FIRST CALL is Like a Seatbelt for Responsible Drinkers

By Wayne Chaplin
Southern Wine & Spirits

In an effort to promote responsible drinking, Southern Wine & Spirits took a serious step by offering its customers - both on- and off premise - an entirely new category to sell at retail. This isn't a health drink, nor is it any beverage for that matter. In an unprecedented move, the powerful distributor determined that it would represent a preventative "cure" for the common hangover.

First Call is an all natural extract of artichoke and sarsaparilla that comes in capsule form. Taken before and after consuming alcohol, First Call supports the body's natural production of the enzymes necessary to break down the toxins from the alcohol, specifically acetylaldehyde, which negatively affects healthy liver function.

Formulated over 25 years ago by doctors without access to pharmaceuticals, Greg Koenig accidentally discovered its use in preventing the alcohol hangover four years ago. First Call is a product from Natural Bridges Products, Inc., with a mission and a slogan of "bridging the gap between health and lifestyle." Koenig admits that he would encounter hangovers in his earlier days and by the time he hit his early 30s and had a family, four or five beers impacted him a bit harder.

"I was wrecked the next morning, and I know this is a common dilemma," notes Koenig, who worked with Dr. Charles Cochran, then a neighbor of his in the Silicon Valley area where he resided. Cochran developed the formula that simply and directly supports liver health and actually prevents hangovers, though as a non-drinker, never thought of the positive impact it might have.

"I think people thought that having a hangover was just punishment for a night of indulging," says Koenig. "But in reality, the symptoms: Headache, nausea, malaise, anorexia (inability to eat), upset stomach and dizziness, are your body's reaction to dealing with toxins."

Koenig further explains that the average or moderate drinker may intake three or four drinks, which still leads to a hangover, or at least some of the inflammatory responses that are similar to experiencing the flu.

"But instead of having a virus, your body is erupting because of over-ingestion of ethanol," he points out.

First Call's ingredients of artichoke and sarsaparilla - a vegetable and a root - contain a strong concentration of antioxidants, and according to Koenig, 16 times that of blueberries.

As a newcomer to retail with an entirely new category and possibility, "Retailer packaging is our biggest billboard," he attests, urging the product's presence behind the bar and next to the cash register.

Wayne Chaplin, executive officer of Southern Wine & Spirits, says, "First Call is like a seatbelt for responsible drinkers." Currently sold through Longs Drug Stores and QuikStops in Northern California, First Call's name is purposely monikered as opposed to "Last Call."

In other words, the message is, "think BEFORE you drink."

PATTERSON'S BEVERAGE JOURNAL I FEBRUARY 2005 pg. 29