It was a matter of necessity. That's all. Arlene Turner, Forty-something and a mom who loves to cook, knew that the mobility in her hands wasn't going to last forever. Multiple sclerosis had been diagnosed and was already beginning to cause a numbness in her finger. She wasn't about to quit baking and cooking, so she simply started to prepare things in the morning when her hands were at their best.

Among the early morning preparations was zest, which is the grated rind of oranges, lemons and limes. Grating the rind had always been a painful process, one that has scraped knuckles around the world - including Arlene's! It was just that much more aggravating with hands that didn't work well.

Arlene's ZESTO journey began in the spring of 1994. She was bound and determined to find a citrus product in a more convenient form. MS was keeping her out of the mainstream workforce so there was plenty of time to investigate the zest market. She haunted the grocery stores, bought cooking magazines, watched cooking shows on TV, to find out what they had to replace fresh zest. The answer to Arlene's mission: Nothing!

Curiosity carried her back to the kitchen where she began experimenting with drying zest. One thing led to another, and with Arlene's personal zest a motivating factor, her kitchen adventure has evolved into a manufacturing company that connected her with citrus industry representatives across the continent. It also became a personal achievement. She and her two sisters have been stricken with MS, a disease that affects the nervous system and can eventually cause severe disabilities including paralysis.

"I know I'm doing this for my own personal satisfaction", says the feisty cook. "I am going to be productive despite the MS".

Arlene has lived and breathed Zesto for over two years. She says she has "Zesto radar" which means she can spot a potential recipe for Zesto at a thousand paces! Cookbooks and recipe magazines are prolific at the Turner household, tucked away in tiny and huge boxes all over the place. She commissioned a local graphic artist to design her logo and now sports it proudly on her Jeep. Samples of Zesto have been dropped on the counters of her hairdresser, her banker, business acquaintances, and local Chamber of Commerce staff. She delights in the feedback, which has been all positive. Most of them ask for more and there are now acquaintances all over North America waiting anxiously to purchase Zesto!

Recently, she wore a big Zesto head band (as shown) into a fancy Kelowna restaurant where her son just happened to be the manager. Promotion is not a problem for this determined entrepreneur. "When it quits being fun, it won't be worth it any more," she declares enthusiastically.

Keith Funk, who designed the bright and bold Zesto design, remembers his first impression of Arlene. "She is brilliant, relentless and not easily intimidated, "Keith says. "She is also a fundamentally positive person."

Zesto will be a new product on the Canadian and U.S. market this year. Arlene is in the midst of attending food trade shows, developing the path to optimum exposure for Zesto, and meeting fans wherever she turns.

"I'm continually taken aback by all the wonderful people who are willing and eager to help me. I've always been a believer in the goodness of people but this is an amazing experience," she claims. And Arlene, being an extraordinarily good person herself, is committed to supporting the Multiple Sclerosis cause with part of the profits from Zesto.

Through the disease and then the dedication to Zesto, Arlene's mainstay and head cheerleader has been husband Dr. Frank Turner, who counsels her, surfs the Internet to research the nutritional qualities of citrus peel, edits the written material on Zesto, and gets the role of the Number One taste tester!

Frank's support, plus her unflagging energy and determination, have wrapped up a new product within an incredibly short space of time. Arlene is now the president and sole owner of a company that owns two well-positioned food products. Lemon and Orange Zesto are nutritious, cost-efficient and effective, and both are registered trademarks. The company slogan "No More Grated Knuckles" is also registered.

It is little wonder that Zesto, which has the capacity to heighten flavor and nutritional value, has a very special place on the counter at the Turner household, where it has already achieved amazing things.

As Arlene likes to Quip, "In the face of adversity, grate things happen!"

©1998 by Holly McNeil. All rights reserved.