Why did the world’s premium bottled water provider found a nutraceutical company?
In 2004, Le Bleu Corporation’s founder and CEO, Jerry W. Smith, started hearing news about scientific research being done on the potential health benefits of the Muscadine grape, touted as the most unique and powerful fruit found in nature. Having grown up on a farm, he recalled how, as a young boy, he would climb trees every fall and pick this wild-growing, sweet fruit. Always the entrepreneur and visionary, Mr. Smith decided to pursue more research on this remarkable new discovery, traveling extensively throughout the southeastern United States to learn the real truth about Muscadine grapes — from vineyard owners, to winemakers, to renowned scientists at major universities. Mr. Smith was intrigued that science had discovered Muscadine grapes had over 100 different phenolic compounds, making them more powerful than any other antioxidant product found in nature throughout the world. He was even more convinced when he learned that Native Americans for centuries had consumed Muscadine g
