A former US diplomat who spent 12 years helping American
companies do business in China has turned his expertise and
life-long interest in health into his own China business. He
markets US supplements in China and exports Chinese gouqi (goji,
wolfberries) berries.
Every day Barnes, 55, eats the bright red dried berries, one of
the world's most powerful and highly concentrated antioxidants,
mixing them with his oatmeal. He is so convinced of the need for
high-quality berries from China that he and his Chinese partners
have built a new high-tech processing plant in the Ningxia Hui
Autonomous Region.
The Yinchuan facility is the world's largest and most advanced
gouqi juice-processing plant, says Barnes. It also produces dried
berries, powder and seed oil, all for export. Gouqi juice will be
launched in the China market this month.
The health business is Barnes' latest undertaking in China. He
is president of both Xanadu Inc, which he runs with his
full-partner wife Qi Haiting, and Ningxia Ruby Goji Co
(international operations). He is also the China director of
Vita-Tech, a California supplements supplier. Barnes writes
articles on nutrition and wellness in English and Chinese.
A native of Portland, Oregon, Barnes holds a master's degree in
international business administration and has worked in Asia for
many years, helping US companies seize the expanding economic
opportunities. As US commercial liaison to the Asian Development
Bank in Manila, the Philippines, from 1997 to 2000, he helped US
companies bid for ADB projects and advised US officials during the
Asian financial crisis.
Barnes came to China in 1987, working as a US diplomat for 12
years, serving in Beijing, Guangzhou (Guangdong Province) and
Chengdu (Sichuan Province). He moved to Shanghai two and a half
years ago.
"My job was assisting American companies in marketing US products.
This included all kinds of products from Boeing aircraft to Nike
sports shoes," says Barnes, who was US commercial counselor at the
US Embassy in Beijing.
During the early days of market economy reform, Barnes helped
companies adjust. He was at the forefront of efforts to preserve
China-US trade when bilateral relations reached a low point in
1989. He helped US companies after China joined the World Trade
Organization.
While doing volunteer work during in Beijing, Barnes met Qi, a
Shanghai teacher at an international primary school. They married,
and they are expecting a son this month.
Two and half years ago, Barnes left the foreign service, moved
to Shanghai and started his business.
Barnes has always been interested in health and wellness, so the
nutrition industry was a natural.
"When starting a business of my own, I wanted it to involve what
I care most about," he says. When two of his Chinese friends
invited him to join in starting a gouqi products company he was
enthusiastic, as the berries have always appealed to him.
In the late 1980s, he noticed the red berries at Chinese
banquets and was told they were extremely healthful. "So I began
buying dried gouqi at traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) pharmacies
and putting them in my oatmeal every morning," says Barnes.
He is interested in the scientific research into China's
5,000-year-old pharmacopia and the medicinal and nutritional value
of herbs. Barnes cooks with herbs, adding gouqi berries and ginseng
to chicken, for example.
He doesn't boil up TCM herbal potions but chooses herbs for
their scientifically proven value. He chooses standardized extracts
of herbs that can be taken in capsule or tablet form, such as EGCG
extracted from green tea, resveratrol (antioxidant) extracted from
hu zhang (knotweed), and gingko biloba. He sometimes buys in bulk
and encapsulates his own herbs.
He personally takes US nutritional supplements because Chinese
supplements are often several times as costly because of strict
government regulation.
"Gouqi berries are extremely good for health because of their
high concentration of antioxidants that slow the aging process and
prevent chronic disease," says Barnes.
Research shows that regular intake of gouqi can significantly
raise the body's levels of serum SOD, the most important
antioxidant enzyme made by the body, he says. The berries are also
rich in carotenoids that strengthen the eyes and help keep skin
youthful.
Though most Chinese are used to making tea with gouqi berries,
Barnes believes most Westerners prefer bottled juice for
convenience. He and his partners produce fresh juice, dried berries
and powder in a modern, hygienic plant using berries from Ningxia
where the best berries are grown.
The biggest challenge is to get the fresh berries into the
processing plant and make them into pasteurized juice or dry them
on the same day they are picked. "Although gouqi is powerfully
nutritious, the berries are also extremely fragile and can spoil
within hours of being picked," says Barnes. Ruby Goji began rapid
processing last September.
Production is principally for export to the US, but Japan,
Australia, Canada and Europe are also strong markets.
The US market for gouqi products grew 133 percent last year,
according to one report. After the Chinese pet food scandal, the US
Food and Drug Administration has made it more difficult to import
Chinese food products, especially raw agricultural products like
dried gouqi.
For the time being, Barnes and his partners are concentrating on
the US juice market where there are no impediments. "With the
signing of a US-China Food Safety Agreement in December, we hope it
will be easier to export dried gouqi to the US this year," says
Barnes.
"As I am preparing to have a son at age 55 with my younger wife, I
think I should eat even more gouqi," he says. "When he grows up, I
dream of climbing the mountains of my native Oregon with him."
Denny Barnes
Nationality: US
Age: 55
Profession: Entrepreneur in nutrition industry
Description of yourself: Curious, creative, caring.
Favorite place in Shanghai:
West Lake in Hangzhou. I proposed marriage to my wife on the
shores of the lake.
Worst experience:
My most terrifying experience was giving a friend's wedding
speech before 300 people in Shanghainese dialect. After it was
over, however, the wedding was great fun.
Strangest sight:
A former US ambassador eating deep-fried scorpions and drinking
bai jiu liquor at a banquet in Shandong Province, smiling broadly
with scorpion parts very visible in his teeth.
Life's motto:
Curiosity is not a crime. Don't be afraid to try new
experiences, dare to explore the unknown, and don't be embarrassed
to ask lots of stupid questions.
Ideal weekend:
Just a little more than one hour by bullet-train ride to
Hangzhou. Peaceful strolls along the shores of West Lake. Excellent
food and views at the famous Lou Wai Lou restaurant.
Things that could improve Shanghai:
As the industrial center of China, Shanghai faces huge
environmental challenges. Many are being addressed, but
Shanghainese must think well beyond their borders and protect
China's increasingly polluted and threatened watersheds. All of
China's pollution flows downstream to Shanghai.
Advice to newcomers:
Shanghai is a very modern, international city, but it's
China-lite. I recommend getting out and experiencing the richness
of China's 5,000-year-old culture. As Shanghai is a transportation
hub, it is easy to travel widely.
(Shanghai Daily January 17, 2008)
