Great quantities of a kind of berry resembling a currant…deliciously flavored…makes delightful tarts. This fruit is now ripe.”

—From the Journals of Lewis & Clark, August 24, 1804

 

Why We Chose the Name Buffaloberries™

Long before Lewis and Clark were introduced to buffaloberries, indigenous people around the world instinctively used native fruits, vegetables, seeds, fish, and wild game to develop healthy and well-balanced diets.

We chose the name "Buffaloberries" because it represents the many whole foods used by our ancestors and the 'super food' ingredients used in all of our recipes.

 

What is a Buffaloberry

Buffaloberries are native berries of North America, most commonly found in the Northern Great Plains. They can be found growing wild along rivers and streams in the Dakotas and Montana, northward into Canada, and westward to California.

Members of the Yankton Sioux tribe introduced Lewis and Clark to buffaloberries in August of 1804 as the explorers traveled through the area that later became southeastern South Dakota.

The buffaloberry species, Shepherdia argentea, is a shrub in the oleaster/Elaeagnaceae family that was unknown to botanists prior to the time when Lewis and Clark brought their findings back to Europe. A mature buffaloberry plant can grow to be three to twenty feet in height.

 

The Next Great Superfood?

In October 2013, the Journal of Food Science published a research article on the superfood qualities of buffaloberries. The article noted that researchers from Ohio State University had found large amounts of important antioxidants and other beneficial nutrients in buffaloberries. The specific antioxidants they found were lycopene and methyl-lycopenoate.