BACKGROUND

WHERE IT BEGAN

Biosential was founded in 1999 by Craig Hudson and Susan Hudson.  Their aim was to develop a research organization that combined scientific rigour with out-of-the-box thinking to re-imagine consumer health products.  They began working on functional foods before the term was coined with a vision that perceived and predicted that people would prefer to take an active role in their health and what they consumed as treatments for common health complaints.

START UP TO MID-SIZE

From the beginning this small but growing private company valued entrepreneurship and boot-strapping to achieve success.  As a scrappy start up in the early 2000s there were many tough situations and setbacks.  Valuable lessons were learned, however, and led to the culture of perseverance and determination to succeed.  Some projects, as a result of this private funding model have taken a little longer than expected but the advantage is freedom to pursue tasks and achieve results without having to answer to funding bodies or groups.  The nature of the business is focused, nimble, accountable to scientific goals rather than economic ones and driven by the desire to help people cope with conditions that rob them of satisfactory life quality.  Financial reward is obviously a driving force but is not inconsistent with customer-oriented values and sustainable practices.

FOCUS OF EFFORTS

At every juncture, scientific study and rigour are deciding factors and point the way.  Another value espoused by Biosential is simplicity and sustainability.  Use of local, high quality agricultural products in novel ways, use of natural products to mimic a drug effect, re-purposing of older medications for novel uses are a few examples.  The principals began to look at ways to use the nutrients from the rich variety of agricultural offerings in the surrounding rural areas of Stratford, Ontario, Canada where they lived and have expanded out to explore potential natural ingredients and agricultural opportunities worldwide.