia was an opportunity waiting to be tapped.
The partners set up Chia Bia in 2009 and since then have invested about €500,000 developing their product line-up and building awareness of Chia among Irish health food outlets and pharmacies. In January this year, the product really began to get a foothold here following its listing with Dunnes Stores and it has just been launched in Holland Barrett outlets in the UK.
Chia Bia secured a listing with Musgraves in March and recently participated in an Irish food promotion in Selfridges in London with a view to a permanent listing there. The company has appointed a UK distributor and the British market is currently its main focus for growth although it has also begun test smaller European markets.
The Chia is milled in the US and shipped to Ireland for packing in Waterford where
the company employs seven people. Chia looks like poppy seeds and can be sprinkled onto breakfast cereals or mixed into smoothies. The product comes plain or with cranberries or blueberries. A pack of plain milled seed costs €9.99 for 21 servings.
The company also has two organic soda bread mixes in its line-up and three Chia-based cereal bars. The bars are being manufactured in Germany as attempts to find an Irish company to make them were unsuccessful.
Owens says the company has two major advantages over anyone following behind: a 24-month “first mover” window and product endorsement by “Mr Chia” – US academic Dr Wayne Coates of the University of Arizona who rediscovered Chia seed and began growing it experimentally and later with farmers in Mexico to give them a cash crop.
“During his research Dr Coates discovered the huge nutritional value of Chia and has been one of the primary educators on the subject since. We got in touch with him and he agreed to let us use his name in connection with our products. All of our Chia seed is sourced and approved by him,” Owens says.
