When fourth-generation farmer John Foss won the Nuffield scholarship in 2001, he travelled the world looking for future trends in agriculture and “natural solutions to modern health problems”. That’s when he discovered the chia seed. The chia plant was grown by the Mayan, Aztec and Inca civilisations, as early as 3500BC. Foss encountered chia crops in Central and South America but found their quality and production quantities to be inconsistent.
In 2003, he set up The Chia Co in the Ord River region of Western Australia’s Kimberleys with an initial focus on developing the crop, cultivating supply and agronomics. In 2006, the company began marketing the seed internationally and in 2009 it launched its first branded retail products.
Partnerships with Bakers Delight, Nudie and Boost Juice have helped raise awareness of chia, and expansion into North America last year and Europe currently have helped keep up growth momentum.
Health benefits
The nutrient-dense chia seed is the richest combined source of omega 3 ALA, dietary fibre and protein, all of which are lacking in the modern diet. It is also the only oil seed that’s a wholegrain and the only grain that you don’t have to mill or process to access the nutritional benefits. The company has focused its marketing efforts on promoting the health benefits of chia.
“We’ve worked closely with dieticians, naturopaths and doctors to educate consumers about the benefits of chia,” says Foss. “People are looking for naturally healthy products and to increase the omega 3, fibre and protein in their diets. Chia is a really simple format that delivers those in a daily diet.”
Once the seed has been harvested, the process to clean the seed and remove the husk and stem is very simple and it’s the raw seed that is consumed.
“That’s why the way it’s grown is so important,” says Foss, “because the way it comes out the ground is the way it’s eaten.”
Foss says that The Chia Co can produce the best chia in the world because it is grown exactly 15 degrees south of the equator allowing the optimum amount of sunlight for developing omega 3 levels. It is also the only irrigation-fed chia farming system in the world and Foss says this is essential to the quality and consistency of crop supply.
“We have the ability to control the water to the crop when it’s growing and ripening and that’s allowed us to produce a really high quality chia with consistent nutrition levels,” says Foss. “We can also guarantee supply, which is really something that’s come to the fore in the last few months because there’ve been issues with the South American crops because of drought and frost.”
The Chia Co is the only vertically integrated chia supplier, which maximises transparency, allowing it to trace back each batch of chia sold to the paddock it was grown in.
Applications
At present, there’s a 50:50 split between the company’s ingredient supply business and its branded retail business, which sells the raw seed, chia bran and ground seed. Foss asserts that it’s an important part of The Chia Co’s business strategy to maintain equal focus on both aspects.
“We’re happy to have this split because we know some people won’t eat chia in its raw form [as a health food product] but they’ll happily consume it in a bread or smoothie,” says Foss.
In this market, chia seeds are included in bread, with Bakers Delight as its biggest customer; Boost Juice products, Nudie’s Super Breakfast Juice; and in Pepsico’s Sakata rice crackers and Grainwaves crisps.
There’s also a major yoghurt brand containing chia due for release later in the year. Foss says that chia provides a very stable form of omega 3 and as a result works well in dairy. On a smaller scale, there’s also baby food containing chia and a beverage with chia oil in the pipeline. Overseas, a soy milk fortified with chia oil has recently been launched in Korea and is being well received, suggesting similar potential over here.
Initial use of chia has tended to focus on its nutritional benefits, but Foss says it has functional properties that have yet to be fully exploited.
“Because it can take on 16 times its weight in water, it can go into products as a gluten-free extender or binder, so companies looking to have a clean label can put chia seeds or flour into their product and get extension or binding properties,” says Foss. “Chia is an amazing product functionally and that really opens up another avenue for it.”
International expansions
Of its international customer base, Foss says the company is experiencing great traction with its retail products and some innovative bakery products in Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China despite it being “early days”. However, North America has quickly become its largest market both for ingredients customers and consumer products. Foss credits this to a higher awareness of chia in the US than in Australia over the last five or six years. While the company has been selling to the US for a number of years, it has made a concerted push into that market in the last 12 months, opening a New York office and building a team on the ground.
“A lot of major [US] companies had been looking at chia as an ingredient but had been unable to secure consistent supply or quality, but now they know we can deliver I think they feel confident about launching products,” he says.
A benefit with chia for export is that it’s shelf stable, has a three-year shelf life and ships easily because it’s very nutrient dense. As the company accounts for 100 per cent of the chia grown in Australia, as well as 70 per cent of global production, it has been able to create a fixed price for its chia seeds, enabling it to deliver a consistent product and a stable price for its customers and its farmers. While it can cost more than other seeds, it tends not to be used as a base ingredient but in small inclusion rates.
“At less than 10 per cent of finished project, it can make a big change to the nutritional content,” says Foss.
The Chia Co’s current focus is the EU where it recently gained approval for inclusion in bakery products. First off the line will be a Burgen bread containing chia from Allied Bakeries in the UK and Foss says there are other companies looking to launch in the coming months. The company has opened an office in London and is seeking approval for the inclusion of chia in other food products.
As the global market for chia swells, The Chia Co is increasing production to meet the rising demand. The Ord River Irrigation Project will double the land available for chia crops in the region.
“That should happen in line with our expected increase in demand for chia,” says Foss.
The Chia Co also employs an experienced in-house R&D team that works with its customers to develop their products, which gives the company an insight into when products will launch and the likely inclusion rates, and this helps it manage its supply.
Claiming the future
The Australian food and beverage manufacturing industry is waiting with baited breath to see what FSANZ decides on its nutrition, health and related claims code. The Chia Co, despite its product’s rich nutrient content, only makes low level claims about its nutrient content. Whether food and beverage manufacturers wishing to incorporate chia in their products will be able to make specific health claims about the ingredient remains to be seen, but it could present a barrier to their inclusion.
A recent study by the University of Southern Queensland found that eating chia seeds can help people to lose weight. The research found that including chia seeds in your diet promotes the metabolism of fat away from vital organs and increased lean muscle mass. Additionally, because chia holds 16 times its weight in water and swells into a thick gel in the stomach, it can provide a feeling of satiety and help people to feel full for longer.
So far, chia hasn’t really been considered as a diet aid, however, given the size of the weight loss product market, it seems the small seed may have yet another incarnation ahead of it.
