Fruit of the Earth

While on a family vacation to Calcutta, Bruce McMullin detoured into a Tibetan adventure in pursuit of a small berry. It turned out to be a savvy business decision that has improved the lives of people in one of the world’s harshest environments — and captured the attention of the Dalai Lama.

Call it kismet, but that’s how Sibu Beauty was born. The antioxidant power of the sea buckthorn berry has built a thriving business, but the boost came through a story that only reinforces its complementary goals: beautiful people, beautiful earth.

Every new business has mountains to climb, but Sibu’s beginnings literally required scaling the Himalayas. While in India, McMullin met Ayurveda specialist Nico Khanna, who told of a magical fruit that could endure the harshest conditions but offered amazing physical results. (Ayurveda is a system of traditional medicine native to the Indian subcontinent.)

McMullin and his family flew to Tibet, spent a day acclimating to the altitude (12,500 ft. above sea level) and began their search for the sea buckthorn berry. Driving over a mountain pass at 18,300 ft., a valley revealed what McMullin refers to as “the sea buckthorn kingdom.”

Sea buckthorn may not be familiar to Western audiences, but its medicinal uses were first documented by a Tibetan healer some 13 centuries ago. Ancient Greeks used it to give their horses a lustrous coat, and the fruit helped to sustain Genghis Khan’s troops. More recent studies have cited the berry’s abundance of the antioxidants Omega 3, 6 and 9 and the elusive Omega 7, which aids in collagen production.

The hearty berry thrives in the harshest conditions, growing in sandy soil at altitudes of 4,000 to 14,000 ft. McMullin spent months investigating other regions, including Russia, Armenia and China: Convinced that Tibet offered the best crop, McMullin — a lifelong entrepreneur — opened factories, purchased processing facilities and immediately tripled the price that the Tibetans were paid for the sea buckthorn berries. “It was a light bulb going off,” he says. “I can kill two birds with one stone — help them and control the market.”

McMullin had long been involved with charitable efforts through Choice Humanitarian, an organization that intends to end worldwide poverty. But by offering the Tibetan workers a living wage — and increasing it every year since – he was providing people with an opportunity to build their own community rather than having to provide water, education and medical support to his workers.

Blessing the effort
Sea buckthorn berries are harvested in the early morning hours and to preserve the nutrients, are processed the same day. Sibu workers also receive their wages at the end of each day. Sibu may hire as many as 2,000 people in any given season; the late fall harvest lasts three months and provides the resources to sustain workers through the harsh winter.

It is painstaking work. The berries are nestled among deep thorns and the harvesters separate leaves from berries, which then travel through vats of water. The ripe berries float to the top and transfer to the juicer. Seeds are processed into oil for Sibu’s soap and skin care lines; the pulp is pureed and shipped to the United States for formulation and testing.

McMullin and his family travel to the region frequently. “They work in the factories, do quality control,” he says. “Every time we get a chance to walk around the plants, we do. The people are amazing. They’re engaging and cordial.”

In addition to Sibu, McMullin is CEO of Utah-based builder McMullin Homes, so the trips to Tibet also offer a quiet retreat. In addition to the star-gazing — made more brilliant by the high altitude — modern conveniences are lacking. “There are no phones up there, no cell service. You have to go to a phone store and book a call to call out. Sometimes we get out, sometimes we don’t.

“Everybody asks me if I’ll take them with us,” he says. “It’s not a comfortable trip, but it’s inspiring.”

Sibu’s community involvement was also inspirational to the Tibetan monks, who began to talk about the positive impact the company had made on the area and its people. Word reached the Dalai Lama, who lives within miles of Sibu’s plants. Last fall, he requested a meeting with Sibu officials, providing 24 hours’ notice. But when a spiritual leader and head of state summons, a company responds.

Nico Khanna, the Ayurveda specialist who had first introduced McMullin to the berries and co-founded the company, made the trip to Tibet. In a meeting filled with the kind of intrigue normally seen in movies, Khanna was taken to a secure location where a holy tent was festooned with flowers.

He presented the Dalai Lama with a basket of Sibu products; the Dalai Lama placed a prayer shawl around Khanna’s neck and praised the efforts of Sibu in the area, thanking the company for employing the women there and for using the natural resources in a responsible way. (The Dalai Lama frequently issues blessings, but most are aimed at world peace efforts. It is extremely rare to offer a blessing to a business venture.)

Khanna described the encounter as akin to being exposed to “the light of a thousand suns.”

Doubling monthly
Its encounter with the Dalai Lama also has brightened Sibu’s business, though it created something of a marketing tightrope: let customers know about the blessing without over-commercializing it. McMullin is quick to point out that the Dalai Lama did not endorse the product, but blessed the work. “He’s seen the good that’s being generated by Sibu,” he says. “We’re utilizing the indigenous people and giving them an opportunity. It’s about them. We’re the benefactor from associating with them. Good deeds sometimes get rewarded.”

But the blessing has opened up the product to new arenas, especially among socially conscious retailers. Juan Hernandez, store manager of the Los Angeles-based Erewhon Natural Foods Market, believes the blessing put “energy” into the product. Erewhon, a 12,000-sq.-ft. retailer nestled between Beverly Hills and West Los Angeles, highlighted Sibu’s relationship with its workers and its commitment to environmental protection in a month-long awareness campaign.

“Before we bring something into the store, we want to know exactly what this company stands for and get as much information as possible,” Hernandez says. Erewhon’s customers trust the store to fully vet the products it stocks. “They know if we carry it, that they don’t even have to look at the ingredients, that it has met our high standards.”

After generating several million dollars in sales since its 2005 launch, Sibu Beauty was rebranded and reintroduced at Expo West early last year. As late as last March, it wasn’t available in retail stores. By April, it was in 20 stores and began a process of doubling almost every month. By August it was in nearly 200 retail locations — a figure that doubled again in the month following the Dalai Lama’s blessing. “We have people calling us now,” McMullin says. “Before, we were beating the bushes; now they’re asking for samples.”

Sibu is now available in major health food retailers like Whole Foods Market, Sprouts, Akins/Chamberlins and Peachtree, and McMullin attributes some of the expansion to the Dalai Lama’s blessing. “Obviously, they’re basing this on a business decision,” he says, “but for some reason, there’s some inspiration behind it.”