High demand in China for Canadian bottled air

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Leeanna McLean

Digital Reporter

Friday, May 13, 2016, 1:52 PM - What started off as a joke on eBay has turned into a product of high demand for residents living in the smog-choked cities of China.

Vitality Air, based out of Edmonton, Alberta, has found a way to bottle the crisp freshness of mountain air from a few of Canada's most famous national parks including, Banff and Lake Louise.

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Business partners Moses Lam and Troy Paquette founded the company in November 2014 after successfully selling baggies of air online.

"Our Chinese website keeps crashing. We are getting orders from all over the country, not just the wealthier cities," Harrison Wang, China representative for Vitality Air told Mashable. "When the air is bad, we see spikes in sales. The smog is definitely our best advertising."

Since October of 2015, the company has sold 12,000 bottles in China. However, the air comes with a hefty price tag.

Vitality Air charges between $20 and $30 CAD, depending on the bottle. Bottles come in three and eight-litre sizes that lasts between 150 and 200 inhalations.

The company is now offering their product to residents in Delhi, India, where the capital territory was ranked the worst place for air pollution on Earth.

"We suck up all the air in Banff, about 150,000 litres every time and it takes about 40 hours. The pollution in India is more than in China, we expect it to be our largest market," Vitality Air's founder Moses Lam told Delhi-based newspaper Hindustan Times.

One Vitality Air customer Tang Xian of Hebei, China can't get enough of the product.

"I don't need to go abroad to enjoy [fresh air] when I can buy a few bottles," Xian told Mashable. "I don't know if there are any long-term benefits, but for the short-term it can slake my thirst."

SOURCE: Mashable | Hindustan Times