How do we know, and more importantly, how do your customers know, if this natural medicine chest really works?

The National Institute of Health recently invested $37.5 million dollars to study the medicinal benefits of elderberries, among others. Although the findings have not officially been completed, this investment indicates that the government has peaked interest into the health benefits of elderberries.

Smaller scale studies done in the past have already indicated that the elderberry has super food potential. In 2004, the International Journal of Medical Research conducted a clinical trial which showed that flu

patients given one tablespoons of elderberry extract four times per day recovered in an average of 3.1 days. On the other hand, those taking the placebo recovered in 7.1 days.

Studies like these can be handed out in fact sheets to your customers. To help consumers further understand the benefits of eating elderberries, include a nutrition guide with a list of the vitamins, minerals, etc. found in your elderberries. Want to see elderberries as popular as acai and goji berries? Then start marketing them as a “Super Food” today!

Elderberry Life Hartsburg , MS

Transitioning from home wine-making to a full scale winery proved difficult, however. The poundage of fruit required to make 60+ gallons of wine could not be sustained by wild harvest. The Carneys needed to cultivate on their own land. The spacing of bushes, the quickest way to de-stem berries– all factors of trial and error.

Coltsfoot Winery would love to share their lessons learned and give you the advice needed to start your own Elderberry Tale. They’d even purchase your berries. So give them a call and start writing your story today!

Phone: 276-623-1121 Fax: 276-623-1353 Website: www.asdevelop.org

Elderberry Tales: Successful Cultivation & Marketing

Living Better.

LOCALLY.

121 Russell Rd, Abingdon, VA 24210

Coltsfoot Winery Abingdon, VA

When Roger Lenhardt’s father was in his 80’s, he wanted to ensure that his family farm would not be turned into a housing development. That’s when he decided to make his farm a dynasty trust.

Five years ago, Roger received a request from a winery in Kansas for 4 varieties of elderberries to make their wine. With that, the farm was turned into Elderberry Life.

Elderberry Life has a simple mission: to “make elderberries available to everyone everyday and everywhere.” Today Elderberry Life has 16 varieties of elderberry plants growing on their farm. They have even been labeled the

largest elderberry farm in America, with a processing facility for elderberry juice, jam, jelly & syrup production.

Specializing in the establishment & management of commercial elderberry production, Elderberry life is always available for consultation with farmers interested in contract growing or simply a backyard garden.

Additionally, Elderberry Life invites you to be a part of their cooperative, called River Hills Elderberry Producers. The cooperative will purchase your berries washed/de-stemmed for $2/lb or $1/lb for stemmed berries.

The Medicinal Niche:

Marketing Elderberries as a “Super Food”

For Sandra Carney’s father, springtime brought with it the excitement of mapping out wild elderberry patches in their nearby woods. In late summer, he would return to that same patch of woods to harvest his findings. This marked the start of a family tradition: country home winemaking.

What started out as tradition, has since grown into a successful local winery. “Didn’t know too much about business, but thought we’d try it,” says Sandra. And with a leap of faith, the Carneys were able to turn a deep rooted family tradition, into a successful business. A highlight of this success– the robust and full-bodied elderberry wine.

Pomegranates, acai, goji berries oh my! What do all of these very expensive fruits have in common? They’ve all been marketed as a “Super Food” or “Super Berry.”

“Super Food” is a marketing term used to categorize food with high nutrient and vitamin levels that provide medicinal or health benefits when eaten.

Elderberries, or nature’s medicine chest, have been used by Native Americans and Europeans for centuries to treat coughs, colds and the flu. Elderflowers have been used to treat fevers and fluid retention, while elder leaf ointment was used to mend bruises and sprains.

This is beneficial for many recipes, because when the berries thaw, they will release more natural juices.

Look inside to see the many value-added products that can be made using this little berry.

Elderberry comes into full production after 3-4 years. Fruit is hand-harvested in August & September by cutting the cluster (panicle) from the bush once all berries in a cluster have fully ripened. The fruit is harvested weekly over 3 weeks.

Elderberries are separated from the panicle by freezing &

then stripping or shaking off the fruit. The berries can also be hand-picked off the panicle or combed off using a wide toothed-comb.

Once the berries are de-stemmed, fill a pail with 6 inches of water & pour the berries in. Mature berries will sink & stems, immature berries, leafy matter & bugs will float. Use a net to remove floating matter & then slowly pour out the water over a strainer.

The cleaned berries can be placed in the freezer in a gallon-size ZipLoc freezer bag.

Harvesting Elderberries

Inside this issue:Inside this issue:Inside this issue:Inside this issue:

Elderberry Jam 2

Elderberry Fritters 2

Elderberry Muffins 2

Elderberry Syrup 3

Elderberry Tea 3

Elderberry Juice 3

Market Niche & Tales 4

Elderberry Marketing & Recipe Guide

Special points of Special points of Special points of Special points of

interest:interest:interest:interest:

♦ Creating Value-Added

Products can more than

double your profits.

♦ Elderberries hold many

medicinal properties and

can be marketed as such.

♦ FDA and Labeling Laws

apply to all products. Make

sure you are in compliance

with these laws when

marketing elderberries to

the public.

The Benefits of Value-Added While one lb of fresh elderberries profits a mere $1-3, one 11oz bottle of elderberry juice profits $15-17. This is where the benefits of making value-added products becomes apparent. Although more time consuming, value- added pays off in the end.

Value-Added Products

Everything from fritters to wine– the value-added options are endless when it comes to the elderberries growing in your forest understory.

• Immune Boosting Syrup: $18/4 oz jar

• Cough Drops: $2.50-$3/15 lozenges

• Wine: $10-$13/bottle

• Pure Juice: $15-$17/11oz bottle

• Elderflower Fritter: $3/each

• Muffins: $2-$3/each

• Jam: $6.50/8oz jar

Crumble Topping (optional): • ¼ cup flour

• ¼ cup margarine

• ½ cup brown sugar

• ½ cup chopped nuts

Heat oven to 350. Mix crumble

topping ingredients & set aside.

Mix dry ingredients (flour,

baking powder, baking soda and

salt) in a large bowl. In a

separate bowl, mix applesauce,

buttermilk, sugar, melted

• 2 cups all purpose flour, (1 C whole wheat)

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• ½ teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ¼ cup applesauce

• 8 tablespoons melted margarine

• 1 cup buttermilk

• ⅔ cup sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 2 cups fresh/clean elderberries

margarine and vanilla.

Place elderberries in a bowl &

add 1-2 tbls of the flour mix.

Gently stir elderberries to coat

with the mix. Add wet mix to the

dry & stir until dry ingredients are

moistened. Add berries. Pour the

batter into muffin cups, sprinkle

with the crumble topping. Bake

for 17-20 mins.

Recipe/Muffin Photos from:

www.namelymarly.com

add the water, constantly mixing

until the batter is thin & smooth.

Mix in the grappa. Leave the

batter in the fridge for 15 min.

Pour oil into a deep pan & heat

to 350°F. Test the heat by

dropping in a tsp of batter, it

should bubble & start to turn

golden quickly.

One at a time, dip the flowers

into the batter. Cook for a few

seconds on each side or until the

batter turns golden.

Remove & lay on paper towels

to absorb excess oil.

When they are all cooked, dust

with icing sugar & serve hot.

Recipe/Photos from:

www.lottieanddoof.com

• 12-16 heads of elderflowers • 1 3/4 cups plain flour

• 1 egg, beaten

• 1 1/4 cup cold sparkling water

• a good glug of grappa (pomace wine from Italy)

• light oil for frying

• confectioners’ sugar

Sift the flour into a bowl & make

a well in the middle. Put the egg

into the well. Mix to incorporate

the egg into the flour. Gradually

over the sieve to strain the juice.

Strain for several hours.

You'll now need 5-6 8oz canning

jars & lids. Rinse out the jars &

place on a baking sheet, top up,

in the oven. Heat for 10 minutes

at 200°F to sterilize. To sterilize

the lids, bring a kettle of water to

a boil. Place lids in a shallow

bowl & pour the water over.

Place 3 cups juice into an 8 quart

pot. Add the lemon juice &

pectin. You’ll need 3 cups of

juice to make one batch of jelly

if using MCP pectin, & 3 3/4

cups if using SureJell pectin. Any

extra juice can be reserved to

make syrup, or more jelly.

Bring juice mixture to a boil.

Add 4 1/2 cups sugar and 1/4

teaspoon of butter. Stir with a

wooden spoon. Bring to a boil

again. Watch the pot as the

mixture will foam up. 2 minutes

after the mixture reaches a

rolling boil that cannot be

diminish by stirring, remove

from heat and pour mixture into

canning jars.

Recipe/Photos from:

simplyrecipes.com

• 3-4 lbs ripe de-stemmed

elderberries

• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

• 1 packet MCP pectin

• 4 1/2 cups white granulated

sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon butter

Place berries in a large pot &

crush with a potato masher to

release juices. Turn heat to

medium & continue to crush as

the mixture heats to a boil. Once

boiling, reduce the heat to simmer

for 10 mins. Remove from heat.

Place a large fine-mesh sieve or 4

layers of cheesecloth over a pot.

Transfer the mashed berries/juice

Page 2

ELDERBERRY MARKETING

& RECIPE GUIDE

Elderberry Jelly Servings: 5 8oz jars

Elderflower Fritters

Elderberry Crumble Muffins Servings: 12 Muffins

• 1 cup fresh or 1/2 cup dried

Elderberries

• 3 cups water

• 1 cup raw local honey

• 1 Cinnamon stick, 3 Cloves,

& Ginger (optional)

Place berries, water, and

spices in a saucepan. Bring to

a boil, reduce heat, and sim-

mer for 30 minutes.

Smash the berries to release

the remaining juice and strain

the mixture.

Allow liquid to cool and stir in

honey.

Syrup will last for 2-3 months

stored in the fridge.

Recipe by: Mountain Rose

Herbs

Put all ingredients except honey in a medium sized sauce pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour until liquid reduces by 1/3. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

When cool enough to touch the pan with your hands, strain the liquid through a strainer or cheesecloth into a large glass jar or bowl. Discard the strained ingredients.

• 2/3 cup black elderberries

• 3 1/2 cups of water

• 2 tablespoon of fresh ginger root, finely minced, or 1 teaspoon dried ginger

• 1/2-1 teaspoon cinnamon

• small sprinkle of cloves

• 1 cup (or less) sugar

When liquid is still warm, add the sugar & stir well to incorporate.

Store in a glass bottle or jar in the fridge.

Will last for 2-3 weeks in fridge.

Recipe/Photos from: everydaypaleo.com

Place 3 fresh elderflowers in a bowl. Boil 6 cups of water. Pour boiling water over the flowers. Cover the bowl and steep for 10 minutes. Strain the tea and serve hot or cold. Recipe By : www.food.com

• 3 elderberry flower blooms (remove the blooms from the main stem)

• filtered water

Additional Suggestions

• Rose water • Lemon slices • Fresh mint • Fresh lemon balm • Cinnamon (if brewing hot)

FDA regulates all

products with

medicinal properties.

Labeling laws apply to all food products,

including ingredient

listing, net weight, &

manufacturers’

contact info.

To Learn More,

Go To:

http://www.fda.gov/

Food/Guidance

ComplianceRegulato

ryInformation/

Photo By:

www.istockphoto.com

Photos by:

www.istockphoto.com

Page 3 MEDICINAL ELDERBERRY RECIPES

Elderberry Flu Season Syrup

Elderberry Blossom Iced Tea

Elderberry Juice