Artemis International has tapped a marketing agency to excite the US about aronia berries: a superfruit prized by Europeans that grows virtually unnoticed in its native America.
Everyone knows that blueberries are high in antioxidant capacity. In fact, it made them famous as a superfruit around the world. But aronia berries are in fact three times higher.
Artemis International is a US marketer of dark-pigmented, health-promoting berry-based ingredients and provider of elderberry and blackcurrant. The company has hired the Food and Wellness Group to shine a spotlight on aronia.
This very dark, very tart-tasting berry leads all other berries in anthocyanin and proanthocyanidins content, two flavonoids that have demonstrated antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and a wide range of potential benefits including heart health and cancer prevention.
The choice of the Portland-Maine-based Food and Wellness Group to lead the marketing charge was strategic. This is the team that first developed and marketed the health story that made wild blueberries the popular superfruit they are today.
By hiring the Food and Wellness Group, Artemis International is signalling the world that the US growers and marketers of aronia are about to change the playing field. With polyphenolic content significantly higher than mainstream fruit like blueberries, cranberries, concord grapes and pomegranates, as well as other less-familiar exotic superfoods like acai, aronia has the potential to eclipse all other fruits as the super-healthy ingredient of choice.
We hope to contribute to the success of the entire aronia industry by driving up the US demand for what will be an increasing supply over the next few years
Jan Mills, President and CEO of Artemis International, is bullish on the future of aronia. In fact, she was personally involved in the reintroduction of aronia to its native soil nearly 20 years ago.
Leslie Gallo, VP of Operations for Artemis Farms, is looking forward to significantly raising awareness of the industry as a whole.
“By bringing the Food and Wellness Group on board with their record of highly successful marketing strategies and programs for wild blueberries, we hope to contribute to the success of the entire aronia industry by driving up the US demand for what will be an increasing supply over the next few years,” Gallo said.
According to Gallo: “Product developers looking for novel and healthy ingredient forms will soon discover the unique health-promoting attributes of aronia berries and what we call Tart-Healthy Taste. Early adopters like Eric Helms’ Juice Generation smoothie chain in New York, and JR Knudsen with their Just aronia all-natural juice, reflect the emerging US interest in this healthy native berry.”
Artemis Farms is the growing, processing and marketing division of Artemis International for aronia berry products in the US. It will lead the expansion efforts for aronia in this country.
Aronia origins
Centuries ago, aronia grew wild in the eastern half of the US, prized by native inhabitants for its healing properties. Over time, aronia faded from notice, only to reappear as a cultivated crop in Eastern Europe, where the market grew and thrived. aronia extracts, powders, dried and frozen berries are found in products of all kinds—nutritional supplements and nutraceuticals, beverages, jams, jellies, syrups, and dried, sweetened snacks—for European consumers who are well aware of their health benefits.
Today, a growing number of farmers throughout the Midwestern US—America’s heartland—and beyond are cultivating aronia on its native soil, poised for the resurgence of this antioxidant, anti-inflammatory powerhouse.
John Sauve, managing partner of the Food and Wellness Group said his marketing team will utilise their years of experience with wild blueberries to help Artemis Farms accelerate awareness and demand for aronia berries. “We will be working closely with research scientists to further identify and validate the health properties of aronia,” said Sauve. “These talented researchers and their health-related research will play a major role in advancing the aronia story,” he added.
Artemis International and Artemis Farms are part of the Artemis family of brands, providing berry-based ingredients to the functional food, beverage and nutraceutical industries, as well as a line of BerryDark aronia, branded ingredient and retail products. The Food and Wellness Group is a specialised branding and consulting firm focused on helping its clients succeed in today’s health and wellness-driven marketplace. They also created The Colors of Health, a marketing initiative to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables to 5 cups a day.
