Sibu ready to take on supplement industry

In the beginning there was Tahitian Noni Juice and XanGo. Now there is Sibu.

Billing it as the drink of the Himalayas, a South Jordan company is betting its new product will be a hit for people wanting to boost their energy levels or improve overall health.

If recent financial success stories by other Utah multilevel marketing companies are any indication, Sibu LLC could be in for the ride of its life.

Founded by Bruce McMullin, the former chief executive of McMullin Homes, Sibu is sold as a nutritional supplement drink made from the Hippophae rhamnoides plant, more commonly known as seabuckthorn.

The drink's bright orange color actually comes from a small reddish-orange berry found in Tibet, McMullin said.

McMullin describes the Sibu drink as having a "peppy taste, with a tart, smooth flavor," and recommends consuming two to three ounces a day. Some natural juices have been added to sweeten the drink because of its tartness. The berries are harvested in Tibet during six weeks in the fall, then shipped to the United States, where they are made into a juice and bottled.

The cost for two bottles — roughly 25 ounces each — is $80.

But the Sibu drink almost never became a product.

"I did not want to start a network marketing company," said McMullin, acknowledging that some of his Asian business associates often passed business ideas his way, usually to no advantage.

But one plan stood out.

"It became apparent to me that this seabuckthorn berry was exceptional," McMullin said. "It was kind of a secret right before our very eyes. And no one to my knowledge had ever exploited it or offered it to the United States."

McMullin soon developed a beverage centered around the berry and got help through a European company to enhance the flavor.

The result: a nutritional drink ready to take on Utah's $4 billion supplement industry.

"This one drink could possibly replace every nutritional supplement in your home," a company brochure says. "At Sibu, we don't believe in wonder pills. But we do think that Sibu Balance provides the ideal center to a healthier, well-balanced lifestyle."

Rather than spend millions of dollars in advertising, McMullin settled on network marketing to sell his product.

"It made sense to me to have someone describe what the benefits were as opposed to just bottling it and leaving it on a shelf," McMullin said. "I felt like the best way to do that is with an explanation on a one-on-one basis."

McMullin, though, is not alone in running his new company.