Johnson and Thompson graduated together in 1982, and Logan followed four years later. Johnson also served as his own guinea pig. He even once drank the oil to test its effects. The couple has two daughters: One is a junior at the University of Iowa the other is a high school junior in Mount Pleasant. His wife, Susan, a certified nurse, was one of the first people to test it on her skin.
#HEDGE BALLS SKIN#
It's much easier for Johnson to produce a skin product that suggests “good results” with “alleviating” eczema, psoriasis and rosacea, plus "unprecedented hydration and healing properties for both the hair and skin." The realm of cosmetics and consumer health, however, is more forgiving than the high stakes of big pharma. Studies in recent years established that hedge balls do have anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal properties, but not enough to justify the millions of dollars necessary to push health uses through the Federal Drug Administration. The company in April scored a $54 million initial public offering.īefore that, Johnson led research and development for another Iowa drug manufacturer, Cambrex, in Charles City. Johnson had been the first CEO of KemPharm, a Coralville firm developing a less addictive version of the pain drug hydrocodone. It was Aarhus' chance encounter with the LimeLight CEO during a conference in Chicago that set up the phone call for Johnson to make his pitch. "And the idea that this product had practically a negative carbon footprint really speaks rather loudly to people that want to invest."
"My head started spinning, actually, because the beauty industry by and large is wanting to be more organic," Aarhus said of her reaction to hedge balls. We'll see whether Alcone helps make Iowa hedge-ball oil a phenomenon among New York supermodels.Ĭedar Rapids-based hair stylist and beauty blogger Kendra Aarhus turned out to be Johnson's crucial industry link. If he was grilled on “Shark Tank," Johnson would estimate his company's worth to be somewhere between $2 million to $7 million. “I’m the biggest nerd that you’ll ever see in this industry.” “I’m a legitimate scientist in an industry that’s all about fluff,” he joked.
#HEDGE BALLS PROFESSIONAL#
in chemistry at Indiana University, already had launched what he calls “Iowa’s only professional hair-care company” under his Pomifera brand. And you really didn’t want the cattle to eat them and choke on them.Johnson, who earned his Ph.D. And they were just another job – pick up the hedge apples around the barn lot. “You tripped over them, and then they got mushy (laughter). Hedge balls are just nuisances, after all. Still, many farmers will surely find the offer too rich to ignore for long. Of course, there are no subsidies for pomifera, and the cosmetic industry does not have the consistent track record of, say, the American diet. Hypothetically, farmers who stopped producing corn altogether in favor of the hedge balls scheme would increase revenue by 50%. He usually thinks in bushels.”Īccording to Duis, corn gets about $120/ton. Because the fruit has long been considered useless, Gene Duis, who runs the local grain elevator, at first thought all this was a joke. So Johnson is paying $180 a ton for hedge balls. It’s currently in vogue with makeup artists in New York City and selling for $85 per half ounce. He’s devised a way to extract the seeds and is pressing them to make a pricy cosmetic oil called pomifera. “When Johnson investigated his uncle’s story, he found research suggesting that the seeds of the hedge fruit may have some anti-inflammatory properties. According to NPR, however, the buyer says he’s legit:
It sounds to good to be true, or at the very least it resembles an especially work-intensive scam.
That’s especially true when a fancy pants chemist comes calling to buy the junk-hedge balls, horse apples, monkey brains, whatever you want to call them- around the corn for nearly $200 a ton. Still, this delicate balance is not the easiest thing in the world to maintain there must be constant temptations for corn farmers to branch out into more cooperative and profitable endeavors. is determined to produce a robust crop of corn every year, making it the most highly-subsidized agricultural product in the country for a long time running. It’s a persnickety crop, preferring warm, moist soil, and declining quickly in quality when its optimal harvest time is not catered to. It takes a lot of work to produce the corn that ends up in your produce section, your breakfast cereal, and even your gas.
0 kommentar(er)
