How Dandy Blend Came to Be
Dandy Blend is adapted from an herbal formula that originated in Austria some 200 years ago. It ended up in Canada, where Dr. Peter Gail, a Ph.D. Ethnobotanist from Cleveland Ohio, discovered it, in 1988, being sold in an obscure little herb shop tucked away on a back street in Toronto’s Kensington Market. He brought it to the States and introduced it to his medical herbalist friends at their annual conferences. They fell in love with it, and began recommending it to their patients. By 1995, demand had grown so great that his Canadian supplier could not satisfy it. He was granted private labeling rights and given the recipe. Upon reviewing the formula, he discovered that the blend needed more dandelion to make it optimally therapeutic. He also discovered that the flavor could be improved by changing the roasting regimen, and what we now know as Dandy Blend was born . For the first 10 years in the US, Dandy Blend was only available through health practitioners. At their urging, in 2003 Dr. Gail began making it available to health food stores. Now, at the end of 2010, Dandy Blend is available from almost 1000 retailers across the United States, mostly in local Mom and Pop health food stores where the staff takes personal interest in introducing it to their customers.
Dandy Blend is one of those products that sells itself as soon as a person tries it. Most of our sales now come from people telling one another about it.
While we make no claims about Dandy Blend other than that it is a delicious herbal beverage with the taste, body, and texture of coffee, the ingredients – dandelion, chicory and beet roots, barley and rye grains- are all respected as health-promoting foods. You may search online to learn more about the attributes and value of each ingredient.
