Whole Foods Market Recognizes Lotus Foods for Environmental Stewardship through Innovative More Crop Per DropTM Rice Growing Practices
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Richmond, CA (April 25, 2018) – Lotus Foods, the leading heirloom rice and ramen company focusing on sustainable rice production, was recognized by Whole Foods Market at their sixth annual Supplier of the Year Awards dinner April 18, with an award for Environmental Stewardship. Each year Whole Foods Market spotlights producers that exemplify the company’s mission and core values through their commitment to quality, environmental stewardship, ethical sourcing, and culinary innovation. The national and local suppliers are selected from thousands of driven, passionate, mission-based brands at Whole Foods Market. This year a total of only 27 perishable and non-perishable suppliers were recognized with just two highlighted for their environmental stewardship.
According to Dan Epley, who leads WFM Global Grocery Team, Lotus Foods was recognized for implementing the ‘More Crop Per Drop™' system, allowing farmers to dramatically increase yields while decreasing water consumption, seed use and methane gas emissions. “Lotus Foods’ B Corp certification is a testament to their commitment to serve as a force for good, specifically through small-scale farmer partnerships and environmental responsibility,” he added.
More Crop Per Drop™ is how Lotus Foods refers to the System of Rice Intensification, an agroecological method that enables lowest-income farmers to produce higher yields of rice with 20-50% less water, 80-90% fewer seeds, no agrochemicals, 40% less methane emissions, and less work and health hazards for women. In a radical departure from conventional rice production, paddies are no longer kept continuously flooded saving enormous amounts of water and reducing methane emissions. Flooded rice paddies are a major source of global warming, producing up to 20% of manmade methane, which is 30X more warming than CO2 over a 100-year period. Paul Hawken’s recent book, Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever to Reverse Global Warming, counts SRI as one of 100 solutions that can reverse global warming if scaled.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled and pleased,” Lotus Foods Co-Founder/Co-CEO Caryl Levine said in response to the award. “SRI is truly transformative. It’s not just about mitigating global warming but helping farm families adapt right now to increasing uncertainties in weather and diminishing availability of water. Whole Foods has been a very important partner in our journey to create market channels for these pioneering farmers and helping us share our message with US consumers and we are so grateful.”
Since 1995, Lotus Foods has partnered in direct and fair trade with small family farmers around the world who are growing rice more sustainably while preserving rice biodiversity. Lotus Foods’ product line includes pigmented heirloom and organic rice varieties such as Forbidden® Rice, Jade Pearl RiceTM, Red Rice, Madagascar Pink RiceTM & Volcano RiceTMas well as Rice Ramen, Arare Rice Crackers and now Basmati and Jasmine Rice along with Pad Thai Rice Noodles and Rice Delights. Products are available at major retailers throughout the US and Canada including Whole Foods, Costco, Wegmans, Target and Amazon.com. As a B-Corporation, Lotus Foods is committed to Changing How Rice is Grown Around the World by focusing on rice grown through the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), what we call More Crop Per DropTM, that minimizes water usage, empowers women, financially rewards farmers and reduces climate impact. Visit www.lotusfoods.com to learn more.
Contact
Liz Kaplan, Lotus Foods, tel 510.725.2913, liz@lotusfoods.com
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CBD Products Next Big Thing at Expo West
For Presence Marketing Newsletter, April 2018
By Steven Hoffman
Despite an uncertain regulatory environment, products containing agricultural hemp extract rich in CBD, or cannabinoid compounds, were featured throughout the exhibit halls at Natural Products Expo West, appearing in botanical supplements, body care products, in foods – and in new product offerings from leading national brands.
In addition, if you came late to Expo West’s first-ever CBD Summit, a half-day workshop held the day before the exhibit halls opened, you were out of luck. Attendance was standing room only and people were listening from outside the door.
“This is the hottest product in the history of natural products, and there’s an opportunity for retailers to really sink their teeth into this whole hemp category,” Josh Hendrix, director of business development for Las Vegas-based extract company CV Sciences Inc., told the approximately 500 people attending the CBD summit.
Josh’s statement may be an exaggeration, however, industrial hemp sales totaled $688 million in 2016, according to Hemp Business Journal, and are projected to grow to nearly $2 billion in sales by 2020, led by hemp food, textiles, body care, and CBD products. Independent natural products retailers are leading that growth, with sales of CBD consumer products up over 1,700%, according to 2017 SPINS data. Sales of CBD products in the U.S. are projected to reach $646 million by 2022, according to Hemp Business Journal, with 28 percent of those sales occurring in the natural and specialty channel.
In addition, nearly three-dozen states have passed legislation in recent years allowing research or commercial production of agricultural or industrial hemp, the non-psychoactive cousin to marijuana.
Photo by Compass Natural
Photo by Compass Natural
Bodycare brand leaders ShiKai and Andalou Naturals were among exhibitors introducing CBD products at Natural Products Expo West.
“It’s like anything that’s innovative and on-trend and disruptive — it tends to start in health foods stores, whether it’s pomegranate or plant protein or almond milk or CBD,” Todd Runestad, Ingredients and Supplements Editor for New Hope Network, told Alicia Wallace of the Cannabist in response to the sold-out CBD Summit at Expo West.
Complicating sales of hemp-derived CBD products is the fact that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has taken the position that CBD is illegal. The DEA created confusion in December 2016 when it filed a rule notice for the creation of a Controlled Substances Code Number for “marihuana extracts.” As the rule was finalized a month later, it met opposition by the industrial hemp industry, which filed a petition in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The hemp industry’s lawyers, citing a 2004 circuit court ruling on agricultural hemp and the 2014 Farm Bill, have asserted that the DEA made a scheduling action against hemp and hemp-derived extracts and created a rule that has resulted in illegal seizures of hemp products. The court is not expected to rule on that case until later this year, the Cannabist reported.
The DEA rule temporarily shook the confidence of retailers, manufacturers and Expo West organizers in CBD products, said Runestad. However, after the Hemp Industries Association’s case against the DEA in 2017 and last year’s decision by natural and specialty retailer Lucky’s Market to carry lines of hemp extracts nationwide, Expo West trade show officials allowed hemp-derived extracts to be exhibited at the show, he told the Cannabist.
“That opened the floodgates,” Runestad said.
Among two dozen hemp extract companies exhibiting at Expo West, including CV Sciences and Ananda Hemp, other hemp/CBD product highlights included the introduction of Weller Snacks, a Boulder-based startup launching the first snack food line infused with CBD-rich hemp extract; Colorado Hemp Honey, a CBD rich honey; ShiKai CBD creams and lotions; and a new line of Hemp Stem Cell personal care products from Andalou Naturals.
When the smoke clears in the regulatory arena, given the rapidly growing popularity of CBD products, we should soon see the introduction of CBD product offerings from other major dietary supplement and wellness brands, as well.
Learn about the world of agricultural and industrial hemp at the 5th Annual NoCo Hemp Expo, April 6-7, 2018, in Loveland, CO. Colorado has become an epicenter of the hemp industry, and NoCo5 will draw 5,000 – 7,000 visitors and feature nearly 150 exhibits, making it the world’s largest trade show dedicated to industrial hemp. Learn more: www.nocohempexpo.com.
Local Economies Benefit in Organic Agriculture “Hotspots”
While supporting local and organically grown has been on the rise, researchers at Penn State University set out to assess whether or not organic agriculture has a positive impact on local economies across the U.S.
Their findings, “Economic Impact of Organic Agriculture Hotspots in the U.S.,” published in the February 2018 issue of Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems by Cambridge University Press, concluded that organic agricultural hotspots, e.g., clusters of counties with positively correlated high numbers of organic operations, lead to lower county-level poverty rates and a higher median household income. The effect, say the study’s authors, appears to be specifically due to clusters of organic operations (whether farming/producing, processing, wholesaling, etc.), since the same effect is not seen with general agricultural hotspots. In other words, the researchers found that the countywide economic benefits are due to organic agriculture in particular, and not agriculture in general.
Organic Operations Hotspots: Red: Hotspot; Blue: Coldspot; Grey: Not Significant. Source: Economic Impact of Organic Agriculture Hotspots in the U.S., February 2018.
Using spatial statistics to identify hotspots across the U.S. of organic operations, the researchers compared economic indicators to general agricultural hotspots “to confirm that the benefits associated with organic production hotspots were, in fact, due to the organic component,” said the study’s authors, Julia Marasteanu and Edward Jaenicke of Pennsylvania State University’s Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education.
“Our results show that organic hotspot membership leads to a lower county-level poverty rate and a higher median household income. A similar result is not found when investigating the impact of general agriculture hotspots,” said the researchers.
“These results provide strong motivation for considering hotspots of organic handling operations, which refers to middlemen such as processors, wholesalers and brokers, and hotspots of organic production to be local economic development tools, and may be of interest to policymakers whose objective is to promote rural development,” the authors concluded.
“Our results may incentivize policymakers to specifically focus on organic development, rather than the more general development of agriculture, as a means to promote economic growth in rural areas, and may further point them in the direction of not only encouraging the presence of organic operations, but of fostering the development of clusters or hotspots of these operations,” they added.
Download a .pdf of the report here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323151836_Economic_impact_of_organic_agriculture_hotspots_in_the_United_States
General Mills is Transitioning 53 Square Miles of South Dakota Farmland to Organic
General Mills announced in early March it is converting 34,000 acres – more than 53 square miles – in central South Dakota to certified organic to supply the organic wheat it needs for its popular Annie’s Macaroni & Cheese line. The multinational food company is creating South Dakota’s largest organic crop farm to help ensure enough organic ingredients to meet the growing consumer demand for organic worldwide.
With only 1 percent of all U.S. farmland dedicated to certified organic production, this is a big deal, and part of a trend where food companies are taking a more direct interest in farming to help secure organic ingredient supplies as demand continues to exceed production. General Mills is partnering with Midwestern BioAg, a firm that helps conventional farmers transition to organic, to convert Gunsmoke Farms, a 34,000-acre wheat farm in Pierre, SD, in fertile lands near the Missouri River.
“The Gunsmoke project is an opportunity to use our scale to help convert large areas of acreage to organic as one of our tools to create a more stable supply chain. We also see it as a way to support our growing portfolio of organic businesses,” Beth Robertson-Martin, organic sourcing lead at General Mills, told The New Food Economy.
General Mills, the third largest producer of organic and natural foods, reported on March 21 that its natural and organic products portfolio was a bright spot amid otherwise disappointing third quarter results. General Mills reported net sales of $15.6 billion in FY2017. The company’s natural and organic brands include Annie’s, Cascadian Farm, Muir Glen, Food Should Taste Good, Immaculate Baking, Liberté, Mountain High, Good Natured Soup and EPIC Provisions. General Mills hopes to reach $1.5 billion in sales in 2020 for its natural and organic brands. Since 2005, General Mills’ natural and organic category has grown an average of 10 percent per year, reports Sustainable Food News.
Companies including Nature’s Path Foods, one of North America’s largest family held organic brands, and Pacific Foods also have invested in or purchased organic farmland in order to ensure supplies. Nature’s Path sources much of its organic grains including oats, wheat, heritage grains, hemp, legumes and flax from the Canadian Prairie and the U.S. Midwest, where in the past few years it has purchased thousands of acres of pristine organic farmland.
“We started growing [organic] butternut squash because of availability, Chuck Eggert, founder of Pacific Foods, told FoodNavigator-USA in 2016. “We’ve been doing this for almost 30 years, and back then, even if you wanted to do an organic product there [weren’t] enough supplies around. So we started growing our own and then we started encouraging others to do it.” Campbell Soup purchased Pacific Foods in 2017 for $700 million in cash.
“As an independent, family-run company, we have the freedom to put our money where our heart is, in support of sustainable agriculture – beyond just making organic products, Arran Stephens, co-founder and co-CEO of Nature’s Path, told FoodNavigator-USA. “We live by the mantra of ‘always leave the earth better than you found it.’”
Steven Hoffman is Managing Director of Compass Natural, providing brand marketing, PR, social media, and strategic business development services to natural, organic and sustainable products businesses. Contact steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com.
Home Baking Gets an Upgrade
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Foodstirs™ Modern Baking to Debut Organic, One-Minute Mug Cakes and Organic Chewy Granola Oat Bar Baking Mixes at Expo West
Foodstirs, co-founded by actor turned entrepreneur Sarah Michelle Gellar, makes it ultra-convenient and affordable for the entire family to experience the warmth and taste of fresh home baking with the most sustainable ingredients; Visit Foodstirs at Natural Products Expo West, March 8-10, 2018, Anaheim, CA, Booth #N1118.
Santa Monica, CA (March 2, 2018) – Foodstirs™ Modern Baking, creator of USDA Certified Organic baking mixes that help families create meaningful experiences through modernized home baking, will offer show specials and product samples of two new product lines – Organic Minute Mug Cakes and Organic Chewy Granola Oat Bar Baking Mixes – at the 37thannual Natural Products Expo West, the world’s largest natural and organic products trade show in Anaheim, CA, on March 8-10, 2018.
“These two innovative Foodstirs lines represent a new paradigm in food, reflected in our ‘Clean Comfort Food’ platform – every Foodstirs product helps heal the planet and promote worker wellbeing while also delivering on convenience, affordability, and taste for a memorably indulgent experience,” said Galit Laibow, CEO and Co-founder of Foodstirs. “Consumers can feel deeply satisfied and fulfilled knowing that these products are checking all the boxes, with no tradeoffs.”
Foodstirs Organic Minute Mug Cakes, which will be featured in 8,000 Starbucks stores nationwide, are portable snacks that consumers can make at home – or anywhere – by simply adding water and microwaving for one minute. The cakes, made from heirloom, identity-preserved organic flour, Biodynamic® sugar and fair trade chocolate, are available in Molten Chocolate Chip, Celebration Confetti and Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake flavors in single pouches and a 4-pack that retails for $4.99 - $5.99.
A #Foodstirs, #Muglife, #Mugology social media campaign is engaging consumers and encouraging them to post and share “mug shots” of themselves customizing their cakes.
Bake Your Own Organic Chewy Granola Bars
With Foodstirs’ new Organic Chewy Granola Oat Bar Baking Mix line, which will be exclusive to Whole Foods Market nationally beginning April 2018, simply add water and oil to the mix and you are ready to bake 16 bars in 25 minutes that deliver 10g of Whole Grains per serving and amazing “from scratch taste.” The 14.7-oz. packages of dry mix come in Very Berry Chocolate Chip, Cinnamon Raisin and Chocolate Coconut flavors and retail for $4.99-$5.99 per bag.
“This is the first product to truly address the pain points that consumers have with ready-to-eat granola bars,” said Foodstirs COO and Co-founder Greg Fleishman. “Our solution provides superior value, clean regenerative ingredients, organic whole grain nutrition, and incredible homemade taste in just 25 minutes. Baking your own bars is an elevated experience the whole family will love.”
Purity with Purpose
All Foodstirs products are made following the company’s “Purity with Purpose” philosophy of providing delicious, easy-to-make comfort foods that are regenerative for the planet at an accessible price point. The company uses Biodynamic® and Fair Trade-certified ingredients sourced directly from growers and producers, including cocoa from small family farms in South America where workers are paid fair wages and safe working conditions.
“Foodstirs was created because we wanted an enduring way to connect with our children, and the best place for families to do that is in the kitchen – the heart of the home,” said Chief Creative Officer and Co-founder Sarah Michelle Gellar. "We love innovating and developing new recipes that everyone can enjoy. While our baking mixes are quick to make, the memories (and smells!) last a lifetime.”
Foodstirs Modern Organic Baking Mixes, including the new Organic Minute Mug Cakes, are available wherever natural and organic products are sold, including Whole Foods Market, King Soopers, Ralph’s, Sprouts, Kroger, Target, Starbucks, Amazon and others. Products also are available online at Foodstirs.com and Amazon.com. Foodstirs is available through leading distributors including UNFI and KeHE. For wholesale inquiries, contact sales@foodstirs.com. For more information and delicious recipe inspiration, please visit www.Foodstirs.com.
Visit Foodstirs at the 37th annual Natural Products Expo West. We'll be offering show specials and sampling our products Thursday - Saturday, March 8-10, 2018, in the Hot Products Pavilion in the new North Hall of the Anaheim Convention Center, Booth #N1118.
About Foodstirs™
Based in Santa Monica, CA, Foodstirs was co-founded by successful entrepreneurs Galit Laibow, Greg Fleishman and actress and author Sarah Michelle Gellar. Foodstirs is remaking the baking mix category with USDA Organic and Non-GMO Project Verified baking mixes that are superior on every level. The brand meticulously creates its recipes based on four core principles: ultra-sustainability, easy-to-make, affordably priced and incredibly delicious from-scratch taste. In addition to regenerative and direct-sourced ingredients, the brand uses organic identity-preserved unbleached heirloom flour, chemical-free dyes and no artificial preservatives and flavors. Our products are sold nationwide at retailers including Whole Foods Market, Sprouts, Target, Kroger, Safeway, Amazon and many more. For more information, please visit www.Foodstirs.com, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Instagram, Twitter or Pinterest.
Contact
Jami Kandel, Vision Public Relations, tel 212.631.5027, jami@visionpr.net
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Food Waste Goes Bananas
Photo by Wikimedia Commons
Worldwide, a staggering 50% of all food that is produced goes uneaten and wasted, and the world’s most popular fruit, the banana, is also the world’s most wasted fruit, says a new study conducted by Karlstad University in Sweden. In all, seven fruits and vegetables – bananas, apples, tomatoes, lettuce, sweet peppers, pears and grapes – represented nearly half of the total fresh produce waste measured.
While consumers are behind most of the waste, as it occurs after food is brought home, grocery stores, too, throw away huge amounts, especially bread, fresh fruit and vegetables. As such, the researchers directly measured the amount of waste in the produce sections of three major supermarkets in Sweden. They also extrapolated the climate impact and financial cost of the wastage.
Consumers throughout the world prefer to eat bananas fresh and raw, and customers generally prefer a firmer banana—either completely yellow or with a tinge of green, reports Modern Farmer, meaning that perfectly edible bananas that don’t meet these standards are continuously thrown away by supermarkets that can’t sell them. According to the Swedish study, the banana provides the most food waste in terms of weight and environmental impact.
The researchers also looked specifically at the economic value of supermarket waste—not just what’s thrown out in terms of sheer weight. In terms of money lost by the business due to food waste, the leading culprits are cut greens, which go bad quickly – specifically, lettuces and fresh herbs. Lettuce alone amounted to 17 percent of the costs of wasted fruit and vegetables, the researchers found.
The researchers suggest that a focus on these seven products can help reduce economic losses in supermarkets.
“Fruit, vegetables and bread are the biggest problem items regarding food waste in stores. These products are not so easy to redistribute because they have to get out to people while they are fresh,” Anne Marie Schrøder, chief spokeswoman for Matvett, a Norwegian nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing food waste, told ScienceNordic’s Norwegian partner forskning.no in response to the report. “Fortunately, efforts to reduce waste are in the interests of the environment and the stores. I am absolutely convinced it’s feasible to turn things around,” she added.
“There are three reasons for why we need to reduce food waste. It is not profitable for the grocery sector or for society. Nor is it environmentally or climate friendly. And we could feed the starving people of the world with the food wasted globally. All food has a value and a sensible utilization of the resources is essential,” Schrøder said.
Survey Says: 80 Percent of Shoppers Prefer Independent Stores to Online
Photo by Pexels
Source: For Presence Marketing Newsletter, March 2018
Author: Steven Hoffman
Independent grocers remain well positioned to compete with larger chains and online grocery alternatives in today’s price sensitive retail environment, according to the 2018 National Grocery Shoppers Survey conducted by the National Grocers Association (NGA).
According to the survey published in February 2018, 64 percent of independent shoppers are very or extremely satisfied with their local supermarket, and 80 percent of shoppers prefer their local store to an online alternative. Additionally, independent grocers are strongly associated with friendly employees, quality meats and produce, and easy-to-navigate layout, NGA reported.
“There’s no doubt that the supermarket industry is rapidly changing, either because of the growth of e-commerce or the explosion of new formats, along with shifting consumer trends. However, independent grocers are nimble enough to quickly overcome obstacles and with strong ties to their communities, they know what consumers want and need,” said Peter Larkin, president and CEO of NGA in a release.
The National Survey of Grocery Shoppers was conducted online within the U.S. by The Harris Poll on behalf of NGA among 3,008 adults, 18 and over between November 13 and December 8, 2017, using a sample from The Harris Poll Panel who self identified themselves as independent shoppers. Additional analytics were derived from Nielsen’s panel-based Independent Grocer shopper database of 44,000 consumers. Loyal independent shoppers are those that spend 50% or more of their reported shopping at an independent grocery store.
“In today’s omni-channel retail environment, independent grocers maintain a unique and strong connection with their shoppers,” said Jeanne Danubio, EVP of Retail Lead Markets at Nielsen. “Complementing the findings of this year’s survey, Nielsen’s new independent buyer group panel data shows that a loyal independent grocery shopper spends more than 40% more in grocery than the average shopper. It will be critical for independent grocers to maintain the quality and personal connections that keep these valuable consumers coming back to the independent store,” Danubio added.
“While there has always been an element of whistling-past-the-graveyard reverence to industry pronouncements about independents, it will always be true that a strong, well-run, well-merchandised and technically savvy local operator can effectively compete with big chains and online giants. Supermarket chains and online merchants may seek to replicate personalization using their loyalty program data and algorithms, but independent grocers offer the real thing,” note the editors of Food Dive.
Among the survey’s key findings:
E-Commerce: Of those who shop for groceries online, 68 percent do it in addition to shopping in stores, with 75 percent of their purchases made at the store. NGA said convenience is the main impetus for shopping for groceries online, while the biggest obstacles to online grocery shopping are the consumers' need to see the actual physical items and their concerns about freshness. In addition, only 11 percent of those surveyed shop online, and they prefer home delivery to store pickup by a wide margin, 76 percent to 39 percent. Of products bought online, packaged food products are the most commonly purchased. General merchandise and health and beauty care items rank second, followed by cleaning products. Also, 27 percent of shoppers surveyed said they would increase their online grocery shopping over the next five years.
Health and Wellness: According to the NGA survey, 63 percent of independent grocery shoppers expect grocery stores to support their healthier lifestyles, and provide more help with cooking instructions, reading nutritional labels, and guidance on foods with good nutritional value. When considering where to shop, these shoppers value low prices, quality meats and produce, friendly staff, cleanliness, and locally grown produce. Shoppers were almost split on where healthy foods should be displayed, with 58 percent saying that healthy food alternatives should be shelved alongside other food items, compared to 42 percent who think healthy food should be in its own section, separate from main aisles.
Areas Shoppers Value Most: When considering where to shop for groceries, independent shoppers value low prices, quality meats and produce, friendly staff, cleanliness, and offering locally grown produce and other packaged goods. Almost 7 in 10 shoppers (67%) have no plans to switch from their independent store.
Areas of Needed Improvement: The survey noted that independent supermarket operators need to upgrade their technology offerings, including improving their website usability, with consistent pricing online and offline, the same products online and in-store, and providing an easy-to-use smart phone app.
Betsy’s Best Has Gone Coconuts!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
With the introduction of Toasted Coconut Cashew Butter with Chia Seeds, Betsy’s Best® Gourmet Nut & Seed Butters adds an exciting new flavor to its line of premium, non-GMO, superfood nut and seed butters.
Naples, FL (Feb. 1, 2018) – Coconut has become a lasting trend, and for good reason. It’s delicious and nutritious – and even more so as its tropical flavor blends delightfully with cashews, pink Himalayan sea salt and chia seeds in Betsy’s Best Toasted Coconut Cashew Butter with Chia Seeds, the newest flavor offering from Betsy’s Best® Gourmet Nut & Seed Butters.
Betsy's Best will release its new nut butter on Amazon before introducing it at the world’s largest natural, organic and healthy products event, Natural Products Expo West, March 8-11, 2018, in Anaheim, CA. Betsy’s Best Toasted Coconut Cashew Butter will be available in 12 oz. jars.
For a limited time only Save 33% OFF your Betsy's Best Toasted Coconut Cashew order on Amazon and Amazon Prime! Enter code COCOCASH at checkout, offer expires end of day Feb. 5, 2018.
Not Your Average Toast Topper
Made with cashews, toasted coconut and chia seeds and NO artificial flavors, colors, GMOs or high fructose corn syrup, the new flavor is suitable for vegans and is sure to be a hit among nut butter fans. Like Betsy’s Best’s other products, the company’s fifth product introduction boasts the same sweet and salty balance that fans across the country rave about and retailers are stocking up on.
“I live in Southwest Florida where coconut trees are everywhere,” says Betsy, who, inspired by her family, developed the recipes for all Betsy’s Best products. “I have always loved the flavor of coconut, and it is a perfect compliment to a roasted cashew. The toasted coconut adds another dimension of texture and flavor along with the light crunch of chia seeds. This is a decadent yet healthful experience, and a flavor profile like no other butter I have created.”
Where Superfoods Meet Gourmet Tastes
A Registered and Licensed Dietitian with a background in clinical nutrition therapy, Certified Diabetes Educator, mother, fitness trainer and former Miss Indiana, Betsy Opyt is on a mission to help people eat healthier. As a result Betsy’s unique products are made from the finest whole food ingredients that are not only delicious but also nutritious…and fun.
Betsy’s innovative and delicious spreads – Almond Butter with cinnamon, Cashew Butter with chia seeds, Sunflower Seed Butter with organic honey, and Peanut Butter with a hint of pink Himalayan salt – are packed with good-for-you superfoods that are free from partially hydrogenated soybean oil, high fructose corn syrup and palm oil – a controversial ingredient often found in other natural and conventional nut butter brands.
Betsy’s Best Gourmet Cashew Butter with Cardamom & Chia Seeds was recognized as a NEXTY Award Finalist at Natural Products Expo East in September 2017. Also, Betsy was recently a featured speaker at ShiftCon, a leading healthy lifestyles bloggers and new media conference. For more than 60 hand crafted recipes and to learn more about Betsy’s Best, visit www.BetsysBest.com and connect on social media.
About Betsy’s Best
Betsy's Best®, based in Naples, FL, was founded in 2012 by Betsy Opyt. Betsy’s Best Gourmet Nut & Seed Butters are available online at www.BetsysBest.com, on Amazon Prime, and in nearly 2,000 stores in 39 states, including Kroger, Wegmans, Whole Foods Market (Florida), Bristol Farms, Ingles Markets, Vons, Ralph’s, Lowe’s, City Market, King Soopers, Fred Meyer and others; and through leading natural and specialty food products distributors. For wholesale inquiries contact info@BetsysBest.com, tel 888.685.8292. Betsy's Best is the initial offering of Healthy Concepts Food Company, LLC.
Visit Betsy’s Best Gourmet Nut & Seed Butters, Booth N1301, at Natural Products Expo West, the world’s largest natural, organic and healthy products trade exposition, March 8-11, 2018, Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA.
Contact
Steven Hoffman, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com, tel 303.807.1042
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World's Oceans Rise to Highest Temperatures Ever Recorded
Photo by Compass Natural
Source: For Presence Marketing Newsletter, February 2018
Author: Steven Hoffman
We all know what’s happening and no amount of denial or the squelching of science can alter the facts. Climate change is real, and it is either being caused by or exacerbated by the activities of humankind. Through our extraction and consumption of energy, housing and transportation, manufacturing practices, and how we produce our food and fiber, we are releasing massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, where it is heating the land…and the oceans.
We are certainly seeing the results on land, with increasing occurrences of major storms, hurricanes, wildfires, floods and mudslides, and a rash of other extreme weather events that are having its costs in human lives and in billions of dollars.
Now, a team of scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Atmospheric Physics found that the upper 2,000 meters of the world’s oceans were far warmer in 2017 than the previous hottest year ever recorded in 2015. Analyzing ocean data collected over the past 50 years, a clear trend is emerging, say the researchers. All the world’s oceans are getting steadily warmer, with 2017 recorded as the hottest yet. And while the atmospheric temperature is more susceptible to year-to-year fluctuations, the ocean data shows the consistency with which planet Earth is heating up, the researchers claim.
The findings come on the heels of research conducted by the Global Carbon Project, a group of 76 scientists in 15 countries. Their findings, presented to the United Nations in November 2017, showed that greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere have also risen to a record high in 2017, and they are still rising.
“The long-term warming trend driven by human activities continued unabated. The high ocean temperatures in recent years have occurred as greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere have also risen, reaching record highs in 2017,” said the Chinese researchers in a report published in the upcoming March 2018 edition of Advances in Atmospheric Sciences.
“The ocean heat records are so impressive because they’re absolutely on a steady warming trend,” Robert Anderson, a geochemist at Columbia University, told VICE News. “People who point to pauses in global warming haven’t looked at the warming of the oceans.”
The Soil Solution
To cool the oceans, we must regenerate the earth, and in particular, the way we produce our food and fiber.
In addition to the disturbing ocean warming trends, industrial agriculture practices are contaminating our oceans with synthetic pesticides and nitrogen fertilizer runoff, leading to expanding dead zones. On top of that, unabated carbon emissions in the atmosphere are acidifying earth’s oceans, which threatens coral reefs, as well as the ocean’s phytoplankton populations – microscopic but critically important species that provide two-thirds of the planet’s oxygen, says John Roulac, founder of Nutiva and an outspoken advocate of regenerative agriculture, in a January 2017 EcoWatch commentary titled “Spaceship Earth, Your Main Oxygen Systems Are Collapsing.”
“At the current trajectory, in just a few decades there won't be much left alive in our oceans as the phytoplankton dies—all because of how we grow our food,” said Roulac. “If we don't immediately deal with the number one ‘enviro’ issue of the day, ocean acidification, humanity will not be around in 2100 to observe rising temperatures or oceans lapping over Wall Street and Silicon Valley. The good news is that we can cool both the planet and the seawater, while removing excess carbon from the sea, by regenerative agriculture—a solution literally under our feet!” Roulac added.
According to research from the Rodale Institute and others, the benefit of regenerative agriculture – where the focus is on building healthy, biologically active soils through the use of cover crops, multispecies livestock, crop diversity, and no-till or low-till agriculture, is that it can effectively draw carbon out of the atmosphere and put it back where it belongs: in healthy organic soils.
In fact, says Rodale, which has conducted more than 30 years of ongoing field research, regenerative, organic farming practices and improved forestry, pasture and land management can move agriculture from one of today’s primary sources of global warming and carbon pollution to a potential carbon sink powerful enough to sequester 100 percent of the world’s current annual CO2 emissions.
Yes, you read that correctly: “100 percent of the world’s current annual CO2 emissions.”
"Simply put, recent data from farming systems and pasture trials around the globe show that we could sequester more than 100 percent of current annual CO2 emissions with a switch to widely available and inexpensive organic management practices, which we term 'regenerative organic agriculture,'" Rodale’s research team reported. These practices work to maximize carbon fixation while minimizing the loss of that carbon once returned to the soil, reversing the greenhouse effect."
Or, as the Wall Street Journal reported, “Organic practices could counteract the world's yearly carbon dioxide output while producing the same amount of food as conventional farming.”
The natural and organic products industry has always been at the vanguard of sustainable food and agriculture innovation and environmental and social responsibility. Now, we can take our leadership one step further and in a very meaningful way. We have the opportunity to change not just food but business. Today we must not only sustain, we must repair and regenerate to slow and reverse climate change, a very real and existential threat to humanity and all our four-legged, winged, finned and otherwise living relatives. We owe it to the world to take the lead.
Learn More About Regenerative Food and Agriculture
· Regeneration International, an excellent and comprehensive clearinghouse of news, research, resources and information focused on regenerative food and agriculture, www.regenerationinternational.org
· Rodale Institute, the leading on-farm research and education organization, based in Emmaus, PA, www.rodaleinstitute.org
· Regenerative Organic Certified Label, established in 2017 by leading brands including Patagonia, Dr. Bronner’s and others and administered by NSF International, the Regenerative Organic Certified label builds on the standards set by the USDA organic label with an emphasis on soil quality and social fairness, https://rodaleinstitute.org/regenerativeorganic/
· Climate Collaborative, leveraging the power of the natural products industry to reverse climate change, http://www.climatecollaborative.com
· Natural Products Expo West Climate Day, March 7, 2018, join industry leaders for Climate Day 2018 at Natural Products Expo West.
· Soil Not Oil, international agro-ecological and environmental conference, Sept. 9-11, 2018, San Francisco, CA, http://soilnotoilcoalition.org
· Regenerative Earth Summit, the premier gathering of leaders in regenerative food, farming and fashion for climate action, Dec. 4-6, 2018, Boulder, CO, www.regenerativeearthsummit.org
Hemp Note:
Nearly three-dozen states have passed legislation in recent years allowing research or commercial production of industrial hemp, the non-psychoactive cousin to marijuana. From “CBD” herbal extract products now being sold in a growing number of natural products stores to food, fiber, cosmetics, textiles, paper, animal feed and construction materials, industrial hemp sales totaled $688 million in 2016, led by hemp food, body care and CBD products. Learn about the world of industrial hemp at the 5th Annual NoCo Hemp Expo, April 6-7, 2018, in Loveland, CO. Colorado has become an epicenter of the industry hemp industry, and NoCo5 will draw 5,000 – 7,000 visitors and nearly 150 exhibits, making it literally the world’s largest trade show dedicated to industrial hemp. Disclosure: yours truly is involved in promoting NoCo5, but I will tell you, it is an exciting, emerging market, and it looks to the natural products industrial as a model for its aspirations for success. Learn more at www.nocohempexpo.com.
EcoFarm Note:
I am freshly back from EcoFarm, one of the most refreshing gatherings of organic producers held annually at the incredibly scenic Asilomar State Park in Pacific Grove, CA. Drawing more than 1,000 attendees, the focus of the 38th annual EcoFarm conference was on regenerative agriculture and building healthy soils. Take note it is a farmer’s conference, but with a focus on the issues and how to grow organic, it provides a wealth of information among a community well rooted in building healthy soils and supplying America’s fruits, vegetables, meat dairy, grains and other crops. The Monterey Herald gave it a great review. With concerns about the aging of America’s farmers, I can tell you where the young farmers are. They are dedicated to organic and drawn to EcoFarm. Check it out next year, if only to regenerate yourself. Visit www.eco-farm.org.
Photo: Sunset, Pacific Grove, CA; Steven Hoffman
New for 2018: Nature’s Answer® Elderberry Sambucus Mega Gummies 7X Pack a Powerful Antioxidant Punch*
Combining taste and efficacy, Nature’s Answer Sambucus Mega Gummies 7X provides seven times more black elderberries than other leading brands*.
Hauppauge, NY (January 23, 2018) – Nature’s Answer has done it again. The company that created a way to assure you of the quality of herbal supplements with its unique Advanced Botanical Fingerprint Technology™ has created the first Sambucus Black Elderberry gummies that provide real antioxidant nutrition*.
“Until now all Elderberry gummies were missing one important thing,” said Nature’s Answer VP Brand Manager Steve Marada. “They just didn’t deliver the nutritional ingredients people need, no matter how good they tasted. At Nature’s Answer, we wouldn’t make a chewable gummy supplement until we could make one that not only tasted great, but is a truly efficacious dietary supplement.”
Nature’s Answer Sambucus Mega Gummies 7X is a breakthrough in nutritional supplements. Each gummy is packed with over ¼ cup (40 grams) of fresh Black Elderberries (Sambucus nigra), an antioxidant-rich fruit traditionally used to support a healthy immune system*. In fact, Black Elderberries have more than twice the naturally occurring antioxidants of blueberries, and more antioxidants than cranberries and other berries**.
Nature’s Answer is not the only one who thinks it’s a breakthrough. Nature’s Answer Sambucus Mega Gummies 7X was recognized by Better Nutrition Magazine with its 2017 year-end “Best of Supplements” Award for Immune Health.
And you can also feel good knowing that Nature’s Answer Sambucus Mega Gummies 7X is completely Gluten Free, Alcohol Free, Gelatin Free, Vegan, Non GMO, contains no artificial preservatives, and made to our rigorous standards.
Nature’s Answer products are available at leading natural and healthy products retailers nationwide. Visit NaturesAnswer.com. For wholesale inquiries contact 800.439.2324, info@naturesanswer.com.
About Nature’s Answer Advanced Botanical Fingerprint Technology™
Nature’s Answer Advanced Botanical Fingerprint Technology™ assures the quality of the botanical ingredients in every Nature’s Answer product. By creating one of the most comprehensive collections of plant specimens in the world and identifying each plant's distinctive botanical fingerprint, Nature’s Answer compares and analyzes the quality and purity of every incoming botanical used to formulate its products, ensuring that every Nature’s Answer product is made from the purest, highest-quality botanical ingredients available.
About Nature’s Answer®
Founded in 1972 by Frank D’Amelio, Sr., along with his wife Josephine, Nature’s Answer is one of the largest family owned and operated manufacturers of nutritional supplements in North America. Today, Nature's Answer continues to combine the best of traditional herbal remedies, vitamins and minerals with innovative scientific techniques and phytopharmaceutical manufacturing to deliver supplements of the finest quality and value for the entire family. Visit NaturesAnswer.com.
Visit Nature’s Answer at Natural Products Expo West, the world’s largest natural and organic products trade exposition, March 9-11, 2018, Booth #4331, Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA.
Contact
Steven Hoffman, tel 303.807.1042, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com
Steve Marada, VP Brand Manager, Nature’s Answer, 800.439.2324
* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
** Source: D. Charlebois, 2007, https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/2112/2dacc580b35bcd6926b0a388151e7fa809c9.pdf
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What the Flock? USDA Seeks to Kill Organic Animal Welfare Rule
Photo by Wikimedia Commons
Source: Presence Marketing Newsletter, January 2018
Author: Steven Hoffman
December 21, 2017
After repeatedly delaying implementation of an Obama-era rule that would have required organic egg producers to provide actual outdoor access for their hens, USDA announced in mid-December it plans to withdraw the new organic animal welfare rule altogether.
Originally approved in January 2017 by President Obama in his final days in office, the organic animal welfare standards, known as the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices rule (OLPP), would have prohibited enclosed “porches” in large-scale organic poultry houses in favor of real outdoor access for the birds. The new rule would have established minimum indoor space for the birds, as well.
USDA acted under pressure from large-scale pork and other livestock producers, who are threatened by any federal regulations regarding animal welfare, as well as a small handful of “industrial scale” organic egg producers. According to the USDA, at least 50 percent of the eggs currently sold as organic come from industrial-scale producers like Mississippi-based Cal-Maine, which houses up to 200,000 hens in a single, multistory aviary with porches, reported AgWeek in November 2016.
The fact that half of all certified organic eggs sold come from industrial-sized poultry houses with no real outdoor access for the hens is a situation that angers hundreds of other organic egg producers that do provide outdoor access for their birds. George Siemon, CEO of Organic Valley, requires its egg producers to provide outdoor space for its hens, saying it’s what consumers want and that it is a fundamental part of organic agriculture. “It needs to be a whole system that features the bird’s basic needs, and there’s no doubt that a hen wants to be outside scratching in the ground,” he told National Public Radio in support of the rule.
One organic activist group, the Cornucopia Institute, has even put together an "Organic Egg Scorecard" that rates different organic suppliers based on how closely they're aligned with Cornucopia's vision of humane, pasture-based organic egg production.
USDA: “Not Our Job”
In an announcement published in the Federal Register on December 19, 2017, USDA claimed the rule in question “would exceed USDA’s statutory authority,” which it says is limited to health care practices. “Withdrawal of the OLPP also is independently justified based upon USDA’s revised assessments of its benefits and burdens and USDA’s view of sound regulatory policy,” a department spokesperson said in a statement.
Dismayed by USDA’s decision, the Organic Trade Association (OTA) said in a statement, “This groundless step by USDA is being taken against a backdrop of nearly universal support among the organic businesses, and consumers for the fully vetted rules that USDA has now rejected. It is against this overwhelming public input that USDA ignores growing consumer demands for food transparency. Consumers trust that the Organic seal stands for a meaningful difference in production practices. It makes no sense that the Trump Administration would pursue actions that could damage a marketplace that is giving American farmers a profitable alternative, creating jobs, and improving the economies of our rural areas. Most striking is the administration’s continued confusion that organic standards are mandatory rather than voluntary. Farmers, ranchers and businesses choose to be in the organic marketplace, and Congress intended that industry and consumers work together to develop organic standards. This action undermines that goal.”
OTA originally filed a lawsuit against USDA in September 2017 to force implementation of the animal welfare rule. After learning of USDA’s decision to withdraw the rule, it took again to the courts to uphold organic standards. “In anticipation of the USDA’s continued attempts to kill this regulation, the Organic Trade Association last Friday filed an amended complaint in Federal Court. We will continue our fight to uphold organic standards, that this Administration continues to willfully ignore by repeatedly delaying this fully vetted and final voluntary organic standard, and now proposing to withdraw it. We will see the department in court and are confident that we will prevail on this important issue for the organic sector, OTA said."
Could OTA’s Lawsuit Backfire?
Max Goldberg, publisher of Organic Insider, cautions, however, that OTA’s lawsuit could backfire. If the lawsuit fails, “USDA might feel that is has strong legal ground to rescind previously enacted organic regulations, which has the potential to completely dismantle the entire organic industry,” Goldberg warned. “This all comes down to how an administration wants to interpret OFPA (the Organic Food Production Act). Does it want to interpret OFPA literally and not create any new regulations? Or does it want to interpret OFPA broadly and use it to create regulations that move the organic industry forward? With the Trump administration, it is definitely the former, not the latter,” he wrote.
The organic industry’s success reflects consumers’ increasing demand for transparency in how their food is produced and their support of humane treatment of farm animals, said a coalition of animal welfare groups in an August 2017 report. "A national survey conducted in 2016 found that the vast majority of consumers (77 percent) are concerned about the welfare of animals raised for food. In research conducted by the nation’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart, two-thirds of the company’s customers stated that they are more likely to shop at a retailer that improves the treatment of livestock," the report stated, adding that support for humane animal treatment was even stronger among consumers who buy organic foods.
“Consumers expect the USDA Organic seal to represent high standards for animal welfare. If consumers come to believe that organic regulations do not align with their expectations or their values, the long-term success of the organic program will be threatened. For the benefit of animals, farmers, and consumers, the USDA should act immediately to implement the OLPP rule. The future of the organic marketplace depends on it,” the report concluded.
Public Comments Encouraged
USDA is seeking public comments regarding its announcement to withdrawal the OLLP rule. Deadline for comment is January 18, 2018. To comment and for more information, visit https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/organic-livestock-and-poultry-practices.
More than 75% of U.S. Adults Take Supplements; Millennials Turning to Probiotics
Photo by Compass Natural
Source: Presence Marketing News, November 2017
Author: Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural Marketing
Multivitamins, Vitamin D and Vitamin C are the most popular dietary supplements among U.S. adults, says a new consumer survey conducted by the Council for Responsible Nutrition and published on October 19. The survey found that overall, 87% of U.S. adults have confidence in the safety, quality and effectiveness of dietary supplements. According to CRN, 76% of U.S. adults use dietary supplements, an increase of 5% over 2016 values.
In related research, Millennials are driving sales in probiotics and functional foods. According to Packaged Facts, Millennials aged 18-34 have relatively higher interest in probiotic foods and beverages compared to Gen Xers and Baby Boomers. Overall, approximately 25% of U.S. adults seek out foods and beverages with high amounts of probiotics or prebiotics, according to Packaged Facts’ 2017 National Consumer Survey.
With the increased focus on their health and wellness potential in recent years, probiotics have emerged as one of the biggest trends today in the food and beverage industry, says Packaged Facts. Products range from the familiar (i.e., yogurt, kefir, kombucha and infant nutrition) to the cutting edge (probiotics in soda, coffee, tea, soups, beer and more).
“Probiotics have emerged as a driving trend in the industry,” said David Sprinkle, Packaged Facts Research Director. “And given the core importance of gut health, this suggests continued potential for growth of probiotic- and prebiotic-containing foods, as consumers continue to learn more about them and next-generation products make their case in the market.”
Packaged Facts’ survey also found even higher interest in probiotics among those who shop for food in the natural channel, which “retains its role as the most significant retail sector for food and nutritional trends,” it said.
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Steven Hoffman is Managing Director of Compass Natural, providing brand marketing, PR, social media, and strategic business development services to natural, organic and sustainable products businesses. Contact steve@compassnatural.com.