Albert Einstein was a hardworking patent clerk before he became a Nobel Prize-winning physicist famous, in part, for providing the key to harnessing nuclear power: e = [mc.sup.2] (energy is equal to mass multiplied by the square of the speed of light).
Coincidentally, David Kam and Adam Hum were two budding entrepreneurs before they became president and vice president, respectively, of Montreal-based North Pole Beverages and producers of the world's first "Think Drink," E = [MC.sup.2]. While their accomplishments may not rival those of Einstein, three years of hard work and countless experiments attest to the pair's scientific approach to beverages.
Kam says he and Hum began their lightly carbonated fruit-flavored beverage adventure when they noticed people were lined up to buy ginseng in the Chinese herb shop they frequented. " Ginseng enhances your memory," says Karo explaining the root's popularity, "and it improves your immune system. And, when your body feels good you are able to think better." But the root, which has a 2,000-year history of medicinal use, also has a strong bitter taste.
Kam and Hum had an idea: If bitter-tasting ginseng was popular with consumers, a product that offered ginseng and all its benefits without the unpleasant taste would be even more popular. Thus, Kam and Hum decided to develop "great tasting drinks that are healthy for everyone." The pair came up with two beverage concepts to put their idea to the test: a line of lightly carbonated fruit-flavored "Think Drinks" dubbed E = [MC.sup.2]; and HerboTea, a premium herbal tea line that would offer the benefits of ginseng and other popular herbs.
The challenge for the pair, according to Kam, came in formulating the drinks to meet their own exacting standards. "We wanted to make our drinks different," says Kam. "We wanted every little thing to be different from other drinks; we tried to make every aspect unique."
In this quest to be different, Karo and Hum compiled a lisst oof ingredients that reads like a sightseeing tour: ginseng from Korea; camomile from Germany and the United Kingdom; chrysanthemum from Japan and China; and water from British Columbia. According to Kam, the cosmopolitan nature of these ingredients is no fluke; it reflects North Pole's commitment to quality.
Seeking the highest quality ginseng available, for example, the company not only settled on Korean ginseng , but went so far as to get kosher certification so the products would appeal to all potential consumers. "We had a very difficult time," says Kam. "People were telling us 'this is impossible to do.' And so we actually had to send a rabbi to Korea to have it inspected."
Closer to home Kam and Hum happened upon a source of spring water in British Columbia that could be used in the manufacture of both drinks. With one of the lowest total dissolved solids rates of any bottled water on the market, the spring water met with North Pole's purity standards. In fact, the water was so appealing to Kam and Hum, they decided to bottle it at the source. North Pole Spring Water became the first North Pole Beverage Company product to hit store shelves in 1994.
In the meantime, the pair continued to experiment with the formulations of both E = [MC.sup.2] and HerboTea, testing them with consumers and reformulating them, according to Kam, "thousands of times."
Finally, in November, Kam says the pair was satisfied and their days of experimentation were over; the drinks were ready for distribution. E = [MC.sup.2], available in Ice Berry, Frosted Tangerine and Fuzzy Navel, contains 83 milligrams of ginseng - the equivalent of one-half of the vials of ginseng sold in health stores. Skewed toward a young 18- to 34-year-old audience, the line is being promoted as "the drink that makes you think!"
For the HerboTea line, camomile, chrysanthemum and cinnamon are blended with 83 milligrams of koshered Korean ginseng , rosemary, rosehip and fruit flavors. The thhree flavors, Camomile Lemon, Chrysanthemum Peach and Apple Orchard, each boast their own herbal benefits. Camomile Lemon, for example, is purported to spur healing and relieve inflammation and digestive upsets.
Both drinks are available in 12-ounce glass bottles throughout Washington state, where distributors have reported that 90 percent of retailers have placed orders for the products. The company is looking for distribution across the US and Canada, and is in negotiations with distributors on both coasts.
Kam and Hum may never win a Nobel Prize - the pair have yet to be called to Stockholm - but it seems that the scientific approach has worked for North Pole Beverages. Kam notes that retailers in Washington have reported E = [MC.sup.2] sales of over five cases per week, outselling even the most popular New Age brands.
- BY : Greg W. Prince
- SOURCE : Beverage World Periscope Edition1996.01.31
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