The Rosita® Family Story

Rosita® is a family company born in the remote areas of northern Norway, with husband-wife duo Bengt Svensson and Kari Hanne Nyland at the visionary helm. Lars Åkerøy is our head fisherman. Rose Åkerøy and Rita Edvardsen are sisters who keep our ship running smoothly, hence the lovely name Rosita! Dr. Pieris Nicola, Ph.D. and wife Dr. Shanshan Wang are our in-house research scientists. And Billy Spanier steers our social media.

Our family extends into the United States, too.

We are Daniel Corrigan, Karen Myers and Archie Welch — pioneers of the real food movement and supplement makers. And we helped bring Rosita® Extra Virgin Cod Liver Oil to market. In the early aughts, we were healing our health issues with food as medicine and were active in the Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) community. We created a custom, hypoallergenic probiotic because there was nothing on the market, and parents of children on the spectrum were asking for a product that didn’t cause negative reactions to sensitive digestive systems. In turn, we wanted to offer a pure, unprocessed cod liver oil to complement the probiotic.

After extensively researching the history and various production methods, we looked tirelessly for cod liver oil producers who could offer an unadulterated version. We realized we would have to make the cod liver oil ourselves, because the other manufacturers were processing theirs with high heat that destroyed the naturally occurring nutrients and fragile omega fatty acids — and fortifying with synthetic vitamins.

Meanwhile, we discovered Rosita Real Foods® in Norway and its unparalleled fresh, raw Ratfish Liver Oil. We reached out to the Rosita® family to see if we could work together to bring a cod liver oil supplement akin to their Ratfish Liver Oil to American and European families. Dan flew out to Norway in 2013 to meet the Rosita® folks and go fishing with them — and they agreed to make the cod liver oil with the same method and standards.

Together, we bring you our ancient tradition of fresh fish oils.

The Rosita® family comes from a long line of Norwegian fishermen who originally went to sea in rowing boats, with experience stretching back to whaling days. We’ve spent decades fishing in the wild Norwegian waters and intend to maintain and preserve our forefathers' methods.

We use small, traditional open boats with shelter decks to sustainably catch our fish.

Many companies that produce fish liver oils import their fish livers (they may also receive livers from a variety of fish species). Yet there’s no substitute for going out and harvesting the fish. This way, we have full control over every stage of liver oil production, from line-catching the wild codfish, to choosing the most beautiful livers, capturing the oil and bottling.

We prepare our cod liver oil with raw, fresh livers of the codfish (Gadus morhua), the same species the Nordic Vikings used. Only perfectly healthy livers of a specific weight, appearance and color are selected; a skill required by seasoned fishermen.

Here’s more information about our Virgin Cod Liver Oil and Ratfish Liver Oil.

The old-time Norwegian fishermen in the Rosita® family are incredibly knowledgeable about the creation and grading of cod liver oil. Our parents, grandparents and great grandparents all knew about the rare cod liver oil consumed in Norse culture for its therapeutic and strengthening properties.*

This cod liver oil was created via a precious extraction method, which allows the fresh livers to naturally release the raw, golden oil they contain. And without the need for heat, steam, chemical treatment, rendering or pressure.

We used this method to produce small quantities of genuine ratfish (Chimaera monstrosa) liver oil, for friends and personal use. The Nordic Vikings had termed ratfish liver oil “gold of the ocean” because of its rich nutrients and unique properties.*

We were also producing small amounts of cod liver oil, a natural supplement that we consumed during the frigid winters in Norway. Especially during the period of polar nights that the Norwegians call Mørketid, where the sun never rises throughout the day. We enjoyed dipping wild cod (that we harvested, froze and dried in the frosty air) into our fresh cod liver oil, just like our ancestors did.

The verbal buzz about the historic and nutritious qualities of our oils passed from one neighbor to another, and demand grew. So we decided to use our unparalleled extraction process to handcraft ratfish liver oil for the general public.

Photos by Loreto Di Cesare