Started by Denise Devine a former Philadelphia CPA, Devine Foods is one, of the most unique and innovative food product companies we've seen in quite some time. Devine Foods, like many successful companies, was founded on a simple concept with a twist. Devine realized that health experts are urging consumers to eat more nutritional foods, yet she understood that people's busy lifestyles sometimes don't allow them to conform to those guidelines. So, in 1992, she invented a technology, which was developed by chemists at Cornell University, that would enable beverages and frozen confections to be made from whole grains and vegetable elements.
Devine's idea for this new technology sprang not from a background in nutrition, but from her concern for her children's eating habits. "My children were young, and I was concerned about all the fruit juice they were drinking.
I knew there had to be alternative, but I just didn't see the right kinds of products being developed. I thought, why can't we make a drink out of grains that looks and tastes like juice.
Apparently, her motherly intuition was correct. "About a year ago, there was some major research done that found that overconsumption of fruit juice by young children is very damaging, because they fill up on it and won't eat other foods to get the minerals that they need to grow healthy bones" says Devine. "There was an inordinate amount of toddlers who just weren't gaining weight properly, and they directly linked it to apple juice consumption, I was sitting there thinking, I have an answer to this!"
Her answer was to incorporate whole grains, including the insoluble parts, into a line of food Products.
"I was adamant about using the whole grain and everything that comes with it," says Devine. Even when the chemists at Cornell advised stripping out bran or soluble fiber Devine resisted, "I wanted the whole grain" she says, "I have a belief that the trace elements in food are very important and I wanted the end result to include the insoluble fiber and B vitamins and iron - whatever was in there."
Despite the doubts of the chemists themselves, Devine's vision was achieved. She says one particular chemist was instrumental in developing the winning formula for whole grain integration. "She happened to be an herbal gardener and had a personal interest in natural foods, and I think she worked at it longer than most would have" says Devine "it was definitely more of an art than science in coming up with a final composition that would work."
Unlike other health foods that just eliminates harmfull ingredients like fat, cholesterol and artificial additives, Devine's food lines add beneficial nutrients at the same time "I think that's very important," says Devine. "I wanted to create products that would he]p consumers live more easily by the USDA's food pyramid. We're supposed to get six to 11 servings of grains a day, and that's very hard."
In addition to being nutritious, Devine prides her product lines on being tasty as well. "This is a way to sneak more grains into your diet in a format, that is totally

unassuming, very convenient and very tasty," she says. "It's a pleasurable experience – you don't even know you're eating grains."
Devine predicts that her food lines will appeal to mainstream America's discriminating taste buds In fact, she claims her whole grain beverage, called Devine Nectar looks and tastes like fruit juice, and Simply Devine, the company's line of dairy-free and fat-free frozen confections tastes like ice cream. People tell me it's better than frozen yogurt she says.
Although neither line is available to consumers yet, Devine plans to launch them before year-end in progressive supermarkets, which she calls the "quasi-natural food distribution channel," by doing in-store promotions and product sampling. After the product lines are off the ground, Devine expects company revenues to reach $250,000 within the first 12 months.
Devine is drawing from her background as a CPA in her approach to fund the product kick-off. She uses a conservative strategy of coordinating equity infusions with the company's milestone achievements. As she sees it, the business has gone through three major plateaus thus far. The first was technical in nature; she had to determine if it was possible to produce the products she envisioned. Technology funds and personal funds were combined to pull through that stage. Then there was the marketing stage, when Devine had to determine whether consumers wanted the products. A small private placement coincided with that phase. She is now in what she calls the business stage, asking herself "Can I run the business." "I'll time another equity infusion with that" Devine says. "Then we'll be in an expansion mode."
Devine is excited about being on the verge of a product launch because she is beginning to see tangible results from years of hard work–however, she is prepared for the obstacles that come with this stage.
"I'm going to have some cash flow issues until the products starts generating some revenue" Devine predicts "I'll probably have to go out and do a larger private placement to fund the, production until the collections come in from retailers."
The future looks especially promising for Devine Foods because of a surprising new technical application for the whole grain composition that even Devine never considered: the medical community. "When our patents were issued, we realized that the ability to use a whole grain or vegetable source is much more versatile than we thought", she says. "it can be used not only in beverages and frozen confections, but it can be made into a powder ingredient that can be mixed and used in other things."
For example, the technology can be used within the pharmaceutical industry as a natural bulking agent, an appetite suppressant, a delivery system for medications and can be used in the development of dietary staples for special ailments, such as kidney disease, atherosclerosis and diabetes
"I have a pharmaceutical company doing a three-month consumer use test," Devine says. "The strategy is to license that application and use those revenues to grow the food side."
Devine stresses the role that motivation has played in getting her to this point. She says that, for some reason, she feels that she was meant to bring this product to the public. "When I come to work," she says, "something always happens that gives me a sign that I should keep going."

Press Release

Click here to close article