Atrium Innovations, Inc. (Quebec City, QC, Canada), a developer, manufacturer and marketer of science-based and professionally supported products for the health and nutrition industry, recently announced the purchase of Garden of Life, Inc.

Garden of Life products are sold in nearly 12,000 US health food and specialty retail outlets, including major chains as well as in thousands of independent stores. The company is widely recognized throughout the fast growing US and Canadian nutritional supplement industries as a leader in innovation, efficacious and science-based products. With annualized revenues of approximately US $52 million, the company's premium high-quality products and loyal customer following have established Garden of Life as a leader in the US nutritional supplements industry.

"By joining forces with Garden of Life, we strengthen Atrium's footprint in the health and nutrition industry and rapidly expand our participation in a growing market segment," stated Pierre Fitzgibbon, Atrium's president and CEO.

Under the terms of the transaction, Atrium will pay Garden of Life an initial consideration of US $35 million, US $32.5 million in cash, of which US $12 million is coming from the working capital and US $2.5 million in the form of newly issued common shares in Atrium. Moreover, Atrium will assume a bank debt of US $2.5 million. An adjustment payment will be made at the end of fiscal year 2009. The initial purchase price is based upon a 6.5 multiple of the actual 2009 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA"). Earn-out payments have also been structured and will be based upon a percentage of incremental EBITDA in 2010 and 2011 above a minimum growth level. Manufacturing synergies will be ascribed to Atrium as they are not part of the earn-out payments and this transaction is immediately accretive.

Jordan Rubin, CEO and founder of Garden of Life, Brian Ray, president, and the other members of the company's management team will retain their positions following this transaction.

All natural and calorie-free, stevia is poised to become the "holy grail" of sweeteners, according to a new report from market researcher, Mintel.

Since December 2008, when the FDA approved use of rebaudioside A (an active ingredient of stevia) in US food and beverage, the stevia market has erupted. By mid-July 2009, stevia sales topped $95 million, a substantial increase over the $21 million achieved in all of 2008. Mintel predicted the stevia market could exceed $2 billion by the end of 2011.

"The FDA's approval of stevia in food and drink opened the door for this market's explosion," states David Browne, senior analyst at Mintel. "New product activity has accelerated in recent years, and since most categories with stevia applications remain untapped, we expect many more stevia-infused product introductions in the next few years."

In the first eight months of 2009, Mintel's Global New Products Database (GNPD) monitored the launch of more than 110 US food, drink and healthcare products made with stevia. Annual new product activity for stevia more than doubled between 2007-2008.

The portrait for stevia's success isn't completely rosy, however. Mintel's exclusive consumer survey reveals nearly 70 percent of Americans have never even heard of stevia. More than six in 10 (62 percent) say they have no interest in trying stevia, and 11 percent say they think stevia is unsafe and they plan to avoid it.

"Step one is for manufacturers to get the word out. At this stage, heavy demo-ing of stevia products in stores, along with copious distribution of free samples, are just as important as promoting stevia's all natural, zero-calorie positioning," commented Browne.

Flavor remains another obstacle to stevia's growth. Companies are aggressively perfecting formulations and seeking better source material globally, but this means one stevia-based product won't taste the same as the next.

Mintel reports that 25 percent of people say they might be interested in stevia, but they haven't tried it yet. Just over one in 10 (11 percent) say they have tried stevia and plan to continue purchasing it.

USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced a new initiative this month aimed at better connecting kids to the sources of their food. In announcing the new Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative, Merrigan and the USDA also hope that the effort will create opportunities for local farmers to provide their harvest to schools in their communities.

Mentioned prominently by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at the Washington Public Policy Conference earlier in September, the initiative will make $50 million available for schools to buy local produce. The 2008 Farm Bill gave the department new flexibilities to procure local fresh fruits and vegetables for the school lunch program. Using that flexibility, USDA is proposing that schools now be able to arrange to buy fresh produce grown locally through their state agencies.

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) will team together and form 'Farm to School Tactical Teams' to assist school administrators as they transition to purchasing more locally grown foods. The teams will work with local farmers, local and state authorities, school districts and community partners to develop Farm-To-School projects, and provide assistance on the best ways to buy more local produce for the National School Lunch Program.

"It is important that our children have access to healthy, nutritious food and our focus on enabling schools to purchase local produce will provide opportunities for local producers," said Merrigan in a statement. "This will enable greater wealth creation in communities by allowing producers to build their capacity by serving local institutional customers like schools."

Additionally, the agencies will issue updated common-sense purchasing guidance to schools so they can buy fresh, locally grown produce for students eating through USDA's school nutrition programs, as well as common-sense guidelines for schools to procure food. To date, the department has allowed only minimal processing of regional fruits and vegetables purchased for school meals programs. USDA will now allow additional processing like cutting or slicing, and will work to fashion policies that will allow year-round produce in areas with short growing seasons.

Everything’s coming up roses … and irises, lilies and dazzling arrays of blooms in Tree of Life’s new Floral Program. Available exclusively to natural food stores, the Tree of Life Floral Program offers seasonal flowers shipped direct from the farm to the store for noticeably fresher and longer-lasting bouquets.

Available in various sizes and price points, these bouquets are created daily by experienced designers using seasonally available flowers. Arranged and mixed bouquets are available, as well as holiday collections and grower bunches. Display racks and buckets are also available, making it easy for retailers to offer bouquets to their customers without a huge investment of set-up time or capital.

For more information, call (800) 223-2910.

In 2007, Chemi Nutra (White Bear Lake, MN) and Increnovo, a global consulting company, began a collaboration involving discovery and investigation into phosphatidylserine’s (PS) ability to influence cortisol and testosterone levels in exercising and non-exercising men. As a result of these discoveries, the two companies announced the filing of a novel patent (US Patent Application 20090143339) that will have major implications in men’s healthy aging. Specifically, the patent describes the oral use of PS to maintain healthy testosterone levels, targeted to men experiencing age related declines in testosterone, exercise induced declines in testosterone, and/or hypogonadism.

Scott Hagerman, president of Chemi Nutra, said, “There has been a lot of research in recent years involving PS in the sports performance realm—looking at cortisol, stress and immune health, muscle soreness reduction and recovery, and improvements in weightlifting, running and golf. This exciting new discovery will open additional doors for the use of PS in healthy aging, strength training and body composition management in men.”

“For the first time, it is now proven that short-term supplementation with a moderate dose of PS not only prevents a stress induced increase in cortisol concentrations, PS additionally can naturally benefit impaired testosterone levels”, said Dr. Martin Purpura, managing member of Increnovo. “These new findings, protected by this recently published pending patent, will open new markets for PS-based sports nutrition and anti-aging nutritional supplements, and we intend to immediately pursue several very promising applications with selected customers.”

For more information, call (651) 407-0400.

Chrysantis, Inc. (West Chicago, IL) announces that it has been granted US patent 7,575,766 for Tagetes erecta (marigold) With Altered Carotenoid Compositions and Ratios. This patent is a continuation of Chrysantis’ US patents 6,784,351 and 7,033,622 which cover not only zeaxanthin produced by marigolds, but also beta-carotene, phytoene, phytofluene, cryptoxanthins and other carotenoids synthesized in the petals and leaves of Chrysantis marigolds.

Chrysantis now has a marigold collection that offers a unique, sustainable and efficient means of producing carotenoids for human nutrition.

“We are truly excited about the approval of this last patent for our marigolds,” said Manuel Pavon, general manager for Chrysantis. “We have worked hard through natural selection and breeding to bring healthy, natural carotenoids to the nutritional market place that enhance human health safely and effectively."

EZEyes® zeaxanthin, made from marigolds, is the same form of zeaxanthin found naturally in fruits and vegetables. In August 2009, Chrysantis announced the formation of the Zeaxanthin Trade Association. Its primary goal is to increase global awareness and promote the use of dietary zeaxanthin.

Zeaxanthin, in combination with lutein, is a critical nutrient for eye health that can help guard against vision problems such as Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and cataracts. New research has also shown a link between zeaxanthin and cognitive function.

For more information, visit www.ezeyes.info or www.chrysantis.com.