This business is literally healthy. (Business Unlimited).

While driving home from his job in the inventory department of a Massachusetts munitions manufacturer, Rick Kulow began to wonder if he should be doing something more meaningful. His father, Frederick Kulow Sr., had developed a health products company on the U.S. East Coast and was helping people by providing them with health food and nutritional supplements. Perhaps that was a field that better suited him.

That led him on a path to develop one of the leading health food and supplement companies in North America with joint ventures around the world. The award-winning company is the world leader in producing Essential Fatty Acid (EFA) products.

Frederick is noted for introducing bee pollen and evening primrose oil into the North American marketplace. Bee pollen and evening primrose contain a fatty acid called gamma linolenic acid (GLA), which research has shown reduces blood pressure, corrects high cholesterol levels, reduces stiffness and joint pains, and prevents nerve damage in diabetics.

During his business dealings, Frederick met several Boston businesspeople, who were working with the P.O.S. Pilot Plant Corporation in Saskatoon to develop GLA from borage.

Frederick and Rick eventually acquired the venture from the Boston businesspeople and established PGE Canada in the late 1980s.

In 1993, the provincial government, the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, P.O.S., and an organic producer became interested in developing the health food and supplement sector. Since P.O.S. was already working with PGE, the Kulows were invited to participate, which led to the formation of Bioriginal with Rick as CEO.

"With only a small cash injection at that time, Bioriginal grew from one employee (Rick) to over 50 employees in 1999. At the beginning, they worked with and out of P.O.S., which did the contract processing. They had a small room in P.O.S. that had five people working out of it, and then they moved to Innovation Place. They eventually moved to their own facility in 1997," says Jerome Konecsni, Vice President of Corporate Development.

Bioriginal has been able to grow in this industry because it builds its products on good science and markets only credible products. This has led the company to develop several industry firsts: the first and only EFA company in Canada to establish pharmaceutical-level Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) standards for both oil and herb products and become certified; first GLA company to guarantee that its products adhere to World Health Organization Codex standards for edible oil safety; and the first to provide a certificate of analysis with every shipment.

To establish its reputation as a leading-edge firm, the company publishes an annotated bibliography on GLA-related research that includes almost 900 independent studies. It also publishes selected references of GLA-related research that includes about 100 independent studies. Bioriginal also supports more than 20 clinical EFA trials.

"The best way to describe Bioriginal is that it started with some really talented innovators and entrepreneurs and as the company grew, it developed a steady process of refinement, sophistication and complexity," explains Konecsni.

In addition to relying on the Kulows' knowledge and access to the American and Asian markets, Bioriginal embarked upon a public awareness campaign to develop its markets and generate public interest.

In time, the company became the leading supplier of GLA in North America, and expanded into other countries. It has developed joint ventures and contract processing agreements in Asia and the UK. It also has a marketing and distribution centre in mainland Europe and markets its products on five continents.

"When we look for joint venture partners, we start with an open and frank discussion about what our partners need. Then we only reach an agreement if we can find a way for both of us to have our needs met," says Konecsni.

Biorginal contracts with over 300 producers from across western Canada. By diversifying its growers base over a large area, it can minimize the impact that disease and drought can create.

"Our computer system enables us to track product from a store shelf right back to farmers' fields," explains Konecsni. "This control from start to finish is important from a quality perspective as well as an organic identity preserved perspective (organic certification), and it differentiates us from our competitors."

This process of vertical integration is extremely important. If the quality of a particular product doesn't reach the company's standards, then that product can be traced back through the system to determine if soil conditions or other factors impacted upon the quality. Bioriginal is also the only company of its type that conducts DNA testing to ensure that its flax is not genetically-modified.

Konecsni stresses that another reason behind the company's success is its employees. The company has many long-serving employees and staff are offered share options and profit-sharing. Building win-win relationships between the owners and staff ensures that the entire company benefits.

"We are committed to Saskatoon because of its proximity to the world's best farmers, and it's close to a scientific infrastructure that is second to none in Canada," says Konecsni. "The university is one of only two in the country that has five life science colleges. We have access to Agriculture Canada research, the Plant Biotechnology Institute, the Saskatchewan Research Council, and Innovation Place. As well, the purity and pristine environment of Saskatchewan sells well from a marketing perspective."