Iceland review - 2015, Page 47

ICELAND REVIEW 45
buy cod liver from local fishermen, using eco-friendly fishing
lines. “There’s competition for the liver but we sense a lot of
goodwill from the community. The fishermen want to sell their
liver to us. They like the way we treat it,” stresses Sigrún. Their
company holds a certificate for sustainable fisheries.
Anna and Sigrún show me around the production facilities.
Anna points out a series of tanks. “These are old milk tanks,
which we bought from farmers in the area.” The liver is shred-
ded, then water is added to it and the mixture is heated to 42°C.
Then the water is removed and the oil cleansed. The process
requires constant oversight. “Once we decided to produce a cer-
tain amount of oil without considering what that meant in prac-
tical terms. It ended up taking 28 hours,” sighs Anna. Eventually,
the oil is bottled or poured into gelatin capsules. “We wanted
to use fish gelatin,” says Anna, holding up a bag full of golden
capsules sourced from Europe. “The next step is to produce our
own gelatin,” excites Olgeir.
SELLING A CONCEPT
True Westfjords’ partner company, True Westfjords Trading
(TWT), is responsible for the product’s marketing. The team
comprises Olgeir, Baldur and Steingrímur Óli Einarsson. “We
were lucky to find these guys since we have no experience with
marketing,” says Anna. “And what would be the use of sitting on
quality cod liver oil with no one knowing about it?” That was
about to change. “When they contacted us we were working
in the [international] pharmaceutical industry,” says Baldur. “It
helped us establish the right connections.” I ask about the name,
Dropi. “The trick is to capture everything we’ve been telling
you in one word,” explains Olgeir. “The logo was a Danish
dream,” adds Anna. A simple design, it has the shape of a drop
with an ‘x’ at the top, resembling a fish tail. “Like everything
else, it fell into our laps.” Danish graphic designer Henrik
Bekker, an acquaintance, literally dreamt the logo after learning
about the product. “He called and wanted to give it to us. We
were a bit skeptical at first,” admits Anna. “But it turned out to
be absolutely beautiful,” concludes Olgeir. “It’s both a drop and
a fish.
“The customers are waiting for the product. We have the
luxury of choosing where we want it to be sold. We won’t go
into mass production,” stresses Olgeir. To begin with, Dropi cod
liver oil will be carried by selected health and specialty stores
in Iceland, elsewhere in Europe and in Asia. The team con-
siders it extraordinary that people have committed to carrying
the oil in their stores before commercial production has even
been launched. “We’ve been selling a concept,” explains Olgeir.
While Rosita EVCLO extra virgin cod liver oil from Norway
is being marketed by similar principles, he maintains that,
“No one else is producing cod liver oil the way we are.” The
word has been getting around, even though Dropi hasn’t been
advertised. TWT is based at the Icelandic Ocean Cluster in
Reykjavík where Dropi has garnered considerable attention.
“When speaking about the companies at the Ocean Cluster,
CEO Þór Sigfússon always mentions us. That says a lot about the
product,” Olgeir states.
So do the grants True Westfjords has received, but the entre-
preneurs have also invested their own money in the project—not
to mention blood, sweat and tears. “Like all pioneers, we thought
it would happen faster and cost less,” sighs Birgitta. “But we
wanted to do things right. There’s a niche market of conscious
consumers who want to know where the product comes from,
who is producing it and how.” Anna agrees. “Again and again,
we had to stop, go back to the original idea and ask ourselves: ‘Is
this what we want?’” Sigrún adds that her partners are constantly
coming up with new ideas. “I try to keep them grounded,” she
smiles. “What’s great is that we’re all different and when one of
us is about to give up, the others take over,” says Birgitta. “We’re
so lucky to be based here, surrounded by the good people of this
small community. If something goes wrong, like electricity fail-
ure, someone arrives to fix it in ten minutes.” Sigrún adds that the
townspeople are eager for Dropi to enter the market. “Everyone
is so excited that something new is happening here,” concludes
Birgitta. “Hopefully it will encourage others.” *
INNOVATION
From left: Anna Sigríður Jörundsdóttir and Sigrún Sigurðardóttir.
Mountain Óshyrna is in the background.