Iceland review - 2015, Qupperneq 46

44 ICELAND REVIEW
north often suffer—and the fatty acids help lower cholester-
ol and alleviate symptoms of arthritis, among other benefits.
Fish liver oil is however not recommended during pregnancy
because large quantities of Vitamin A could harm the fetus.
People who regularly eat food rich in Vitamin A should also
avoid fish liver oil. Today, fish liver oil is usually produced by
melting the liver at a high temperature. In the process, some
of the natural nutrients are lost, including the vitamins, which
are added at a later stage. Birgitta, Anna and Sigrún concluded
that it must be better to have the liver gently release the oil to
preserve all the natural ingredients and offer it to consumers
in a less processed state. So far, fish liver oil from Lysi—also an
active exporter of the supplement—has been the only Icelandic
product available on the domestic market.
The idea for the product was originally Birgitta’s. “I was sitting
at a café with a woman—like we are now—and she told me that
her cat had been ill and that she had given it fish liver oil, which
cured it. I thought it was brilliant that fish liver oil had the same
effect on animals as humans.” Birgitta met Anna and Sigrún
while studying for an MBA at the University of Iceland. For
three years, the three women flew from Ísafjörður to Reykjavík
every-other weekend to attend courses at the university. Inspired
by the conversation at the café, Birgitta and Sigrún made fish
liver oil for pets their final project. Upon graduation in 2011,
Anna and Sigrún decided to complete their degrees in inter-
national business at the University of Akureyri, which they had
started before the MBA. “It was just another year,” says Sigrún.
Anna explains that their motive for studying had not been to start
a company but rather to try something new. “It was either that
or get new husbands,” she laughs. “But as Birgitta didn’t have a
job after graduation, we encouraged her to work on the pet oil
project. She said: ‘Girls, I can’t do it without you!’” which led to
True Westfjords being founded in 2012.
SHELLFISH AND SEAWEED
Learning about the ancient processing method for fish liver
oil got the businesswomen geared up and they hired Ragnar
Jóhannsson, an expert at MATÍS (Icelandic Food and Biotech
R&D, a government-owned, independent research company) to
test it for them. “Several times he called to say, ‘This isn’t pos-
sible—we have to melt the liver!’ but we wouldn’t give up and
persuaded him to try it again,” says Anna. Eventually, Ragnar
came up with a processing method which only involved heat-
ing the liver to 42°C (108°F), qualifying the oil as a raw food
product. Experimental production at the plant in Bolungarvík
followed. “Once the oil turned carrot in color and we panicked,”
says Anna. “I asked Sigrún: ‘what did we do?’ and called Ragnar.
He said: ‘Relax, the cod are eating zooplankton right now, that’s
why the oil is reddish. It’s a great antioxidant. Could you send
me a bottle?’”
The trio came to realize that the product they had in their
hands was too good to make exclusively for pets and decided to
market it as a food supplement for human consumption instead.
“What’s fascinating is that the oil is never quite the same. It
depends on the season and what the cod are eating,” explains
Birgitta. The color and taste vary, as does the composition of fatty
acids and vitamins. “That’s why, when describing the content, we
have to use averages,” elaborates Sigrún. I’m given a teaspoonful
of oil to try. That day, it’s pale yellow in color and has an after-
taste of seaweed. It’s not as pungent as the fish liver oil I wash
down with orange juice every morning. “Sometimes it tastes
more like shellfish,” states Birgitta. For the production, they only
INNOVATION
Fish being unloaded at the Bolungarvík harbor. True Westfjords’
plant can be seen behind the pick-up truck.
The liver used for the oil’s production is sourced from
freshly-caught cod at the local fish market.