Anti-aging, health-boosting supplement

BIOGREEN Science is one of Indonesia’s health supplement manufacturers, offering Applesc, a product which is said to benefit the skin and general health of those who regularly take it. In this interview, the CEO and founder, Larry Widjaja, and Product Specialist, Dr. Richard tell us more about the company’s nutraceuticals.

What is the role of Biogreen Science in promoting health and wellness?

Larry Widjaja: Biogreen Science understands that health and wellness are basic needs and we are committed to provide a diverse range of products. We believe that everyone – the Indonesian people in particular – deserves the best products for overall wellbeing and optimum health in order to stay productive. To reach that goal, we provide the highest quality, internationally recognized, and award-winning natural ingredients. So far, we have developed products for beauty, anti-aging and general wellness. Later this year we will launch hair serum and weight management based products.

Founder and CEO of Biogreen Science, Larry Widjaja

The Uttwiler Spatlauber Swiss Apple is a star ingredient in your products.

Dr. Richard: The Uttwailer Spatlauber apple used to be cultivated in the 19th century. Unfortunately, due to the appearance of sweet apple varieties possessing higher economical value from the palatability factor, people started cultivating those instead. Utwiller Spatlauber Apple is too acidic and astringent, therefore it does not have a very desirable taste. As a result, the plantation reduced significantly and later became rarer. Only a small number of trees are available and the Swiss government declared Uttwiler Spatlauber Swiss Apple to be a rare and protected species.

Is there a sizeable plantation for the apple in Switzerland to guarantee sustainable production?

Dr. Richard: To maintain sustainable production and at the same time to keep a high yield of stem cells upon harvesting, Mibelle Biochemistry has a patented technology which enables culturing and harvesting of any plant stem cells without depleting plant sourced significantly, this technology is later coined as Phytocelltec®.

How were the unusual qualities of this apple discovered?

Dr Richard: It was not until recently that Swiss scientists discovered the other properties unique to this apple. This apple can retain freshness for up to one year without withering. This phenomenon intrigued scientists from Mibelle Biochemistry who attempted to discover the secret behind such a long-living apple. They postulated that the stem cells must be responsible for the effect. To test their hypothesis, they developed a series of experiments and later confirmed that the stem cell extract from Uttwiler Spatlauber apples can increase human stem cell production.

Can you describe the process for extracting the nutritional benefits of this fruit? 

Dr. Richard: It has been observed that the bioactive compounds of this fruit responsible for the nutritional benefits are the most abundant when they are in stem-cell state. Therefore, Mibelle Biochemistry developed a method to maximize the conversion process of the Utwiller Spatlauber apple into its stem-cell state patented as Phytocelltec®. In principle, Phytocelltec® method induces callus formation on the apple by inflicting injuries to the surface. This activates the stress response of the apple, and thus initiates the rejuvenation process by de-differentiating the pulp into stem-cell state. This is done by carefully regulated conditions so that the conversion yield of the stem-cell is optimized.

Dr Richard, Product Specialist at Biogreen Science

Please tell us about the health ingredients used in your product, the Applesc. How did the company come up with the exact combination of these ingredients?

Dr. Richard: Five primary ingredients are used in the Applesc: Phytocelltec® Malus Domestica, Phytocelltec® Solar Vitis, Kohjin's Glutathione, Gelita’s collagen, and vitamin C. The philosophy behind the combination ingredients in the Applesc focuses on the full-spectrum of anti-aging for the skin. Skin quality is divided into three aspects: smoothness, firmness and radiance. Therefore, we need to find ingredients so that the skin is able to achieve its fullest potential for all three aspects and most importantly, able to resist aging-related degenerative effects on the skin. After careful analysis of the ingredients, we finally came up with the combination of those five ingredients.

Upon investigation, we observed that many health-related problems and diseases have also been alleviated and even cured in many of our members and customers. We believe that the bioactive components from stem-cell extract combined with Kohjin’s glutathione are responsible for such health benefit.

Applesc contains Phytocelltec® Malus Domestica, Phytocelltec® Solar Vitis, Kohjin's Glutathione, Gelita’s collagen, and vitamin C

What are the effects of the product to the skin? Are the effects immediate and long-lasting? Should this product be taken every day?

Dr. Richard: According to the clinical study, Applesc stimulates and rejuvenates basal skill stem cells so that it has increased capability of regeneration. This improves the overall quality of the skin. Furthermore, the skin has also increased resistance to external damaging factors such as free radicals and UV.

Applesc is considered as food supplement packed with rich nutrients. Therefore, the benefit will come after it is taken regularly. The effects and long-lasting capability will vary according to the individual lifestyle and conditions. Many members and customers notice improvement in approximately one month after consumption. Like other nutrition-based supplements, to achieve the desired effects to the skin, it should be consumed every day and adopted as part of the lifestyle.

Please tell us about the safety standards and other regulatory guidelines followed by Biogreen.

Dr. Richard: We are committed to quality and long term strategic achievement for our company. Therefore, the highest level of standard and quality are our highest priorities and at the same time abide to the rules and regulations, so that we are able to fulfill our vision, mission and objectives to our leaders, customers, members and community. We strictly aim our products to be certified in Dinkes, Halal and ultimately POM. We will also implement the same level of safety standards among our partner countries as well, such as the HSA in Singapore.

Are all of the company’s products manufactured in Indonesia?

Dr Richard: Yes. We import the finest ingredients from respective and award winning suppliers. We will later formulate, manufacture and package those in Indonesia. From here, we distribute the products nationwide and partner countries.

What are the major markets for these products?

Mr Widjaja: We believe that everyone has the right and capability to be healthy and well and therefore we are committed to provide high quality products. Therefore, we are working to provide, develop and market our products that target all segments of the populations: Men and women, young and elderly, healthy and unwell. 

In your major markets, what are the requirements to sell your product?

Mr. Widjaja: Biogreen Science adopts a Network Marketing schemed for customers to purchase our products. The requirement is that you need to choose one of four available membership packages: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Those who obtain those are considered as our members and have the right to sell and market Biogreen Science’s product.

Biogreen Science will provide for all of our members’ timely, perfect and comprehensive service.

Pharmaceuticals are one of the easiest to counterfeit. Do you have to invest a lot to protect your brand? How can brands be protected?

Mr Widjaja: Often counterfeit products are not as consistent in size and weight due to lack of quality control practices, so their measurements will not only differ slightly from those of the genuine product such as logo, hologram, barcode, serial number, and they will differ from each other.

We fully realize that pharmaceutical counterfeiting will adversely affect our reputation and harm our members and customers. Therefore, it is our responsibility to protect our brand in the interest of our members and customers. We employ strategies to protect our branch both externally and internally such as establishing exclusivity agreement with our ingredient suppliers, using certified and pharmaceutical grade manufacturing plants, obtaining all the required regulatory standards and high quality control in our products. In the near future, we will also enforce to the community that ONLY purchases done through our members and Biogreenscience.com website are valid. This regulation will in turn prevent counterfeiting significantly.

How easy – or difficult – is it to be successful in vitamin/nutraceutical industry?

Mr Widjaja: In order to become successful in the nutraceutical industry, it is of utmost importance that we understand the need of our community and to fill the gap in terms of health and wellness needs. For example, in this current decade, as a result of the better quality of life and the increase in the overall income per capita, global populations are now more concerned heavily on anti-aging to increase productivity and improve overall health. This reflects in total market size of over US$ 200 billion globally. By analyzing this trend, we are able to set strategies that anti-aging related nutraceuticals are the most well sought after and therefore this is the most strategic area to research, develop and innovate new products. We also actively listen to our members’, customers’ and community’s feedback and suggestions, and from there, we develop new products.