2007 Summer Update On The Hoodia Market
As you’ve probably noticed, I haven’t had a lot of news to share with you regarding the hoodia industry. It’s been a quiet summer. However, there are a few note worthy items to pass along.
had come down to around $200/kilo.
To find out if there was any truth to this, I spoke with the good folks at Millennium Health, one of the largest raw hoodia importers in the world and the makers of Hoodia Hoodia. They not only confirmed that the raw prices are down around $200-$250/kilo, but that the long term pricing trends will be downward as more cultivated hoodia continues to enter the market. This news might not mean anything to you now, but it might in the near future.
The price of raw hoodia is the price companies pay for hoodia gordonii that is used in their diet pills and other hoodia products. The higher the price of raw hoodia, the higher the price you’ll pay at the store for your hoodia diet pills. I’ve been following the hoodia industry for over a year now and I’ve never seen it come down in price like this. I was always told that hoodia will only continue to go up in price. Apparently, that isn’t the case at all - which is good news for consumers. Now we’ll just have to wait and see if the retail prices of hoodia diet pills follow the same downward trend!
The other bit of news I had to pass along is related to the pricing news. As I just mentioned, the reason the prices of raw hoodia are coming down is because there is more hoodia gordonii supply entering the market. The reason there is more supply of hoodia gordonii is because of the recent cultivation of hoodia. Up until recently, the majority of the hoodia gordonii supply was wild grown. There just wasn’t enough of it to meet the demand so prices continued to increase. To meet the demand, the commercial growing, or cultivation, of hoodia began.
not wild grown hoodia.
You might be wondering what’s the difference between wild hoodia gordonii and cultivated hoodia gordonii. They’re the same plant but the only difference may be the potency. According to Millennium Health, the hoodia gordonii plant must be left to grow for at least 5-6 years before it reaches maximum potency. The wild hoodia gordonii that has been used the past few years has reached full potency as it had been left to grow for 5 or more years.
The problem with cultivated hoodia, according to Millennium Health, is that it is being harvested too soon. They claim that it is being harvested within 2-3 years - about 3 years too soon. The end result is you get hoodia diet pills that aren’t as effective as they should be. Millennium Health claims that their Hoodia Hoodia product always has and always will contain wild hoodia gordonii so consumers don’t have to worry about the potency issue.
Not everyone agrees, however, with Millennium Health’s assessment of the hoodia supply. I have spoken with other hoodia insiders and one person told me that there is still plenty of wild hoodia gordonii and that the cultivated hoodia is equally as effective. Another insider told me that there is no more wild hoodia gordonii. This person claimed it has been completely harvested and that 100% of the hoodia entering the market today is the cultivated variety and that it is just as potent and effective as the wild grown hoodia.
The question is, who do you believe? I guess the main point is that sooner or later most of the hoodia in your hoodia diet pills will be only the cultivated variety. Whether it is as effective or not only time will tell. If it is proven that it isn’t as effective, then likely it will mean you’ll have to take more than the current recommended daily hoodia doses - which could be very expensive if the price of hoodia diet pills don’t come down. Hopefully, cultivated hoodia will be just as effective and the prices will come down too! That would be the best case scenario.
[tags]hoodia, hoodia gordonii, hoodia diet pills, diet, weight loss, diet pills, diet supplements, supplements, weight loss pills, weight loss supplements[/tags]
