News Press - Hoodia

Namibia Will Export Hoodia

Namibia's hoodia industry plans to export its first consignment of hoodia powder in early 2008.

The chairman of Hoodia Growers Association of Namibia (HOGRAN), Dougal Bassingwaighte, told New Era yesterday that a handful of growers would export hundreds of kilogrammes of hoodia powder.

"This will be the first export to check where the market is. We want to sell as soon as possible so we can assure our members that there is a market," he said.

Hoodia is a succulent plant that grows in the Kalahari Desert in southern Africa. One of its species, Hoodia Gorgonii had its appetite suppressant elements isolated in 1977 as P57 and is made into dietary pills that are in high demand in the US and Europe.

Namibian exports come at a time when the hype on the international market has gone down because of counterfeit products.

Earlier in February, there were fears that products masquerading as hoodia would take the market if natural range land states of hoodia - Namibia, South Africa and Botswana - did not put their house in order.

Products adulterated with sawdust, leaves and other filers were put on the market for as little as US$50 per kg, while genuine hoodia would cost up to US$350 per kg.

Hoodia users share their progress

(LOUISVILLE) -- Twelve weeks ago we told you about several people who volunteered to let us keep up with them while they used Hoodia, a weight loss supplement that's been attracting a lot of attention for helping people lose weight. Three of our viewers gave it a try. WAVE 3's Carrie Weil has an update on their progress.

When we first met our Hoodia Hopefuls -- three people from three different walks of life -- they all wanted one thing: to cut the fat.

I would be happy if I lost 20 pounds," said Fredericka Hargis, a 50-something mother of three.

Kristian told use she'd "love it if Hoodia was able to get to where I was feeling better and more confident about who I am as a woman."

Hoodia Gordonii Replaced By Caralluma Fimbriata

Toronto - Millennium Health Supplements Inc. reported that they have stopped the harvesting of wild hoodia gordonii due to all the problems that the product has been encountering, even if hoodia gordonii has been the hottest product to hit the global weight loss market since 2003.

Millennium Health Supplements Inc., which is the largest exporter of hoodia gordonii in the world, cannot sell the cultivated hoodia since it has much reduced levels of the active ingredient in it, making it ineffective.

In order to fill the supply gap of hoodia, farmers in South Africa are harvesting cultivated hoodia crops in the first 2-3 years, which is problematic since it isn't until about 5-6 years minimum that the cultivated hoodia crops are able to generate the active ingredients in them.

Jen Cully, president of Millennium Health, believes that other products are now set to take over the industry, pushing hoodia in a lesser place in the market. One of the newest all-natural suppressing product being offered by Millennium Health is the Caralluma Fimbriata, which Cully believes to be same affective as hoodia gordonii.

Afriplex to harvest hoodia

South African company, Afriplex, is busy with its first hoodia gordonii (hoodia) harvest in the Northern and Western Cape.

The company has planted about 12-million plants over 120 ha since 2004, and the first harvest is expected to yield about 80 t of dry hoodia, which is sold as an appetite suppressant in various forms. "We are confident that we will reach the 80-t target. We have already harvested 10 t, which will be processed this month, and we expect to process another 20 t to 30 t throughout June and July," Afriplex MD Danie Nel tells Engineering News.

Because there are no limits on when hoodia can be harvested, and the harvest is sold in advance, it is up to the customers whether or not they will take the rest of the 80 t this season or next season.

Most of the harvested hoodia is exported to companies mainly in the US or Europe, but there are a few companies in South Africa which are using hoodia in some of their products.

The hoodia is harvested by slicing off a portion of the plant with a sterile blade, to ensure that no bacterial infection of the plant takes place. This must be done in a sustainable way, to ensure that the plant will continue to grow, and, for this reason, the process is closely monitored by Western Cape conservationists, who must issue permits for harvesting before it is allowed to take place.

Cross-Border Smuggling of Hoodia

KARAS Governor Dawid Boois has urged Namibian and South African police to co-operate more closely to fight cross-border crime.

Addressing a Regional Technical Committee meeting attended by Police officers from the Karas Region and their South African counterparts Boois urged them to focus on illegal cross-border trade.

"We have such valuable resources such as Hoodia Gordonii, fauna and flora to be protected from illegal cross-border trade," he said. The meeting was held at Luederitz on Thursday to review progress under the Regional Joint Technical Committee on Defence and Security.

Nampol Deputy Commissioner Josephat Abel told The Namibian on Friday that co-operation between the police in South Africa and Karas had brought "significant successes" in the fight against crime. KARAS Governor Dawid Boois has urged Namibian and South African police to co-operate more closely to fight cross-border crime.

Addressing a Regional Technical Committee meeting attended by Police officers from the Karas Region and their South African counterparts Boois urged them to focus on illegal cross-border trade.

Biggest markets for Hoodia

Natural range states - Namibia, South Africa and Botswana - of hoodia have less than a year to put the industry in order before products masquerading as hoodia can take over the market.

Hoodia gordonii, a succulent plant in southern Africa, which has appetite-suppressing properties, is already under pressure from other slimming products on the market.

Experts say the hoodia industry is under pressure to put its house in order to take advantage of the high prices being offered on the market now.

Already lots of companies abroad are selling hoodia that is adulterated with spinach or wood shavings at rock bottom prices; for example, US$40/kg, when the genuine product is going for anything up to US$200/kg.

The biggest market for the product, which was originally used by the San and Nama tribes in Namibia, is the United States of America, although the product may also penetrate the EU market once regulation issues get sorted out.

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