US sales of Nelson-manufactured "King of antioxidants" AstaSupreme, have sky rocketed after New York Times best-selling author Dr Joseph Mercola posted an interview on his website this month.

Supreme Biotechnologies’ AstaSupreme is a global leader in the production of natural algae-derived astaxanthin, the most powerful antioxidant currently known. Supreme Biotechnologies Chief Executive Tony Dowd says the company quietly moved into the American market just three months ago, strategically leveraging the company’s relationship with Dr Bob Corish.

"The US is a high growth market for astaxanthin products and has started to really take off over the last 12-months," Dowd says. "Our strategy for this market is to build great partnerships and gradually build distribution networks, based on our production capacity. It is about sustainable growth.

"Over the last year we have built a relationship with Dr Bob Corish, who is a world expert in astaxantin," he says. "He was first introduced to astaxanthin about seven years ago, when it was still fairly unknown. Since then, he has personally reviewed more than 80 percent of the 500 peer-reviewed journal articles published about astaxanthin, seeing him recognised as the most knowledgeable person on astaxanthin.

"Dr Corish knows US-based Dr Mercola, whose natural health website, www.Mercola.com is the most visited natural health site on the internet, with over 12 million page views every month," he says. "This month, Dr Mercola posted an interview with Dr Corish and we have had hundreds of orders of AstaSupreme rolling in ever since, non-stop. In fact orders from US customers have increased by a factor of 80 this month compared to previous months, and the website has seen enquiries come from customers in Canada, the UK, Brazil and Australia.

"As well as customers, the posting on Dr Mercola’s website has created interest from two parties keen on distribution opportunities in the US," he says. "This could be the tipping point for us in the American market, which is very exciting for Nelson, and New Zealand."