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On this episode, we have Samuel Taylor who is the Founder and CEO of Long Table.
Long Table is supporting regenerative agriculture with their pancake and waffle mixes made with regeneratively grown heirloom grains.
In this episode, we learn how Samuel went from actor to CPG Founder due to the combination of a pancake obsession and an acrobatic love interest. He details how the brand went from the farmers market to appearing on Shark Tank, and he shares why regenerative, stone-milled, heirloom grains are a game-changer in terms of flavor, nutrition, and environmental impact.
Lots of great stories in this one folks! Samuel didn’t land a deal on Shark Tank, but he scooped up the next best thing: “the best pancakes I’ve ever had” compliment from all the sharks and a million-dollar sales bump. A little over a year later, he’s looking to build out this brand both online and in retail while being a key purchaser supporting the regenerative grain shed of the upper Midwest.
Episode Highlights:
🥞 Next-gen pancakes from regeneratively-grown, heirloom grains
🎪 The acrobatic love interest that inspired the brand
🍿 Inventing popcorn flour pancakes
🦈 Going on Shark Tank with David Schwimmer
🤯 Doing $1M in sales the 6 weeks after Shark Tank
🌾 Building supply chains with the Artisan Grain Collaborative
🤤 Why stone-milled, heirloom grains are better
📈 Capital-efficient, omnichannel growth
🏅 Working towards Regenified™ certification
💰 Why regen brands need more investment
Links:
Long Table
Artisan Grain Collaborative
Long Table On Shark Tank
Seedhouse Design
Janie’s Mill
Meadowlark Organics
Regenified™
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On this episode, we have Ben Mand who is the CEO at Guayakí.
Guayakí is supporting regenerative agriculture with their various yerba mate-based products that are farmed in regenerative organic systems.
Yerba mate is a tree of the holly family that is native to the Atlantic Forest of South America, and the consumption of yerba mate is related to the unique relationship between Indigenous Peoples and their forest environments developed over millennia.
On this episode, we learn how Ben has satisfied his appetite for impact across a wide array of brands, and he shares more about Guayakí’s Market Drive Regeneration™ approach - detailing what that means for their farming partners, their business, and their consumers.
Episode Highlights:
🍃 Creating the yerba mate category
🧉 The traditional gourd circle practice of sharing mate
📈 Going from incremental to exponential impact in CPG
❤️ Guayakí’s Market Driven Regeneration™
🙏 Partnering with Indigenous communities
🤝 Farmer price premiums and infrastructure investment
👉 Making responsible business the new norm
🔥 Nailing the brilliant basics to tell the regen story
🔮 Future-proofing their product portfolio
🎯 How retailers should support regen brands
Links:
Guayakí
Yerba Mate 101
Market Driven Regeneration™
Harmless Harvest
#73 - Allie O'Brien @ Harmless Harvest
Regenerative Organic Certified®
World Bank
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On this episode, we have James Arthur Smith who is the Founder and CEO of Seatopia.
Seatopia is supporting regenerative aquaculture with its direct-to-consumer business building consumer demand for innovative aquaculture practices in hopes of scaling a truly regenerative seafood supply chain to feed the planet and restore our oceans.
In this episode, James breaks down the massive problems with current commodity seafood systems, how Seatopia is pioneering aquaculture 3.0, and why integrated multi-trophic aquaculture in the ocean is the same thing as regenerative agriculture on the land.
If you’re ready to take a deep dive (pun intended) into marine ecosystems and planet-positive commercial-scale food production then this episode is for you.
Episode Highlights:
🌊 James’ lifelong love affair with the ocean
🐠 Why wild caught isn’t necessarily better
👉 The parallels between agriculture and aquaculture
🐟 How Seatopia is championing aquaculture 3.0
🎣 Why we can’t feed the world with just wild-caught seafood
🔥 Sourcing from integrated multi-trophic seafood farms
🙅 Why regenerative doesn’t drive dollars
🔬 Using testing and transparency to boost product claims
😯 Fish isn’t actually supposed to smell ‘fishy’
📈 Leveraging R&D for more whole-fish utilization
Links:
Seatopia
California Coastal Commission
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
AltaSea
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On this episode, we have Jacob Muise who is a Co-Founder and the CEO of Maui Nui Venison.
Maui Nui Venison is supporting regenerative agriculture with its lineup of venison products made from wild-harvesting the invasive Axis deer population on the island of Maui.
Maui Nui Venison is the most nutrient-rich, and protein-dense red meat on the planet. Their stress-free, wild-harvesting methods ethically and responsibly manage the invasive Axis deer population of Maui in an effort to restore ecological balance to the island.
In this episode, we learn how Jake went from surfing the frosty waters off of Nova Scotia to the warm waters of Hawaii, the ecological imperative for managing the Axis deer population in Hawaii, and how Jake turned his obsession for Axis deer into the powerhouse brand that Maui Nui is today.
Now look, this is a little ‘outside of the box’ application of the term regenerative agriculture, and that may not fly for some of you purists out there. But guess what, we don’t really care. Because Maui Nui’s outcomes in terms of ecological benefit, human nutrition, and community benefit are unquestionably regenerative. And this is the first of two episodes in a row where we feature a brand with a nuanced take on regen somewhat outside of the norm.
And the word on the street is there are multiple top-secret reveals buried deep in this episode, so I think you’ll want to listen until the very end.
Episode Highlights:
🛶 How Axis Deer came to Hawaii
🏄 Jake’s journey from Nova Scotia to Maui
🦌 Why Axis Deer populations increase so rapidly
🍖 Turning a removal project into a meat business
🤯 Their unique, stress-free, night-time harvesting process
⚙️ Building USDA-approved processing for Axis Deer
😮 Ecological and economic imperatives for eating Axis Deer
🎯 Accidentally creating the ‘perfect meat triangle’
🔥 Why taste and quality Always. Comes. First.
💥 Their upcoming broth collab with Kettle & Fire
Links:
Maui Nui Venison
Hawaiʻiʻs Axis Deer - From invasive species to food source
Peter Attia
Tim Ferriss
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On this episode, we have Jessica Rubino and Douglas Brown from New Hope Network. Jessica serves as the Vice President of Content and Douglas serves as a Senior Retail Reporter & Analyst.
New Hope Network’s purpose is to cultivate a prosperous high-integrity CPG and retail ecosystem that creates health, joy, and justice for all people while regenerating the planet. New Hope Network is at the forefront of the natural, organic, and conscious products industry. With solutions for the complete supply chain, including manufacturers, retailers, distributors, service providers, ingredient suppliers, media, and investors, New Hope Network offers a robust portfolio of content, events, data, research, and consultative services.
Most of you listening probably know New Hope best for their seminal, annual event, Natural Products Expo West, which Kyle and I broke down on Episode 66.
In this episode, we are talking all things Newtopia Now, which is New Hope’s newest event designed for buyers to discover their next best-selling conscious products through facilitated connections, deepened relationships, and actionable and inspiring content.
The unique floorplan at Newtopia Now is built around 4 neighborhoods, with one being ‘Regenerate’ showcasing brands building more regenerative supply chains and overall business models.
We get a special sneak peek preview into the event overall, what retailers and regenerative brands can expect when attending Newtopia Now, and I ask both Jessica and Douglas for their thoughts on the hottest topics in the world of regenerative CPG. Because I know y’all are tired of just hearing Kyle and I talk about them…
This was a super fun episode, and I’m looking forward to seeing many of you at Newtopia Now in August.
Episode Highlights:
💫 Introducing, Newtopia Now!
🤝 New experiences for brands & buyers
🚶 Strolling the neighborhoods and shopping the market
🍝 Creating new and deeper connections at curated dine arounds
💭 Translating customer feedback into product development
⚡ The exciting early potential of the regen movement
🤔 How almost all regen claims are 3rd-party validated
🔮 What will regen CPG claims look like in the future?
💪 Is nutrient density the silver bullet for regen demand?
🎯 Embracing empathy, interconnectedness, and deeper connection
Links:
New Hope Network
Newtopia Now
The Natural List
Natural Products Expo West
Marketing regenerative: How three ROC brands sell agriculture
Black Cat Organic Farm
The Wolf’s Tailor
Colorado Grain Chain
Pastaficio
Moxie Bread Co
Mad Agriculture
Nutrient Density Alliance
Patagonia Provisions
SIMPLi
Alec’s Ice Cream
GoodSAM Foods
Lundberg Family Farms
Ancient Nutrition
Dr. Bronner’s
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On this episode, we have Ladd Wahlen who is a fourth-generation potato farmer and Co-Owner of Roots Potato Chips.
Roots Potato Chips is supporting regenerative agriculture with its lineup of single-origin, regeneratively farmed potato chip products.
In this episode, we learn how a college research project catapulted Ladd into his regenerative journey, how radically different his farming operation is from his conventional potato peers, and what its been like to go from farmer to also potato chip manufacturer and CPG brand operator.
Ladd’s farm is proving that you can build a regenerative model for commercial-scale potato production with the farm boasting 10 times the diversity of conventional farms, a 75% reduction in tillage versus conventional farms, and ground cover 90% of the year versus an average 33% of the year for conventional farms.
The Nature Conservancy has made the Wahlen’s farm a demonstration site to help other Idaho potato growers adopt regenerative practices and Ladd and his family hope that the Roots brand can become a commercial engine that incentivizes those same farmers to adopt these practices and while being paid for their efforts.
Episode Highlights:
🥔 Single-origin and regeneratively-farmed potato chips
🤩 Fourth-generation farmer + first-generation CPG founder
✍️ How a college research paper sparked Ladd’s regen curiosity
😯 The stark contrast between their farm and conventional farms
🥇 Being a demo farm for The Nature Conservancy
🚜 The impossibility of eliminating tillage in potato production
🤯 Starting the brand with 25 initial SKUs
👎 Why don’t retail buyers care more about regen?
🤝 Working with Soil & Climate Health Initiative Verification
🔥 Using the brand as a tool to convert potato farmers to regen
Links:
Roots Potato Chips
Idaho farm offers model of regenerative potato farming
The Nature Conservancy
Soil & Climate Initiative (SCI)
The End of Craving
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On this episode, we have Johnny Hunter who is a third-generation farmer and the President of Castor River Habitat & Farm.
Castor River Habitat & Farm is supporting regenerative agriculture with its lineup of rice products grown on their own farm and produced in their on-farm milling facility.
In this episode, we learn about the Hunter family’s deep agricultural roots, how Johnny was forced to go regen after ‘hitting rock bottom’ in 2012, and how the brand has grown since its inception in 2018.
Johnny is a masterful storyteller and this episode had a little bit of everything: thoughts on why we need to keep regenerative farmer-focused and rooted in reality, stories of collaborative commercialization with some of their retail and foodservice partners, plus what is ahead for Castor River including achieving Regenified certification and expanding sourcing beyond their home farm.
Episode Highlights:
🧑🌾 The Hunter family’s agricultural legacy
🤯 Committing to farming at 10 years old
💥The rock bottom year that sparked a regen transition
🎰 Why farming is like gambling and the house always wins
👏 Starting a brand to capture de-commoditized value
😂 Breaking into retail selling door-to-door at Hy-Vee
🤝 Their unique partnership with Just Salad
🦆 Why are they a habitat and a farm?
🔍 Onboarding with Regenified™
🍚 Sourcing from other farms to fuel future growth
Links:
Castor River Habitat & Farm
Ray Archuleta
The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
Hy-Vee
Just Salad
Regenified™
Gabe Brown
Missouri Delta Soil Health Alliance
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On this episode, we have Allie O’Brien who is the Vice President of Marketing at Harmless Harvest.
Harmless Harvest is supporting regenerative agriculture with its Regenerative Organic Certified® coconut supply chain which is now making its way into label claims across their product portfolio.
In this episode, we learn about Harmless’ unique supply chain in Thailand sourcing the nam hom coconut, their work implementing regenerative practices on the ground through their ReCAP program, how their regenerative organic sourcing is coming to life in product marketing today and in the future, plus the support their receiving from their parent company, Danone.
Get your notepads out folks because Allie was dropping knowledge on this episode. It was super interesting and informative to have our first VP of Marketing on the show and Allie went in-depth on all things related to creating meaningful marketing strategies for regenerative claims whether we’re talking certifications, packaging design, claims hierarchy, pricing architecture, in-store promotion, channel-specific execution and so much more.
Episode Highlights:
🩷 What makes their coconut water pink + unique?
🥥 Why they only use nom ham coconuts
🌴 Canal-based, smallholder coconut farms in Thailand
😮 Why there’s no organic premium for their partner farmers
🤝 Creating the ReCAP program to increase regen ag adoption
💰 How Danone is supporting their regen work
🥤 Bringing regenerative claims to their bottles
🎯 Why regen is about retention and not purchase
👍 How retailers and certifiers can boost consumer education
🤩 “It’s the right thing to do AND better for business”
Links:
Harmless Harvest
Harmless Harvest’s Regenerative Agriculture
Harmless Harvest's 2023 Impact Report
Harmless Harvest’s ReCAP Program
Danone
Danone Ecosystem Fund
Regenerative Organic Certified®B-Corp
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On this episode, we have Alison Czeczuga and Zach West from Gaia Herbs. Alison serves as the Director of Social Impact and Sustainability while Zach serves as the Farm Operations Manager.
Gaia Herbs is supporting regenerative agriculture with their 250-acre Regenerative Organic Certified® farm in North Carolina and their more than 200+ SKUs that contain various Regenerative Organic Certified® ingredients.
In this episode, we learn how this natural channel supplement leader has developed, implemented, and expanded their regenerative strategy plus how they’re betting that tying regen to product quality and consumer wellness will be a winning commercial strategy.
We talked farmworker housing, composting programs, herbal extraction, product label claim challenges and so much more in this one. Tons of insights and of course some good laughs along the way.
Episode Highlights:
🤯 Integrating regen into their 200+ SKUs
🚜 Their 250-acre Regenerative Organic Certified® farm
🧪 How Gaia’s herbs & botanicals become supplements
🧑🌾 Their legendary H-2A visa farmworker crew
🏠 Gaia’s new state-of-the-art farmworker housing
♻️ Upcycling their ‘herbal marc’ into compost
🤔 The challenges of producing fully ROC™ SKUs
🤝 Working with other brands on the Sustainable Herbs Program
🧘 Why tying regen to wellness is the winning strategy
🗣️ How they’re approaching messaging and label claims
Links:
Gaia Herbs
Regenerative Organic Certified®
Rodale Institute
H-2A Temporary Agricultural Workers
Meet Your Herbs
SXSW
Regenerative Healthcare Conference
B-Corp
Sustainable Herbs Program
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On this episode, we have Dana Ehrlich who is the Founder of Verde Farms.
Verde Farms is supporting regenerative agriculture with its lineup of 100% USDA organic and grass-fed and grass-finished beef products. They have recently begun working with Land to Market to transition their supply to fully regenerative and have begun certifying certain SKUs.
In this episode, Dana shares the health and tourism journey that led him to South American grass-fed beef plus how they’ve grown the brand over time very unconventionally through private label business and branded sales to conventional and mass retailers.
Verde Farms is growing 50% year over year with category-leading velocities and recently took on its first major investment while also transitioning to self-manufacturing.
Tons of fun topics in this one on all things CPG plus Dana shares the behind-the-scenes look at getting their farmers to adopt more regenerative practices. Here’s a hint - the incentives have to do with boosting on-farm profitability.
Episode Highlights:
🔌 Going from semiconductors to CPG
🌍 How health and travel inspired the brand
🏗️ Building supply chain before brand
🤯 Landing their big break with Wegman’s & Costco
🥩 Moving all of their volume over to branded sales
🧑🌾 Transitioning their supply chain to regenerative
🤠 Why quicker time to slaughter weight is key for rancher adoption
🎯 Consumer first > Customer first
😯 Pivoting to self-manufacturing right before COVID
🚀 Partnering with Manna Tree to fuel future growth
Links:
Verde Farms
The End of Craving
Land to Market™
Pasturebird
Manna Tree Partners
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On this episode, we have Briana Buckles who is the Global Senior Sustainability Manager at Yogi Tea.
Yogi Tea is supporting regenerative agriculture with 9 global projects dedicated to increasing regenerative agriculture adoption in the supply chain for their Yogi Tea and Choice Organics brands.
Yogi has been around for more than 50 years, produces over 70 SKUs, and sources more than 150 ingredients from over 40 different countries. Their products are stocked across thousands of retailers in North America and Europe.
In this episode, Briana shares her 5-year journey trailblazing new regenerative agriculture initiatives at Yogi and how they are increasing regen ag adoption through a three-pronged supply chain visibility, intervention, and expansion approach. Plus, she shares the details on one of their projects in Rwanda with details on how they select farmers to support, partner with local technical assistance providers, and fund the work itself.
Episode Highlights:
💫 The original Yogi recipe
🤯 Sourcing 150+ ingredients from 40+ countries
✍️ Building a Sustainability program from scratch
🌍 Their 9 global regen ag projects to date
🔍 Why it all starts with supply chain transparency
🧑🌾 Their work with tea farmers in Rwanda
💲 How they think about the ROI of regenerative
😧 The challenges of certifying their complex supply chains
⚙️ How Yogi designs, implements, and funds their regen projects
🤩 Why every supply chain link needs to benefit from regen
Links:
Yogi Tea
Yogi Tea’s Annual Sustainability Report
Dr. Bronner’s
Fair Trade Certified
For for Life
FairWild Foundation
Rainforest Alliance
Regenerative Organic Certified
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On this episode, we have Matthieu Kohlmeyer who is the Founder and CEO of La Tourangelle.
La Tourangelle is a French-American family-owned & operated culinary oil maker. They’re currently supporting regenerative agriculture with their Regenerative Organic Certified® Sunflower Oil and their soon-to-be-released regenerative olive oil.
In this episode, Matthieu shares La Tourangelle’s 20-year history as a CPG brand and 150-year history producing artisan oils, he shares what makes their production and packaging unique from other players in the category, and he also details their future plans to support regenerative agriculture.
Matthieu is a wealth of knowledge in all topics oil-related and he was nice enough to weigh in on the current seed oil debates, existing issues with counterfeit oils in the market, and why scaling regen in oil products might look a lot different than other categories.
Episode Highlights:
🗝️ Artisan oil-making dating back to 1867
🇺🇲 How Matthieu brought the brand to the US
🥫 Why tin packaging is better for the oil and the earth
✨ What makes La Tourangelle’s oils unique?
😦 Current fraud issues in culinary oil manufacturing
♻️ The added upcycling complexity in oil supply chains
🧑🌾 Farmer feedback on regenerative & organic
❤️ Why emotion > education for selling food
👀 What’s the truth about seed oils?
👏 Educating kids in their community garden
Links:
La Tourangelle
Regenerative Organic Certified® Sunflower Oil
Regenerative Organic Certified®
The Codex Alimentarius
The Dorito Effect
Regenified™
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On this episode, we have Jared Simon who is the CEO at Manitoba Harvest.
Manitoba Harvest is North America’s leading hemp food brand, and they’re supporting regenerative agriculture with their recently released Regenerative Organic Certified® Hemp Hearts.
In this episode, Jared breaks down how hemp is grown and some of the agronomic differences between conventional, organic, and regenerative organic cultivation. Jared also shares how Manitoba Harvest is developing their commercial strategy around regenerative and what this means for both their branded business and B2B ingredient business.
Jared was super engaging and insightful, and we really enjoyed gleaning his insights on how a legacy, scaled brand like Manitoba Harvest starts prioritizing regen, opportunities he sees in the broader regen movement, and how their work is influencing the larger, publicly traded parent company they sit within.
Episode Highlights:
💥 Their 25-year history pioneering hemp foods
🌱 The differences between hemp and cannabis
💪 Why hemp is a nutrition powerhouse
🔬 Using AI-Powered nutrition research to drive innovation
👉 Investing upstream to add value
💡 How they think about their regen strategy
📈 Scaling ROC™ hemp with B2B & B2C
👀 The future of regenerative marketing claims
🔥 Educating Tilray’s other brands on regen
🎯 Getting to critical mass with retailers and consumers
Links:
Manitoba Harvest
Hemp Oil Canada / Fresh Hemp Foods
Tilray Brands
Brightseed
Regenerative Organic Certified®
Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC™) Hemp Hearts
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On this episode, we have Blaine & Brooks Hitzfield from Seven Sons. Blaine is the CEO while Brooks serves as the COO.
Seven Sons is supporting regenerative agriculture with its direct-to-consumer meat business that sells regeneratively raised beef, bison, pork, and chicken as well as seafood and other snack items.
Seven Sons sources their regeneratively raised meat products from their own 550-acre farm in Roanoke, Indiana, and from other regenerative farmers around the Midwest.
In this episode, we hear how the family farm transitioned from a conventional hog operation to a multi-species pastured livestock operation, plus Blaine and Brooks take us behind the scenes on all things direct-to-consumer e-commerce and how they’ve grown their business to 75,000 orders a year.
This was an absolute masterclass in operating a DTC brand, connecting with consumers authentically, and making regenerative products accessible through convenience.
Episode Highlights:
👏 Growing to 14,000 customers & 75,000 orders a year
😦 Their family journey from conventional pork to regen beef
⁉️ Are there actually seven sons in this business!?
🤯 Scaling to 53 pickup locations then shutting them down
👉 Why education isn’t a winning marketing strategy
😵💫 How to avoid “death by diversity” as a farmer
🍗 The challenges of pastured poultry economics
🎯 Winning with Quality, Authenticity, & Convenience
💲 Their winning DTC playbook (acquisition, retention, assortment)
💡 Being your own customer to improve your business
Links:
Seven Sons
Graze Cart
Pasturebird
Byron Center Meats
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On this episode, Kyle and I are flying solo to bring you some updates and thoughts coming out of Expo West.
For those who don’t know, Expo West is “the annual Super Bowl of CPG” with over 67,000 attendees this year and a gathering of anyone and everyone working on CPG brands supporting regenerative agriculture - from certifiers, to investors, to the brands themselves, and many more.
Kyle and I spend some time covering our personal highlights, favorite new products, plus the state of the union for CPG capital investment and regenerative marketing claims.
Episode Highlights:
🖤 The power of human connection
🤤 Our favorite new items from regen brands
🔊 Regenerative dominates Climate Day content
⭐ Regen brands take home 5 NEXTYs
😍 Big sourcing commitments and funding rounds announced
💯 Today’s major operating hurdles for regenerative brands
💰 Current investment landscape and implications for regen brands
👀 California defining “regenerative agriculture”
👉 The fallacy of positive competition in the regenerative movement
🙏 Using hope, empathy, and vulnerability to create harmony in regen CPG
Links:
ReGen Brands
Expo West
Force of Nature Meats
Big Picture Foods
Thousand Hills Lifetime Grazed
Sol Simple
Artisan Tropic
Alec’s Ice Cream
Patagonia Provisions
Climate Day
Regenerative Organic Certified®
Regenified™
A Greener World
Soil & Climate Initiative
The Stockdale Paradox
One Step Closer
TIG Brands
Steward
Lil Bucks
California Defining Regenerative Agriculture
Silk
White Oak Patures
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On this episode, we have Hovik Azadkhanian who is the Founder and CEO of Heirloom Coffee Roasters.
Heirloom Coffee Roasters is supporting regenerative agriculture with its 6-SKU lineup of Regenerative Organic Certified® whole bean coffees.
In this episode, we learn how Hovik is carrying on his family’s legacy as a third-generation coffee roaster, how the brand has grown from one Bay Area retail location to going nationwide with Sprouts in less than a year, and why regenerative agriculture is the key to saving coffee.
One thing is clear from this episode - when people tell Hovik he can’t do something, he is going to do whatever he can to prove them wrong. This spirit underpins Heirloom’s audacious goals which range from selling 100% regenerative organic certified coffee, to pioneering emissions-free electric roasting, and much more.
Episode Highlights:
🙏 Three generations of family coffee roasting
💡 Going from B2B coffee roaster to CPG brand
👉 “The fight to save coffee”
🥇 Why Regenerative Organic Certified® matters
🧑🌾 Creating better futures for coffee farmers
💫 Building “premium” into the brand and packaging
⚡ Using Bellwether’s electric coffee roasters
😮 From 1 store to nationwide in 9 months
🎫 Using KeHe’s “Golden Ticket” to land Sprouts
🔊 “We have to make it feel good and taste good to do good”
Links:
Heirloom Coffee Roasters
The World's First Regenerative Coffee Research Lab
Heirloom & Bellwether’s Electric Coffee Roasters
Sustainable Harvest Relationship Coffee
Regenerative Organic Certified®
Good Food Awards
KeHe Golden Ticket Announcement
Green Spoon Sales
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On this episode, we have Jody and Crystal Manuel and Brei Larmoyeux, who are the Co-Founders of Gruff.
Gruff is supporting regenerative agriculture with its Regenerative Organic Certified® Ancient Grain Grits. Gruff’s grits are made from organic cracked Farro and are table-ready in just 12 minutes.
In this episode, we learn about Jody and Crystal's journey transitioning their farm from conventional to organic plus all the spectacular nuance of how they’re currently weaving annuals, perennials, and animals to create a winning regenerative organic system.
Crystal shares the story of how feeding their many children a nutritious breakfast inspired the creation of Gruff, and we have Brei and Kyle sidebarring on how we can bring these nutritious grits to bodybuilding bros and other performance athletes across the world.
Gruff is a vertically integrated, farmer-led, regenerative brand with a great story and a ton of growth potential - we enjoyed diving into it all with Jody, Crystal, and Brei.
Episode Highlights:
🤤 Ancient Grain Grits made with cracked Farro
💡 Crystal’s health journey that changed their farm forever
👏 A beautiful integration of annuals, perennials, & animals
🥣 The bulk kids’ breakfasts that inspired their hero SKU
🤝 Why crop diversity requires market diversity
🤩 Beefing up on-farm impact reporting with Mad Ag
💪 Growing for Purely Elizabeth & Patagonia Provisions
🎯 Making weeds an indicator instead of an enemy
🔥 The foodservice opportunity for farro grits
💥 1 Mom at a time, 1 family at a time, 1 eater at a time
Links:
Gruff
Timeless Natural Food
Montana Organic Association
Montana Milling
Moz
Pluck Seasonings
Save The Bros
Mad Agricutlure
Purely Elizabeth
Weeds and Why They Grow
The Dorito Effect
EQIP
Nofence
Vence
Culinary Institute of America
School of Lunch
Three Billy Goats Gruff
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On this episode, we have Nick Wiseman who is a Co-Founder and the CEO of Little Sesame.
Little Sesame is supporting regenerative agriculture with its lineup of organic and regeneratively farmed hummus products that includes a flavor lineup of Smooth Classic, Jammy Tomato, Caramelized Onion, Herby Jalapeño, and the newly launched Preserved Lemon.
In this episode, we learn how Nick and his team pivoted Little Sesame from restaurant to retail during COVID, the “freshly-spun” difference that makes their hummus unique, and Little Sesame’s explosive growth strategy and results.
We covered a ton with Nick, and this episode is super rich with insights into everything from direct-trade farm relationships, to driving product velocities at retail, to building self-manufacturing as a competitive advantage.
Episode Highlights:
😍 “Freshly spun” hummus made with regen chickpeas
😯 Pivoting from restaurant to CPG during COVID
🍋 Their new lemon preserve hummus
🔥 The ROI in self-manufacturing
🤝 Partnering with their chickpea farmer, Casey Bailey
🤯 Farmer Casey’s “10-year regen experiment” and 17-crop rotation
🎯 Obsessing over velocities to drive growth
💰 Why brands need diverse capital stacks and new financial models
🥳 Using seasonal SKUs and brand collabs to grow
🚀 Planning 1,000+ demos for 2024
Links:
Little Sesame
The Hummus Club
Timeless Seeds Inc.
Athletic Brewing Article
Glyphosate In Hummus (EWG)
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On this episode, we have Joséphine Bournonville who is a Co-Founder and the COO at Omie.
Omie is supporting regenerative agriculture with its lineup of more than 200 French pantry staples that are sourced from regenerative farmers.
Omie’s agri-engineers work with over 40 manufacturers and 200 farmers to bring this vast assortment to life. Farming operations are audited with a Regenerative Index score then Omie works with the operators to create a roadmap for improvement and further regenerative practice adoption. All of their products are given a Planet Score, with more than 90% of the portfolio scoring an A or B and nothing being offered that isn’t at least a grade C.
In this episode, we learn about Joséphine’s journey from clean-tech investing to agribusiness M&A to a regenerative food startup, and we hear how Omie has scaled from a direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform into France’s leading regenerative brand.
Joséphine was an amazing endcap to our first international series! Omie is doing incredible work, and it was inspiring and informative to hear about their efforts and compare them to all the other brands we’ve had on the show.
Episode Highlights:
🇫🇷 France’s leading regen brand with over 200 products!
🚜 Joséphine’s journey from agribusiness to regen CPG
🤯 Working with 46 manufacturers and 260 farmers
🥣 Their new kids' cereal lineup featuring millet
🔥 The power of a strong DTC customer community
💯 Using radical transparency to build trust
📝 Roadmapping improvements with “the regeneration index”
👏 Dedicating 1% of sales to regen practice adoption
🔊 The recent farmer protests in France & Europe
🗯️ Engaging in advocacy + policy to drive change
Links:
Omie
Groupe Roullier
Decathlon
The Regeneration Index
Planet-score®
Farmer Protests
Thierry Marx
2050
Lively Earth
RFSI Europe 2024
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On this episode, we have Jay Albany who is the CEO of Wide Open Agriculture.
Wide Open Agriculture is Australia's leading regenerative food and agriculture company and operates 3 distinct enterprises. Under the name Dirty Clean Food, they operate a direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform that sells 300 different regenerative and artisan products directly to wholesale customers and individual consumers. They’ve also launched a line of branded, oat-milk-based CPG products under the Dirty Clean Food name as well.
WOA is focusing its future growth on its third enterprise - producing and supplying Buntine Protein® created by processing Australian sweet lupin. Sweet lupin serves as a rotational crop in regenerative systems of the Western Australian wheat belt but currently does not have a large, profitable market as a human food ingredient.
Wide Open Ag’s business is a beautiful blend of targeting both local and global impact while operating under their “4 returns” mandate which includes financial, natural, social and inspirational returns.
Episode Highlights:
👏 Their mission to regenerate the Western Australian wheat belt
🔮 How Jay met the Founders and joined the team
🥩 Bringing better food to Western Australia
🍔 Landing a burger joint to catalyze their brand
📈 Growing Dirty Clean Food to $12M
🥛 Launching the world’s 1st regenerative oat milk
💰 Sweetening the economics of sweet lupins
💥 Introducing Buntine Protein® - a better plant-based protein
🔥 Why Buntine Protein® is better
👍 Tackling local and global impact at once to scale regen
Links:
Wide Open Agriculture
Dirty Clean Food
Short Order Burger
Oatly
Minor Figures
Buntine Protein®
Curtin University
Wide Open Agriculture acquires Prolupin
Saputo Dairy Australia
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