Locally Made Supplement Nutritious Enough To Fuel An NHL Star For Sale At Costco
David Hunter first discovered the health benefits of the ocean algae phytoplankton while working at a sea farm on Vancouver Island. The original intent was on marketing Phytoplankton to shellfish farmers as feed for commercial shellfish operations that sold to restaurants.
More than 15 years later, Hunter’s product, Karen Phytoplankton, is a popular nutritional supplement sold in national pharmaceutical chains like Shoppers, Lawtons, PharmaChoice, Medicine Shoppe, Guardian, and other retail outlets across Canada, including Costco.
“Back in 2005, the selling proposition of the Phytoplankton was the shellfish that were eating the phytoplankton were two and half times bigger than regular shellfish,” said Hunter. “As a joke, my coworker began to eat the phytoplankton that he was feeding to the shellfish because he liked the smell of it.”
Despite consuming the product as a joke, his coworker reported feeling healthier, and lifelong ailments disappeared after eating the ocean food, which convinced Hunter to try it for himself.
“I ended up taking the phytoplankton and I had an absolute life-changing scenario,” said Hunter. “The first thing I noticed was the overall sense of mental clarity and energy. I felt like I did when I was a kid. I used to struggle with a nasal drip due to allergies. That went away. Then the biggest thing is my lifelong struggle with severe migraine headaches went away. I haven’t had a migraine headache since that day.”
Hunter then gave plankton to friends, who also reported feeling healthier after taking it, and was reporting recoveries that were deemed impossible by medical standards. After all this anecdotal evidence, Hunter decided to invest his time and money into producing phytoplankton as a medicine. He moved to New Brunswick from the Vancouver area to lower his cost of living while developing the medicine.
But it is not easy, obviously, to get a new product approved as a drug. Hunter hit many roadblocks and eventually put his dream on the backburner while he operated a restaurant called Pickles in Sackville, New Brunswick.
“I couldn’t believe I had access to this life-giving, life-changing discovery and there were no pathways to get this to market without spending millions,” said Hunter
One day, however, a friend suggested to him to market the product as a health supplement.
“He said, ‘why don’t you just sell it as a multi-vitamin, and just let the product do the talking.’”
This idea eventually paid off and this pivot turned into the pathway he was looking for. In 2015, after 4 years of paperwork, Health Canada gave Hunter his license to sell. Soon, Karen Phytoplankton (named after Hunter’s beloved mother, who was a nurse and passed away from cancer at 46), was in major pharmacy chains. Hunter says he reached $2-million in sales within the first two years.
According to a study done on Karen Phytoplankton, the product contains a mixture of calcium, magnesium, protein, total dietary fiber, omega 3, omega 6, vitamin c, vitamin e, vitamin k, and many other vitamins and minerals.
Hunter’s company Blugenics sells Karen Phytoplankton in powder, tablets and capsules, as well as lotion, soap, shampoo and conditioner. There is even a powder for pets.
He says a lot of his customers like the taste of phytoplankton (he describes it as a nori-like flavour) and the other half hate it, which is why it’s also available in a capsule. He also recommends mixing the powder with a favourite food drink or smoothie.
“It’s funny, half the people love the taste, the other half hate it. But the powder still makes up 45 percent of our sales,” says Hunter.
The product has already gotten an endorsement from an NHL star. In 2017, Brayden Schenn (then with the Philadelphia Flyers) shot a video promoting how great his body felt after a teammate told him to try it. He admitted he wasn’t a big fan of the taste though.
“My body’s not as sore…I feel way better when I wake up in the mornings,” Schenn said on the benefits of Karen. “You don’t get that muscle soreness that you would after a game…Ever since I started taking the product, I feel unbelievable, and I’m going to take it for the rest of my career.”
Now the product’s reach is growing even further. Karen Phytoplankton is sold in Costco stores in Atlantic Canada and on Vancouver Island. Now, Costco is rolling out the product in more locations, including 12 this month in Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton.
Anyone interested in learning more about Karen Phytoplankton can visit www.thekarenproject.ca
This story is sponsored by Blugenics.