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Asian firms tout herbal cures in Singapore expo
Tue Apr 9, 2002
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - From bottled herb drinks to brews to
spice up your sex life, Asian traditional medicine companies
are telling visitors to a Singapore food expo they have just
the tonic.
Praising the virtues of a tradition that goes back thousands
of years, companies from South Korea to Singapore are hoping
to tap deeper into a market that has always existed in the
region and build on growing demand for alternatives to Western
remedies.
In one booth at the Singapore Expo building an advertisement
asked: "Do you want to be a 'Man of Vigor' in bed? 'Sansuyoo
100' can help you!"
Harry Park, a trade manager for Korea's Chunho Food Company,
touted the benefits of a Korean fruit called sansuyoo.
"Sansuyoo is good for energy and strength and improves
the blood circulation and the kidneys," he said. "It
also affects men's organs."
Park says Chunho produces 90,000 bottles of Sansuyoo 100
pills, which mix sansuyoo, black raspberries and "Chinese
matrimony vine", each month.
Each bottle, holding about 1,600 tablets, sells in Korea
for about US$40 and might last half a month, since users take
between 30 and 50 pills at a time, three times a day.
Besides Sansuyoo 100, Chunho sells "deer extract",
advertised as "boiled up meat and bones of deer",
and turtle extract, and Park hopes the time-tried remedies
will prove popular outside Korea.
HERBAL ELIXIRS
At another booth Singapore's Eu Yan Sang talks up herbal
elixirs based on traditional Chinese cures.
"Herbs are tonic foods based on tried and proven Chinese
medicines that address health needs," Benny Swinn, the
company's regional manager, said.
Eu Yan Sang hopes formulations like "Yin from the cold",
a mix of lemon juice and a Chinese herb called Lonicera that
Swinn says wards off colds and flu, and "Power plant",
a brew using ginseng to give a caffeine-free kick, will sell
in Southeast Asia.
A bottle of concentrated drink would cost retailers about
S$60 (US$33) while a glass of "Virtual nirvana"
or "Yin from the cold" sells for about S$8 at spas
and hotels.
And like their Korean competitor, Eu Yan Sang is interested
in lifting more than energy -- the company is developing two
drinks to enhance sex.
CHOCOLATE STILL KING
Otto Weibel, the director of kitchens at Singapore's Raffles
Hotel and the president of the Singapore Chefs Association,
thinks herbal cures have gotten more attention than they deserve.
"A lot of people believe, especially the Chinese, in
natural herb healing. So yes, it's coming back. But I'm not
sure it's a big market," he said during a break from
judging a cooking contest at the fair.
"Everybody talks about health food, but how many are
eating it? ...People will always eat chocolate and heavy foods."
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