When I saw Bill Redelmeier & Robert Egli pitch their ground grape skins powder Bioflavia on the Dragons’ Den, I was fascinated. Owners of Southbrook Vineyards, an organic wine wine company in the Niagara-on-the-Lake region in Ontario, wanted to be as sustainable as possible and take the 25% waste of wine-making and turn it into a health-enthusiast’s dream come true.
They have made a deal with all the organic wine producers in Ontario to use their pomace for their health product. I absolute agree with Dragon Arlene Dickinson that this idea is “…so on trend.”
It was so interesting to watch her and Jim Treliving (Boston Pizza giant and foodie entrepreneur) figure out the best deal to make with this product. Bill and Robert did not just want this product in smoothies, they wanted it to become the next super-antioxidant foodie supplement ingredient!
In the end, it was Arlene who passionately struck the deal with Bill and Robert. She is really becoming a foodie force of nature in Canada, I love it!
Product Testing Part 1: Smoothies
It takes a dedicated foodie to make a smoothie in a pasta jar with a hand blender! But my Buck Rogers blender finally kicked the can just when this product arrived at my doorstep.
I thought the real test was how well the Bioflavia was going to affect a light-coloured mango smoothie. Would it change the colour? Texture? Flavour?
On the left you have a regular mango smoothie and on the right, a mango smoothie with the Bioflavia. It definitely looks more like banana bread batter due to the change in colour.
I thought this was going to be off-putting for Reg but he did not mind it at all. He is a big health enthusiast like me and said that if anything, it made the smoothie taste kind of grape-y. I actually can not disagree with him. Although to clarify, it still tasted amazing.
The suggested usage is 10 grams of Bioflavia in 8 oz of a smoothie, juice or in a serving of yogurt or cereal once daily. This is 10 grams of Bioflavia. It seemed like a lot to me so I personally used a little less, especially since I was sent a tester size of the product.
I did add the powder to my four berry smoothies and my strawberry pineapple smoothies. If anything, the product boosted the flavour and did not impact the pleasure of drinking them in any way. Which is impressive. We have smoothies every day and I am super picky about texture and taste. The powdered grape skins only improved upon the flavour and when it comes to texture, I did not notice a change at all.
One large 300g container of Bioflavia when they were first on the Dragons’ Den retailed for $30. Now you can order it via a phone number on their site for $24.95. Check here for availability near you.
Part 1 of testing is complete for me. I personally think this product is a natural fit for smoothie health enthusiasts like me. I do not doubt the product and the company’s claim that it is the next food mega trend. I love that environmentally it takes something that is precious that ended up being waste and bringing it to its foodie potential.
Part 2? Baking with it. That was a big part of their pitch, using it as a super food in other food products. I am so curious to see if I will end up with a purple pizza crust! Will it impact the flavour of our favourite cookies? We shall soon see!
I think it looks like a remarkable product. Resveratrol is one of the top antioxidants. I can see Bioflavia in muffins, pancakes even spaghetti sauce. I wonder if cooking lessens it’s health benefits?
What a genius idea, to recycle what would’ve been compost into a super healthy product, kudos to them! A great way to get all the benefits of drinking wine without the buzz or the hangover lol…I would love to try this in berry smoothies, sounds awesome.
Shelagh, absolutely, I don’t see why you couldn’t add it to just about anything. I doubt cooking would impact the antioxidants since it isn’t an oil.
Ava, I agree, I totally love the idea of less waste and boosting health and productivity at the same time. I wonder if they sells the seeds too because they are a powerhouse of antioxidants as well.