| | When diverse professionals are all pulling in the same direction, great things happen.
You have a consumer market that’s crying out for healthy, novel, delicious food products. You have a technology that can deliver this in a product that’s never been seen before. Putting the two together might seem simple, but in fact, true innovation rarely is.
When Alberta’s Bles-Wold Dairy Farm (see below) recently launched Canada’s first-ever CLA yogurt product, the team that made it happen was cheering. That team of people -- researchers, product developers, health experts and marketers -- is known as the CLA Network. “The CLA Network is a multidisciplinary group, founded in 2001, with representatives from government, academia, producer groups, the food industry and the health community,” says CLA Network Manager Vince Ohama of Alberta Agriculture and Food. “Instead of working on a small project, you're tapped into a larger network. There’s an exchange of different viewpoints and a high level of expertise directed toward a common goal.”
The group’s progress related to dairy production has been strongly supported by Alberta Milk, Dairy Farmers of Canada and the Agriculture Funding Consortium, with leading research and development contributions from the University of Alberta, Alberta Agriculture and Food and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
CLA, Bles-Wold an ideal match
Ohama explains that CLA stands for conjugated linoleic acid. It’s a healthy, natural type of dairy and beef fat that research has linked to strong potential for a range of human health benefits. These include advantages related to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, obesity and bone density.
Once the CLA Network examined the potential for a CLA dairy product, a cross-disciplinary working group was established. The Renewal program, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative under the Agricultural Policy Framework, provided project funding.
“Bles-Wold was an ideal company to work with,” says Ohama. “They both produce and process, which not many companies do. They already have a health-oriented product, which provided an excellent fit in terms of CLA’s health benefits.”
By early 2008, the CLA Network and Bles-Wold put the finishing touches on this food/health breakthrough. The new Bles-Wold product line – Canada’s first regulatory-compliant CLA yogurt product -- is now available at supermarkets and specialty stores in Alberta.
With its first commercialization effort a success, the CLA Network is preparing to head in new directions.
Says Ohama: “We’re very excited about the prospects for other CLA dairy products, as well as CLA/Omega 3 beef product. The regulatory environment is so complex, there are literally hundreds of pieces to the puzzle, but having gone through the process, we have expertise that we can apply to new products in the future.”
Want to know more about CLA? Contact Vince Ohama at (403) 340-5545 or by email to vince.ohama@gov.ab.ca. Visit the CLA Network website at www.clanetwork.com.
Health focus drives progress
The relationship between Bles-Wold and the CLA Network grew from a mutual interest in enhancing and promoting the natural health benefits of dairy products.
For Bles-Wold, this health focus has long been the driving force behind its yogurt products. Bles-Wold Dairy Farm is owned by Tinie Eilers and her husband Hennie Bos. As part of of a team of dedicated staff, Tinie and Hennie operate the farm, Bles-Wold Dairy Inc., and the yogurt business, Bles-Wold Yogurt Inc. The yogurt business is led by general manger Darren Bishop.
After 20 years in the dairy industry in The Netherlands, Eilers and Bos moved to Alberta in 1994 and established their operation in the Lacombe area. Producing yogurt was not in the original plan for Eilers and Bos as they built their dairy, but that changed when Eilers became interested in producing a mild, all-natural yogurt as a hobby to provide an attractive, healthy food option for the couple’s daughter, then 13, who is diabetic.
“When we first came over from Holland there was an adjustment period and our daughter missed some of the foods from back home, including a yogurt her uncle made,” says Eilers. “So we began looking at making our own yogurt. We wanted a type of yogurt that was milder, with no artificial sweetener, that she could enjoy but that would not be too sweet to affect her diabetes.”
What began as a hobby steadily grew into a modest but successful product initiative, with Bles-Wold Farm Yogurt becoming a reliable seller at retail outlets throughout the province.
“Bles-Wold has been serving Alberta consumers with its yogurt products since 1997, with farm fresh natural yogurt, unique in taste and flavour,” says Bos. “The support from Albertans has been great. When approached by the CLA Network we recognized that adding a CLA yogurt is a good fit with the Bles-Wold philosophy.” |
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