TLC’s Elderberry and More Keep sniffles and sneezes at bay
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PRESORTED STANDARD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID NEWNAN, GA PERMIT # 1
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POSTAL CUSTOMER
MarkeTplace
DECEMBER 18, 2019
COMPLIMENTARY EDITION
Eat, Shop, Save.
The Newnan Times-Herald | NTHmedia
Established 2019
This flu season, give your family a little TLC SPONSORED CONTENT
TLC’s Elderberry and More offers supplements to keep sniffles and sneezes at bay
BY JILL WHITLEY jill@newnan.com
A
s flu activity progresses rapidly through Georgia, one Coweta mom is on a mission to spread a
little TLC. Once a week, Valerie Gardner makes the drive to a sterile, USDA-inspected co-op kitchen in Warm Springs, where she’s met by family, friends, and a truckload of fresh, organic elderberries. Gardner and her team add four additional ingredients-- locally-sourced honey, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves-to create TLC’s Elderberry Syrup. TLC’s Elderberry and More isn’t just named for the loving care it aims to provide. Gardner named the business after her late daughter, Tori LauPHOTO COURTESY OF VALERIE GARDNER ren Clanton. TLC's Elderberry and More owner Valerie Gardner poses with the company's “It’s Tor Bear’s kitchen those days,”
namesake, her daughter, Tori, and her son Stephen in 2015.
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Gardner says. “The rule is, if you’re gonna help, you have to share a story about her.” Gardner was motivated to begin making her syrup when, as co-owner of a market in Fayette county, customers began asking about the berries to prevent and relieve their cold and flu symptoms. Curious about the number of inquiries, she conducted her own research, then mixed up the initial batch of syrup when she couldn’t find a brand without chemical preservatives to treat her own symptoms: “Elderberry syrup and gummies have been available at Walmart and Amazon for ages,” she said, “But you don’t know where they came from, and they’re full of added ingredients I don’t want to put in my body.” She continues: “I certainly wouldn’t want to give them to my kid if there were a local, all-natural alternative. I
thought maybe other people would feel the same way.” Gardner notes that most commercially available elderberry products have to contain preservatives to keep them shelf-stable. Many of them also use high-fructose corn syrup to mask the natural tartness of the elderberries. Although her products have to be refrigerated, Gardner says, the raw, local honey she uses as a preservative and sweetener is far healthier and just as effective. A 16-ounce bottle of liquid will keep for 90 days, and a package of gummies will keep for 30 days. “I do add more honey to the gummies,” Gardner confesses. “To make them just a bit sweeter for kids.” She notes that, because of the cinnamon and cloves, many customers tell her the syrup “tastes like Christmas.”
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TLC ELDERBERRY • 2