Welcome to the viewers of this new episode of SEIML Ventures.  This is the second in our twice-monthly VLOGs from Arctic Light Products AS (ALP) of Tromsø, Norway.  The topic of today’s VLOG is about ALP’s international expansion and search for local distributors in various parts of the world.

You can see the previous interviews from ALP here:

https://seiml.com/venture/interview-with-arild-karlsen-arctic-light-products-as/

https://seiml.com/venture/discovering-tromso-norway-the-home-of-arctic-light-products-as/

Script

Interviewee:                      Mr. Arild Karlsen (AK)

Title:                                   Founder

Company:                          Arctic Light Products AS (ALP)

URL:                                    https://www.northernlightproducts.no/english

Interviewer:                       John D. Evans (JE)

Date of interview:            25 January 2022

Content

JE Okay, good afternoon. Welcome to the viewers of this new episode of SEIML Ventures. This is the second in our twice a month VLOG from Arctic Light Products AS of Trumpsø, Norway. The topic of today’s VLOG is about ALP’s international expansion and search for local distributors in various parts of the world. We will however provide a little bit more information on the product just as background to start. We’ve done two previous interviews with Arild, who is the founder of Arctic Light Products, and those links will also be listed on the website that you are looking at. So, in that regard, welcome Arild, good to see you again.

AK I’m going to say good morning to you, it is still morning in Norway.

JE Morning in Norway, afternoon in China. Okay, let’s kick things off. Give some basic background and describe for the viewers the basic ingredients of your fish oil capsules.

AK Yes, as you say, I am the Founder of this capsule, the product, and make only a quality product.  In our capsule there is fish oil and it comes from the flesh not the liver. And then we are blending with krill oil to get the best effect because krill oil has a very good effect for our brain.

JE Now the viewers will see a graphic that shows all of the different ingredients of your product. But I think just to re emphasise what you’ve said, because yours is a premium product and different from some other Omega three products people might see in the stores and the two differentiating factors are you add krill oil to your capsules, whereas most others or almost all others don’t do that. And also, the fish oil comes from the flesh of the fish and not the liver, which makes it much more pure. So that’s the basis of the Nordic Light Product being a premium product. Okay. So on to the second point. And where do you get your input or ingredients from?

AK We buy the krill oil from Aker BioMarine, Aker BioMarine is innovation company to and then they have one of the best krill oil in the market. And the fish oil, they are nearby from the factory.

JE Okay, and I think the fish oil factory you buy from I believe is PharmaTech, which is also one of the companies that you use to produce the capsules. Is that correct?

AK Yes, that’s correct.

JE Okay, Aker BioMarine. I understand even though they’re in Norway, they get the krill oil from the waters in the Antarctic, which is in the South Pole. Is that correct? That’s a long way from Norway.

AK Yes, it’s long way from Norway. But this is the cleanest sea in the world. So, there are a lot of krill in this place.

JE Okay, so it goes to the opposite ends of the earth to get the best quality product because the water is purest there, very interesting. And we’ll also put in some references in the video with links for people to find out a bit more information about this. Now let’s switch and talk about what the potential health benefits are from the Nordic Light product.

AK It is important for the heart, these ingredients.  And it’s and it’s also good for the joints too. And our customer, ladies, they say they are a positive input in the skin

JE Yes, complexion. And what everyone hopes for to slow down the process of ageing.

AK Yes.

JE OK, so there’s a lot of potential benefits of the fish oils. But it seems to be that the two most important ones are they contribute to cardiovascular health and also they’re good for muscles and bones and as you said also has some positive skin benefits and some other ones as well, that we’ll list on one of the graphics that we show along with this the slide. Okay, so let’s now move to the next point. Now we’ve talked about the product, its ingredients, its benefits, where do you produce the capsules? And what is your production capacity?

AK Today we use PharmaTech to make the capsule. But they have capacity for 480 thousand boxes in the month. We also use BioForm, which they also get a lot of orders.

JE Okay, so you have two producers, they’re both in Norway. One is PharmaTech, which also is the company that provides you with the fish oil. And then you have a second producer BioForm. And I believe each of those have a theoretical production capacity of about 480,000 boxes per month, or about 960,000 boxes per month in total. And just to remind the viewers, a box is how Arild sells the product. A box has two months quantity of the capsules and that’s what we’re referring to when we say a box of the fish oil capsules. Okay. So that’s the production side. Let’s turn to the sell side. How do you or historically, how have you sold your capsules?

AK We sold the capsule from our online site for the person who will buy the product. And then some you say, one box is for two months, it’s 120 capsules in in the in the box. And then now we are getting customers in Rusland and Vietnam too, and then we are sending and sell directly from the factory to Rusland and Vietnam.

JE Okay, that’s interesting. So historically, because the business has been around for several years, you were originally a B2C retailer, selling your goods directly from online orders through your website. And we’ll put those links on to the script for the viewers. But you’ve now just finalized your first two wholesale distributors, the first one in Russia, and the second one in Vietnam. And so now you are going to a hybrid sales model where in addition to your online B2C sales, you’re also going to have B2B sales, because you’re starting to use distributors in certain countries. So, let’s then move into the final point, which continues that point. And what are your expansion plans for the future? Are you looking for distributors in just certain places or a lot of different places? What is your B2B strategy in terms of finding new distributors?

AK Number one is we have the website the customer can buy on.  But then we hope to get the distributors, a lot of, not only in the Rusland and Vietnam. We hope to go into China too and USA.  We have some customers in USA today from our website, but we hope we can get distributors in USA too.

JE Okay, so just for the viewers clarification, because you are looking for distributors, and we hope to find some through this video, you are potentially looking at finding new distributors in a lot of different areas:  Asia, Europe and America. This is a global expansion that you’re hoping to make. Is that correct?

AK Yes, this is correct. The hope.

JE Okay.  And, of course, along with that, which we’re working on together to support both your B2C sales and your future B2B relationships with your wholesalers, you will also be driving a global marketing campaign to support both of these distribution channels. Okay, very interesting. So, this is a, the business has been around for a few years, but it’s sort of like it’s taking a new stage, going from a B2C to opening up to the B2B business. So that provides the opportunity for some pretty major growth in the future. So, we wish you well in that, and I’m sure, alongside with the viewers we’ll be interested in watching your progress in developing these distributors in various countries in the months and years ahead and look forward to featuring some new distributors as they come online. So, thank you very much for your time, Arild. And we’ll also be touching the brochure for distributors to this video for those that are interested.

AK Your welcome John.

End.