November 2007

Hello and welcome to all our customers and website visitors
Unbelievably, it’s now 3 years since Northstar was incorporated and 2 ½ years since we started full trading. During that time we have expanded our sales activity across the globe and have worked hard to maintain a high level of service to all of our customers; after all, our business is driven by the service we offer as much as the products we sell!

I would like to thank all of you that have been with us from the beginning, as well as those who have joined us since; you have helped us grow the business from zero sales at the beginning of 2005 to a turnover of £1.25 million (US$2.5million) for the year to April 2007.

Our business continues to grow steadily and whilst we have cemented a strong base trading the higher volume–lower value commodity speciality oils, our new product development programme will become an increasingly important part of our future plans; we want to apply our in house knowledge and processing expertise to new product development in a way that will further differentiate our business from many of the other traders in the marketplace.

What’s been happening?

New markets:

In March we exhibited at the PCIA show in Guangzhou. This was a very productive event and has resulted in new business partnerships being forged which will help us establish a presence in the Asia Pacific region over the coming years.

New product development & efficacy research

Kiwi and Lime seed oil have been the focus of our NPD for the cosmetic market, recent skin studies have further highlighted the benefits of these two fruit lipids.

We have also commissioned a study to determine the comparative effect of plant derived Omega 3, 6 and 9 Fatty acids on the skin. Whilst this research is intended to be used for specific product marketing, we are happy to share the findings with you for specific projects.

New certification and approvals

We now have Soil Association approval which means that we are able to sell certified organic oils under the Northstar label. In addition we are authorised to import Organic oils from our Chinese supply partner. This is a key move as there are an increasing number of seed oils available from China at very competitive prices

Evening Primrose Oil – New Production facilities

In October I visited the north eastern region of China, to gain a better understanding of the supply chain for our Evening Primrose Oil. Our production partner has made a significant investment in equipment and facilities and has completed the installation of a fully-integrated seed to oil operation. The plant is capable of processing a wide variety of seeds and produces cold pressed, organic and fully refined winterised oils under tight quality control conditions. Furthermore, after the final phase is complete, the plant will be compliant with GMP, this affords us the opportunity to produce oils for specific pharmaceutical applications where GMP is a pre-requisite.

This factory is one of the most impressive oilseed facilities I have had the pleasure to visit. Not only does it enable us to deliver and develop products under controlled conditions, it also ensures that our supply chain is fully traceable and future facing, an important requirement for many of our customers

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