Register Today! Join Fred Linder, President, Health and Nutrition, Informa and New Hope Network, on the Next Compass Coffee Talk, June 23, 11:30am EDT
Adapting to the Speed of Change: A Conversation with
New Hope Network's Fred Linder
Episode 4 - Tuesday, June 23, 11:30 am – Noon EDT
Zoom, Admission is Free
We are pleased to welcome Fred Linder to the next episode of Compass Coffee Talk. As President, Health and Nutrition, for Informa and New Hope Network, Fred will share insights from his vantage point at the helm of New Hope, one of the industry’s leading B2B information services companies and producer of the Natural Products Expos, the world’s largest natural and organic products trade gatherings.
Join hosts Bill Capsalis and Steve Hoffman and special guest Fred Linder on June 23, 11:30am EDT for a power packed 30 minutes, as Fred discusses how adapting to change is the name of the game for a company that continues to help lead, inform and stay at the forefront of a dynamic and constantly evolving industry.
Fred Linder is the President of Health and Nutrition, Informa Markets, responsible for overseeing and leading the success and advancement of the Global Health & Nutrition Group. He joined New Hope Network in 1997, which was acquired by Penton in 1999 and grew with the company, being named New Hope Network’s president in 2002 and SVP of Penton / Lifestyle in 2009 before it was acquired by Informa in 2016.
Fred has served on several boards including The Society of Independent Show Organisers, the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance, The Coalition to Preserve DSHEA, Bastyr University, and The Dietary Supplement Education Alliance, and is on the Company Council of the International Alliance of Dietary Supplement Associations. He received a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Colorado.
Thanks to our Sponsor, Dazbog Coffee! They will give away one free bag of coffee on This Week’s episode of Compass Coffee Talk.
About Compass Coffee Talk™
Take a 30-minute virtual coffee break with Compass Coffee Talk™. Hosted by natural industry veterans Bill Capsalis and Steve Hoffman, Coffee Talk features lively interactive conversations with industry leaders and experts designed to help guide entrepreneurs and businesses of any size succeed in the market for natural, organic, regenerative, hemp-derived and other eco-friendly products.
Compass Coffee Talk™ is produced by Compass Natural Marketing, a leading PR, branding and business development agency serving the natural and organic products industry. Learn more.
Chain, Chain, Chain: Natural Products Companies Take Necessary Steps to Assure Supply Chain Consistency Amid Covid-19 Crisis
Photo: Pexels
By Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural Marketing, Managing Director
This article originally appeared in Presence Marketing’s June 2020 newsletter edition and on New Hope Network’s IdeaXchange.
As the coronavirus crisis entered its third month in May, the U.S. saw concerns about its food system’s supply chain come to the fore. The media’s dramatic coverage of workers falling ill in the nation’s conventional meatpacking plants, crops wasting in the fields, and dairy farmers dumping milk continues to alarm Americans, and justifiably so, even as the country begins to open up in fits and starts.
Despite – or perhaps as a result of – President Trump’s invocation of the Defense Production Act to keep the nation’s meat packing plants open, the nonprofit Food & Environment Reporting Network (FERN) reported on May 22 that in the U.S., “at least 220 meatpacking and food processing plants and 20 farms and production facilities have confirmed cases of Covid-19, and at least four food processing plants are currently closed.” In addition, FERN estimated that “at least 19,160 workers (17,360 meatpacking workers, 1,134 food processing workers, and 666 farm workers) have tested positive for Covid-19 and at least 72 workers (66 meatpacking workers and 6 food processing workers) have died.”
The outbreaks may be even more extensive, but large-scale meat processors and state and local officials are hesitant to provide data due to a “stigma associated with the virus,” the New York Times reported on May 25.
The problem is so severe for farmers that have been producing for the institutional food service market that in mid-May, USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue appeared on National Public Radio (NPR) to promote a $3 billion plan to establish a national “CSA” style Farmers to Family Food Box Program in an attempt to distribute food direct from farmers to low income families.
"When you have the shutdown very suddenly of institutional food settings such as restaurants, schools, colleges and others, then that causes a misalignment in supply," Perdue told NPR’s Morning Edition. "And we've had to scramble in order to try to readjust that, and this food box program is one of those things which we've tried to do."
Helping Both Sides of the Equation
When asked by NPR why not give people more money through the SNAP program to help people pay for food, Perdue responded, “That may help one side of the equation…it does not help those farmers and producers who have grown this food. They cannot make it to market because the supply chain they’ve been used to dealing with – the institutional food market – is no longer there.”
In seeking to reassure Americans that their food supply is safe, Perdue told NPR, “One of the challenges we had in protein – meat, poultry, beef, pork – had been the closure of some of our processing plants there. And we've had infections in those plants that caused some temporary closures. Essentially all those plants are back open. We've turned the corner, and while some retailers are suggesting they may not have the degree of variety that they once had, we expect that to be cured very quickly. I do expect us to be back up to 85-90% production in probably a very few days or weeks,” he said.
While USDA attempts to fast-track a direct distribution program, traditional CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) programs, where consumer members buy a “share” of the farm’s “often organic” harvest, are surging everywhere across the country, including record membership signups and waiting lists, reported NPR on May 10.
Food Prices on the Rise
Of greater concern, as nearly 40 million Americans have lost their jobs since the pandemic took hold in the U.S. in mid-March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index (CPI) announced that food prices in April recorded their highest monthly increase in nearly 50 years, reported USA Today on May 21. “Though overall, the April CPI declined 0.8%, consumers on average paid 2.6% more for groceries. It's the largest one-month increase since February 1974. During the past 12 months, grocery prices rose 4.1%. Price increases in the meat, poultry, fish and egg category were the steepest,” USA Today reported.
In addition, the Department of Justice and the USDA are reported to be investigating the four largest U.S. meat packers – Tyson Foods, JBS, National Beef and Cargill, who collectively control about 85% of the U.S. beef market – for price fixing. According to Politico, supermarket consumers are paying more for beef than they have in decades, but at the same time, the processing companies are paying farmers and ranchers “staggeringly low prices for cattle.”
Is the Supply Chain Broken or Stressed?
After Tyson Foods’ Chairman John Tyson warned in late April that “the food supply chain is breaking,” Abe Eshkenazi, CEO of the Association for Supply Chain Management, in mid-May told Supermarket News, “From our perspective we don’t think the food supply chain is broken as much as it is stressed. We’re entering a different frontier, relative to food right now, and that’s food scarcity. We started to see it in the beginning of the pandemic with consumer packaged goods, specifically toilet paper and paper towels. We saw a significant run on those particular products, but what we've also seen is that the supply chain has responded, so those gaps in the supply for those particular items are being filled,” he said.
“It's taken a while for the supply chains to respond to the spike in demand, but it's also critical that we recognize that this is a spike, Eshkenazi told Supermarket News. “This is not a new demand signal at that level. When we take a look at utilization, we're not looking at an increase in terms of food or consumer packaged goods…It's just that we're seeing a shift in terms of where the demand is being sensed right now, and that is in a home-based environment.”
When asked about shortages where retailers placed limits on consumer purchases, Eshkenazi shared with Supermarket News, “As the system catches up, I think we'll see an easing of that but it also does present a problem because the quotas are not relative to family size. They're relative to the buyer. So, a family of five or six has the same quota as a family of two. We have to be aware of the current circumstances that these individuals are facing. It's not a one size fits all.”
Natural Products Manufacturers: Necessity is the Mother of Invention
Meanwhile, in the natural and organic products industry, producers and manufacturers are being driven by the rule, “necessity is the mother of invention.” By being nimble, companies are working hard to ensure a consistent supply chain for their retail and distribution customers. We talked with a few leading manufacturers and industry experts on how they are handling supply chain challenges during the coronavirus crisis. Here’s what they shared with us:
Carla Bartolucci, CEO, Bionaturae and Jovial
U.S.-born Carla Bartolucci and her husband Rodolfo are the founders of the certified organic brands Jovial and Bionaturae. The company is based in Connecticut but the main ingredients – wheat, the ancient grain Einkorn, tomatoes and other raw materials – are sourced in Italy, where the finished products are manufactured. As a provider of pastas, tomato sauces, juices, fruit spreads, cookies and other products, the brands have been in high demand during the pantry loading and subsequent shelter in place phases the U.S. has experienced during the pandemic.
“We were coming off of big months in January and February, and suddenly, here comes March. We were definitely caught off guard with the increase in sales we saw in flour, pasta and shelf-stable products. I can tell you for the first time in 25 years there was a day when our warehouse in Connecticut was completely empty,” said Carla Bartolucci.
The company could have sold more, but was limited by availability of a special compostable window used in the product packaging, and by having to queue up with contract manufacturers in Europe who were experiencing increased demand from all their customers. “Also, we blew through the contracts with our farmers already in June (contracts normally last until October), so we will be sourcing from outside of our network come July and August,” Bartolucci said.
During the peak, the company was shipping out so many container loads each week that there was no time to fill them completely. “The volume of demand made us ship out containers that weren’t completely full, so there were some losses with that, but we had to get the product out. We are still producing and loading twice as much product as we normally would have, but not three times as much, so we can fill the containers more efficiently again,” she said.
Seeing a longer term impact to consumers’ purchasing patterns, Bartolucci observed, “Suddenly, the new facility we built four years ago in Connecticut now may not be big enough. I can see the future right here in front of me – people will be home more and cooking more. We are responding and preparing for the future much more quickly than we normally would have.”
Scott Jensen, CEO, Rhythm Superfoods
Rhythm Superfoods, an innovator in plant-based fruit and vegetable snacks, did a lot of groundwork to secure its supply chain well before the Covid-19 crisis hit, and it’s paying off, says founder and CEO Scott Jensen. The company, which requires the freshest product delivered consistently for its dried kale, beet, carrot, dried fruit and other certified organic snacks, made a strategic decision to shift its sourcing from the U.S., where weather and crops proved to be uncertain for the company, to working with four farming families in the north central region of Mexico. It is there, a good day’s drive from the Texas border, where the Austin-based company grows and manufactures all its products.
“We own two facilities in Guadalajara. Our farmers are all within a two- to three-hour drive to our production plant, and they are situated at different elevations, so we are able to produce all we need,” Jensen said. “Overall, the U.S. gets so much of its produce from South of the Border; it could be 30-50% of all produce sold in the U.S., depending on the season, and there are no tariffs on food. For Rhythm Superfoods, we need fresh, consistent, organic deliveries, and in that particular region of Mexico, they grow year round and our farmers are really good at growing a mix of crops,” he said.
“Our vertical integration also gives us the ability to sell beyond the U.S. market and to deal directly in pesos, which is a strong currency. We can ship to Asia and the EU and be competitive price-wise,” Jensen said. He also noted that the company has seen no slowdown in shipping at the border. “The crisis has prevented us from traveling to our farms for a few months, but we are getting everything we need from our producers.”
For its workers, the company has expanded cleaning protocols, implemented temperature checks, provided face masks, emphasized multiple hand-washing and continues to pay workers if they have to be sent home, among other heightened safety measures.
Jensen shared that his farmers have been impacted by the pandemic, as they grow for the food service market, too. “If we lost 50% of consumption of vegetables in food service, that hasn’t all shifted to retail; consumers don’t cook as many fresh vegetables at home as the chefs and restaurants who use a lot of fresh produce. As a result, all our farmers are recalibrating their plans for the growing season. I don’t think anyone can oracle out what’s happening in the next weeks and months, however, we are attentive to things going on daily and a slew of data, and we are communicating constantly with our leadership team,” he said.
Pete Speranza, Cofounder, 301INC / General Mills
A former professional hockey player, Pete Speranza brings a competitive, team spirit as Cofounder of 301INC, the “brand elevator” arm of General Mills. As Director of New Business Development, Pete helped create a national scouting network for emerging natural and organic products brands, where he works closely with the entrepreneurs behind them.
“What we’ve been telling our brands is that while external forces have changed, food values aren’t changing,” Speranza said. “Coming out of this, people will still eat more at home, and they may be looking for more nutrient-dense foods to support healthy immune systems. From a supply chain perspective, from the meat to the grain industry, we are moving beyond a commodity approach, where the farmer got paid the same price per bushel no matter the quality. Today, businesses are having to create supply chains that are nimbler to handle smaller producers. This will accelerate. People want transparency, higher quality and nutritious foods,” he added.
Speranza noted that a challenge smaller brands face today is that consumers are spending less time in grocery stores. “People are not browsing right now. They’re creating a list, getting their essentials, and there’s less impulse buying and discovery, which is what these new brands need.” Speranza is advising the brands he works with to be open to all sales channels and social media to reach and educate consumers about their products.
“Before Covid, everyone had their own zone and the supply chain was much more transactional,” he observed. “Yet, every part of that supply chain became nimble overnight. As a result, our brands will come out with stronger relationships with ingredient suppliers, co-packers and customers. This will bring some advantages in the future, as people may see they were more rigid than they needed to be, and that it may be more resilient to be nimble. It has reminded me how important a secure, transparent food supply chain system we will need in the future for people at any income level.”
Speranza also noted that “while forecasting tools were never dead on, in the old model, you weren’t off by more than 10%. In the next 10 months, efficiencies may be less because forecasts won’t be as accurate. We will need to build new data sets,” he said.
Cole Daily, EVP, Operations, Frontier Co-op
For more than 40 years, Frontier Co-op has been a leader in natural and organic herbs and spices, sourcing over 800 raw materials from more than 50 countries. “Needless to say, it made for a fluid, dynamic situation when Covid-19 hit; it was almost like watching dominoes fall when it hit China, then Southeast Asia, then Europe and then the U.S.,” said Cole Daily, Frontier’s EVP of Operations.
“Because the spice industry is uniquely vulnerable to outside forces, we have built a resilient supply chain by having alternative sources,” Daily said. “We’ve built some redundancy into our supply chain because, as they say, when Russia Sneezes, Poland gets a cold, which is very poignant right now. When you are sourcing from over 50 countries, something is bound to go wrong. As such, we are always planning for contingencies, but this is at a scale that is absolutely unprecedented.”
Daily noted that it hasn’t been so much a raw materials issue as it has been skyrocketing demand – company sales were up 100% for the latest four weeks in April, based on SPINS data, “and we are still tracking strongly, up over 36%, based on anecdotal IRI tracking data,” he said.
“The squeeze has been on the packaging side of things. After everyone emptied the shelves during the pantry loading period, refilling them has been a bit of a challenge. There’ve been short delays but we are beginning to normalize now. We’ve added new manufacturing lines and we are pretty much working nonstop to meet the overwhelming demand,” Daily said.
Frontier Co-op deals directly with farmers because, said Daily, who has been with the company 28 years, “We don’t want the inventory sitting overseas. We want it in our warehouse. In general, we go a little heavier on our inventories, which has helped in the current situation. Our suppliers are increasing their capacity right along with us and making sure they do it in a safe manner, but the $64,000 question is how do we forecast right now? We’re doing our best to plan now for all types of products and to make sure we are out ahead of the demand. The resiliency we’ve built into our supply chain helps us, as we can go to these sources to increase buying, if needed.
For Daily, he has learned a few things during the coronavirus crisis. “The resiliency of people throughout the world, not just outside your front door, but the farmers throughout the world, the processors, and here in Iowa, the work ethic is incredible. Everyone is trying to do their best; we’re continuing to work through it, sometimes alone, but everyone together.”
Nikki Nolbertowicz, Midwest Regional VP, Presence Marketing
“Before the Covid crisis, products including soup and cereal were slow. Now, there’s a joke that there’s no ramen available in the distribution centers,” said Nikki Nolbertowicz. As Midwest Regional VP for Presence Marketing, she manages distributor relations nationwide for the leading independent sales brokerage firm, which celebrates its 30th anniversary in business this year.
When distributors have to solve out of stock situations, it can create opportunities for other brands, Nolbertowicz noted. “For example, a distributor might try to bring other rice brands in, or find alternative products to fulfill current demand,” she said. “Consumers, too, are either trying other brands or new products, or looking online.” Over the past few months, distributors Nikki works with in ecommerce sales have seen an uptick three times their standard volume, and could have sold more if it were not for being out of stock on certain items, she said.
For brick and mortar stores, shopping habits have changed – consumers want to make less stops, so the average basket amount has gone up, Nikki observed. “There’ll be limited travel this summer and the kids will be home more with many activities being cancelled or delayed, so there will be more meals at home. For people whose jobs have not been impacted, they are beginning to splurge in grocery stores again, with an emphasis on self-care. For consumers that have been negatively impacted financially from the pandemic, they are looking at value products. Later in the year, many people will look to do more with less for the upcoming holidays with their families. Distributors are starting to think about that now,” she said.
Acknowledging that the concern is real for manufacturers in making sure they can meet the needs of retailers and distributors, Nolbertowicz noted that the industry overall has done an impressive job in responding to the pandemic. “I give everyone we work with – distributors, retailers, manufacturers – a lot of credit. Under the circumstances, they’ve done an amazing job and have been flexible, nimble and have upped their communications game. Getting the message out is more important than ever; with none, there is chaos.”
For Nikki, she believes that this has been an optimistic time for the natural products industry. “It has given new life to manufacturers and independent retailers, and has changed some consumer behaviors where people will be focused on cooking meals in the home and more time with family. Life will go back to some sort of normalcy, but the experience of family meals and quality time – people will want that to continue, which just helps our industry. This experience has given us all a chance to pause, refocus, and reprioritize in our work and personal lives what is most important. That will resonate for more than just the short term,” she said.
Bill Evans, CEO, Kalona SuperNatural
As a small scale, certified organic, grass fed dairy producer, Kalona SuperNatural has built resiliency into its supply chain by working not only with its own community of Amish and Mennonite dairy farmers in Eastern Iowa, but also by becoming expert in sourcing and brokering organic milk from throughout the nation, said Bill Evans, CEO and founder of the company.
Also, the brand, which is growing, found itself at an advantage when the Covid-19 crisis struck because its sales are primarily in natural products grocery stores. “The conventional guys are having issues because they’ve got a large portion of their manufacturing set up for food service; there’s no place for that to go right now,” Evans said.
Since the pandemic began, Kalona has been filling distributors’ large orders. “We’ve been able to accommodate a 25-30% increase in sales volume, whereas larger producers are shorting people. Kalona SuperNatural has been more successful than others in balancing our organic milk supply,” he said.
In addition, to its own production facilities, where workers have ample space for social distancing, Kalona owns its own trucking company, which has been a big advantage in getting deliveries out during the crisis. “We have the capacity to secure additional trucking when we need it. We provide dated, perishable product, and it needs to turn quickly; that means distributors will get us unloaded, even when their docks are crowded,” Evans noted.
“We have workers that have to be here to bottle milk and load and drive trucks. We’ve been taking all precautions and those folks have felt safe coming to work. What I’m most proud about is that our team has stuck together and gotten the job done,” he said.
Brad Barnhorn, Board Member and Business Advisor
After successfully building Fantasia, a leading natural juice brand that merged with Naked Juice and was subsequently acquired by PepsiCo, Brad Barnhorn has been advising CEOs and serving on numerous boards in the natural products industry, giving him a unique perspective on what’s happening with emerging and established brands during the pandemic.
“During this period, though there may be different dimensions, the questions are the same – how do you treat your customers, employees, supply chain and other partners?” Barnhorn asked. And how do you respond to the pressure to focus on performing items, Barnhorn also asked, referring to the compulsion for companies to do “SKU rationalization” as manufacturers, as well as retailers, focus their resources on the products most in demand.
“If you’re a company with sales north of $50 million or $100 million that has great brand equity, that allows for flexibility to temporarily stop some SKUs. The tough space is when you are a mid-sized company, say in the $15 million to $20 million range, odds are if you take some SKUs out, you might not get them back in the stores. That might not be the right decision, strategically. If you’re a small brand, you might not have the market power to bring the SKUs back,” Barnhorn said.
Instead, he offers, “I might make the decision as a small company to change my production schedules. Maybe I produce the item less frequently but with higher inventory levels, try to find ways to reduce complexity, have more efficient runs, and take a risk on higher inventory. Many distributors have been more flexible with brands on their standard requirements for the amount of shelf life that needs to be remaining on the product when they receive it into their warehouses. For example, UNFI typically requires 75% of shelf life remaining, but it has been making exceptions to that. It is essential to be in close contact with your distributors on an ongoing basis to understand this dynamic, as well as other elements of working with them that may have been altered in this unique period to provide companies a measure of operating flexibility ... but also, are more than likely to change back to the previous rules of engagement in the future,” he said.
Barnhorn advises, “If you have not audited your supply chain in the past two to three years because things have been going on as normal, it’s time to analyze, talk to other manufacturers and co-packers, get up to date on the flexibility and options you have in your supply chain. Take this moment of urgency to have these conversations.”
Daniel Fabricant, CEO, Natural Products Association
As CEO of the largest trade association representing the natural products industry, Daniel Fabricant, Ph.D., is concerned about fraudulent products as consumer flock to dietary supplements to strengthen immunity and health. “Elderberry is very popular right now. There is such consumer demand and the margins are so big that we are starting to see adulterated product come out. We may see many more fakes in the market because that’s where the demand is,” Fabricant warned. “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. It may be best to stick with the brands you’ve always seen in your natural products retail store – they’re well established and trusted,” he advised.
On the plus side, Fabricant noted that 70% of Americans use supplements, though many of those have been casual users. “But now many of those consumers will take extra supplements, such as zinc and Vitamins C and D. These products will stay part of people’s regimen,” he said. However, Fabricant noted that the sports nutrition category has taken a big hit as gyms have closed down.
“The biggest thing for us as an organization was when the Department of Homeland Security issued their first guidance, there was no mention of supplement manufacturers. However, in the second guidance, we were successful in getting the language in to protect the supplements supply chain. We wanted to keep as many channels of distribution open as possible, said Fabricant.
“The supply chain in the next five to 10 years is going to be a very fast moving target. We can do manufacturing smarter and cleaner now, and there is strong interest in vertically integrating in the U.S. Also, while people say that everything is going to the Internet, there is still strong interest in going to stores; people want to go to independent retailers. Most importantly, “Fabricant advised, “as an industry, we always have to stay engaged. We are an essential business, and that messaging should never stop.”
Compass Coffee Talk, Episode 3 – The Power of Partnerships: A Conversation with Milton Zimmerman, Executive Vice President, Presence Marketing
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Compass Coffee Talk, Episode 3 – The Power of Partnerships: A Conversation with Milton Zimmerman, Executive Vice President, Presence Marketing
Need Brand Inspiration and Insight? Grab a Mug and Join the Compass Coffee Talk™ Webinar, Hosted by Natural Products Industry Leaders Bill Capsalis and Steven Hoffman
What: Compass Coffee Talk™
The Power of Partnerships: A Conversation with Milton Zimmerman
Details: Episode 3, Wednesday, June 3, 2020, 9:30am – 10:00am MDT
To Register: Click HERE, Admission is FREE
Boulder, CO (May 26, 2020) – Consumer behaviors have shifted dramatically, and the natural products and organic industry have had to shift in response to the current coronavirus crisis. Now more than ever is a critical time for brands that have had to act quickly to find new ways to work with retailers to reach consumers, all while collaborating with other key partners.
Industry expert, Milton Zimmerman, EVP, Presence Marketing, is quite familiar with the changes brands have had to make during these unknown times. That’s why Compass Coffee Talk™ is pleased to have Presence Marketing's Milton Zimmerman as their next guest on its live webcast, Wednesday, June 3, 2020, 9:30am – 10:00 am MDT.
Milton will share valuable perspectives and insights from his vital role as a broker at Presence Marketing, the nation’s leading independent natural products sales brokerage. Natural Products Industry veterans Bill Capsalis and Steven Hoffman, hosts of Compass Coffee Talk, will chat with Milton on the importance of building and sustaining strong partnerships across the supply chain from manufacturing to the distributor’s warehouse to the retail shelf — and how that has become more important than ever for new brands and established brands alike.
“We’re all trying to figure out how to best navigate through this difficult time, and that's why this month’s Compass Coffee Talk will appeal to everyone. Milton is not only a close friend, but a trusted resource who provides unmatched expert advice for natural and organic brands when they need it most,” said Steven Hoffman, Managing Partner and Founder, Compass Natural Marketing. “It’s not just what you know that counts these days, but knowing how to build, cultivate, and nurture strong partnerships that will ultimately help further your business."
Compass Coffee Talk™ features lively interactive conversations with industry leaders and experts designed to help guide entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes succeed in the marketplace. To register for the FREE Webcast, click HERE.
About Milton Zimmerman
Milton Zimmerman is a 30+ year veteran of the natural products industry and has been a partner at Presence Marketing/Dynamic Presence since 1995. Milton got his start in food marketing when he joined a Chicago-based beverage company in 1986 and was soon appointed their National Sales Manager, serving in that capacity for eight years. After a stint working for a leading natural snack food manufacturer "seasoned" Milton and prepared him for his true calling – being a broker.
Milton joined Presence Marketing/Dynamic Presence partners, Bill Weiland and Christine Tzumas, five years into the company’s maturation and has loved the ride. Milton has built great friendships throughout the industry and is proud of his relationships with retailers and manufacturers from coast to coast. Milton is a 1980 graduate of the University of Illinois and a lifelong native and active member of the Chicagoland community.
Win Coffee!
Compass Coffee Talk™ will be giving away one free bag of Colorado’s favorite Dazbog Coffee to one special attendee. Special thanks to Compass Coffee Talk™ sponsor, Dazbog Coffee!
About Compass Coffee Talk™
Compass Coffee Talk™ is hosted by natural and organic products industry veterans Bill Capsalis and Steve Hoffman and is produced by Compass Natural Marketing, a leading PR, branding, and business development agency serving the natural and organic products industry. Learn more.
Contact
Bill Capsalis, Host, 303.808.3441, bill@billcapsalis.com
Steven Hoffman, Host, 303.807.1042, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com
The 1 Percent Solution: Controversial Debate Regarding Legal THC Levels In Hemp Sets Stage for Larger Discussion at Experience Hemp SUMMER SOLSTICE, June 16-19, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The 1 Percent Solution: Controversial Debate Regarding Legal THC Levels In Hemp Sets Stage for Larger Discussion at Experience Hemp SUMMER SOLSTICE, June 16-19, 2020
Hemp Advocates Lobby to Change Rigid Government Policies. Panelists to Discuss Why the 1 Percent Ranking is the Solution for the Hemp Industry and Why The USDA’s 0.3 Percent is Arbitrary and Wrong. Join the Conversation and Have Your Voice Heard on Hemp Regulations.
What: Experience Hemp SUMMER SOLSTICE Virtual Conference and Trade Show
When: June 16-19, 2020
To Register: Click Here for FREE Registration
Denver, CO (May 21, 2020) – As the U.S. hemp market continues to evolve, so does the controversial debate between farmers and government officials regarding THC levels found in hemp plants. The discussion has drawn mixed criticism industry-wide and has gained national media attention for the government’s complex policy. That’s why organizers of NoCo Hemp Expo’s Experience Hemp SUMMER SOLSTICE Virtual Conference and Trade Show have dedicated a live webcast on the topic: The 1.0 Percent Solution - Why 0.3 Percent THC is Arbitrary and Wrong, June 18, 2:00 pm MDT.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), all domestic hemp plants must be tested for THC levels that cannot exceed 0.3 percent in THC, which differentiates legal hemp from illegal marijuana. For example, the USDA deems that if a tested hemp plant exceeds the mandated 0.3 percent at harvest, then that farmer must destroy that crop.
That mandate has not been favorable in the eyes of farmers, which has left many empty-handed in a field of green hope. Last year, according to Pew Trust's Stateline, 4,309 acres of hemp in 16 states were destroyed because those plants tested over the 0.3 percent limit. Additionally, Cannabis Business Times reports that the U.S. trails other countries, such as Thailand and Switzerland, where they have enacted the one percent rule for hemp plants.
“The hemp industry is fired up regarding this numbers game farmers are having to play with the government, which sets them up for undeserved risk. This is a crucial time for our community to unite and effectively lobby for Congress to change the ruling to one percent,” said Morris Beegle, Let’s Talk Hemp Media Co-founder and Producer of NoCo Hemp Expo. “We’re looking forward to this lively discussion at next month’s conference and hope that people take advantage of the open forum to be heard on this matter.”
Experience Hemp SUMMER SOLSTICE
The ‘One Percent’ discussion is one of six, 90-minute live webcasts that will be featured during the Experience Hemp SUMMER SOLSTICE Virtual Conference and Trade Show. Each webcast Supersession will be offered twice a day, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, June 16-18. Let’s Talk Hemp webcast hosts Morris Beegle and Rick Trojan will lead the live interactive chats with panelists and guest speakers.
Virtual Expo Halls
Attendees will also have access to the virtual Expo Halls featuring a variety of hemp businesses, brands, products, and professional services. The interactive rooms offer an opportunity to connect with hemp-based companies and keep the conversations moving forward to strengthen our industry.
Explore innovative hemp brands from around the globe
Engage, discuss and make valuable connections in the virtual Networking Lounges
Search for career opportunities and post resumes in the Job Fair Lounge
Catch footage from past hemp events in the Library
The Expo halls will remain open through Friday, June 19, with pre-recorded content, trade show, and more networking opportunities, including dozens of videos and pre-recorded content in the exclusive Let's Talk Hemp Library & Archives.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Register today for the FREE Experience Hemp SUMMER SOLSTICE Virtual Conference and Trade Show. If you participated and registered for the NoCo Hemp Expo EARTH WEEK virtual event this past May, attendees can log in on June 16, 2020, with the same email address. For Exhibitor and Sponsor interest, please click here for more information.
About Let’s Talk Hemp Media
Let's Talk Hemp is a leading media platform that focuses on “Changing the Cannabis Conversation.” We curate news, education, and information about hemp and cannabis to our podcast listeners, newsletter subscribers, and digital magazine readers so that they can learn more about the industry and get tips and tricks on the latest technologies. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and learn about everything from legal updates, farming, production, and new products entering the hemp and cannabis space. Let's Talk Hemp is a publication of the Colorado Hemp Company (a division of We Are For Better Alternatives WAFBA) focused specifically on the subject of industrial hemp and cannabis. Let’s Talk Hemp features news globally and shares the benefits of cannabis on health, energy, manufacturing, and the planet (HEMP).
About Colorado Hemp Company
The Colorado Hemp Company, the producer of the 7th Annual NoCo Hemp Expo (NoCo7), is a leading organization for the advancement and advocacy of hemp farming, processing, production, innovation, education, and legalization in the USA. The entire team is committed to researching and developing alternatives so that hemp can once again thrive and help individuals and communities throughout America and around the globe.
Contact
Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural, 303.807.1042, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com
Morris Beegle, Colorado Hemp Company, 970.541.0448, info@nocohempexpo.com
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Join Us for Episode 3 of Compass Coffee Talk with Milton Zimmerman, Presence Marketing, June 3, 11:30am EDT
Community | Conversation | Ideas | Inspiration
Take a 30-minute virtual coffee break with Compass Coffee Talk™. Hosted by natural industry veterans Bill Capsalis and Steve Hoffman, Coffee Talk features lively interactive conversations with industry leaders and experts designed to help guide entrepreneurs and businesses of any size succeed in the market for natural, organic, regenerative, hemp-derived and other eco-friendly products.
The Power of Partnerships: A Conversation with Presence Marketing’s Milton Zimmerman
Episode 3 - Wednesday, June 3, 11:30 am – Noon EDT
Zoom, Admission is Free
Join us for Episode 3 of Compass Coffee Talk™ with special guest and longtime friend and colleague Milton Zimmerman, Executive Vice President of Presence Marketing/ Dynamic Presence, the nation’s leading independent natural products sales brokerage.
As highly respected natural products brand builders, Milton will share valuable perspectives and insights from his role at Presence Marketing on the importance of building and sustaining strong partnerships across the supply chain, from manufacturing to the distributor’s warehouse to the retail shelf — and how that has become more important than ever as consumer behaviors shift dramatically in response to the coronavirus crisis, for new brands and established brands alike.
Milton Zimmerman is a 30+ year veteran of the natural products industry and has been a partner at Presence Marketing/Dynamic Presence since 1995. Milton got his start in food marketing when he joined a Chicago-based beverage company in 1986 and was soon appointed their National Sales Manager, serving in that capacity for eight years. A couple years stint working for a leading natural snack food manufacturer “seasoned” Milton and prepared him for his true calling – being a broker.
Milton joined Presence Marketing/Dynamic Presence partners, Bill Weiland and Christine Tzumas, five years into the company’s maturation and has loved the ride. Milton has built great friendships throughout the industry and is proud of his relationships with retailers and manufacturers from coast to coast. Milton is a 1980 graduate of the University of Illinois and a lifelong native and active member of the Chicagoland community.
Thanks to our Sponsor, Dazbog Coffee! They will give away one free bag of coffee on each episode of Compass Coffee Talk.
About Compass Coffee Talk™
Compass Coffee Talk™ is hosted by natural and organic products industry veterans Bill Capsalis and Steve Hoffman, and is produced by Compass Natural Marketing, a leading PR, branding and business development agency serving the natural and organic products industry. Learn more.
Grab Your Mug: Join Us for Episode 2 of Compass Coffee Talk, May 13, 11:30am EDT
Compass Coffee Talk™
COMMUNITY | CONVERSATION | IDEAS | INSPIRATION
Take a 30-minute virtual coffee break with Compass Coffee Talk™. Hosted by natural industry veterans Bill Capsalis and Steve Hoffman, Coffee Talk features lively interactive conversations with industry leaders and experts designed to help guide entrepreneurs and businesses of any size succeed in the market for natural, organic, regenerative, hemp-derived and other eco-friendly products.
Diana Mercer of ForceBrands Discusses the Job Market in the Natural Products Industry
Episode 2 - Wednesday, May 13, 11:30 am – Noon EDT
Zoom, Admission is Free
If you have lost your job, are seeking a career change during this pandemic, or have a company and need to hire more people - installment #2 of the Compass Coffee Talk series will focus on effective job transition strategies and creative approaches with Diana Mercer from Force Brands. Steven Hoffman and Bill Capsalis will talk with Diana about all the ways Force Brands helps employers find great people and job seekers find their perfect career paths. Diana is a veteran of the Natural Products Industry and has a great deal of experience and knowledge of the types of companies and positions currently available. Do your self and your career a favor and tune in to learn more!
Diana is a lifelong, passionate wellness educator, entrepreneur, and natural & organic brands expert with more than 15 years’ experience in the better-for-you space Currently, Diana is a Senior Client Strategist and Executive Recruiter with ForceBrands, the leading recruitment firm and job board for consumer brands. Diana and ForceBrands specialize in hiring and growth strategies for food, beverage, beauty, cannabis, and pet companies, connecting the best CPG talent, at all levels, to fulfilling careers.
About Compass Coffee Talk™
Compass Coffee Talk™ is hosted by natural and organic products industry veterans Bill Capsalis and Steve Hoffman, and is produced by Compass Natural Marketing, a leading PR, branding and business development agency serving the natural and organic products industry. Learn more.
Natural Products Industry Prepares for a Post-COVID Future
By Steven Hoffman
This article originally appeared in New Hope Network’s IdeaXchange and Presence Marketing’s May 2020 newsletter edition.
As the nation continued to battle the COVID-19 pandemic in April, with confirmed cases in the U.S. reaching 1 million and deaths from the disease surpassing 55,000 (more than the total number of U.S. casualties in the Vietnam War), the natural products industry, along with the mainstream food industry, found itself firmly on the frontline of the coronavirus crisis. In helping to keep food on America’s table during an unprecedented time of turmoil, sadly, this came not without some illness and casualties of its own among workers in natural foods stores and in mainstream groceries.
The month also saw farmers dumping tons of eggs, milk and fresh produce bound for restaurants, hotels, schools and other food service operations that were shuttered – product that couldn’t be re-routed – while frustratingly, grocers across the country were still struggling to keep product on the shelf as supply chains were further strained. Food banks, too, experienced long lines and shortages of staple products due in part to the demands of a record 26.5 million Americans who have filed for unemployment since mid-March.
Yet, among a bunch of bad news, retailers, distributors, manufacturers and others in the natural foods industry continued to pivot and do everything they could to serve and protect customers, minimize risk to workers, ensure inventory and respond to ever-evolving local, state and federal guidelines and shelter-in-place rules.
First, in response to a worrying number of employee illnesses, many grocers are now requiring that all workers wear face masks, though they, too, are having to compete with the federal government, hospitals and others to procure scarce Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). In addition, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) along with Kroger, Stop & Shop and others, issued a joint statement on April 27 calling on federal and state governments to designate grocery store employees as “extended first responders” or “emergency personnel.”
“We are urgently requesting our nation’s state and federal leaders temporarily designate these workers as first responders or emergency personnel,” the joint statement said. “This critical status would help ensure our essential grocery workers have priority access to testing, emergency childcare, and other protections to keep themselves and their families safe and healthy. For the sake of workers, their families, and our nation’s food supply, this action will provide grocery workers with the vital protections they deserve.”
Responding swiftly to the lack of PPE for natural foods employees, Presence Marketing worked with one of its brand partners to manufacture face masks and other protective gear to provide to industry partners in manufacturing, distribution and in stores, “plus we’re working on a retail pack for consumers,” said Christine Tzumas, COO of Presence Marketing. “Our field team has been on the front lines from the beginning of this crisis working fast and furious to serve our customers in any possible way, from helping unload trucks when they show up at the dock to lending a hand stocking store shelves,” she said.
“The biggest thing for us right now is communication – we’re communicating everything going on as quickly as possible,” Tzumas continued. “Our brand partners have been receiving weekly, fact-driven COVID-19 updates, and the response has been so positive that we want to continue it in some fashion. While we’ve been dealing with this crisis, we still can’t lose sight of what’s on the other side and what the world will look like six months out from now. Hopefully, we will be moving beyond this. Our team has blown me away every day making sure to get food on the shelves – we’re blessed to be with the people and companies we work with. You don’t hear those same stories in other industries,” Tzumas added.
Phases of a Crisis
According to natural products market research firm SPINS, we’ve seen three distinct phases in terms of consumer shopping behavior since the coronavirus crisis hit the U.S. in late February. Also, with restaurants and other out-of-home dining options accountable for roughly half of all food expenditures, with their abrupt closure, demand doubled overnight for the nation’s grocers.
By late February, consumers who had an early read on the coming pandemic were responsible for big upticks in sales of preventive care products in natural foods channels, including vitamins, dietary supplements, probiotics, and herbal and homeopathic products. This was what SPINS refers to as Phase One: Proactive Self Care and Wellbeing, according to Kathryn Peters, EVP of Business Development for SPINS, in an April 21 webinar presented by New Hope Network.
“During the weeks of February 16 and 23, when there was still just a small number of confirmed COVID cases in the U.S. and the problems in China still seemed a bit far away, there was an early band of proactive shoppers beginning to stock up in key immunity-related categories beyond the regular cold and flu season type of products. That was when self-care items also started to pop, such as hand wipes and sanitizer. By late February, people were beginning to have a hard time finding hand sanitizer in stores,” she observed.
To provide some perspective, when Phase One began, “from just the previous week, we saw some extraordinary increases in a number of areas for the week ending February 23,” Peters said, noting a 1,285% increase sales of vitamins and supplements and a 211% increase in herbal and homeopathic products sales.
“We all know what Phase Two looked like – during the weeks of March 15 and March 22 – this was the mass stock up,” Peters continued. “During this ‘Pantry Prep & Loading’ phase, virtually everything sold.” Peters noted that during this period, 15 million additional buyers bought natural products. “That is a substantial number of products being bought by shoppers that are now in pantries. Time will tell if they will become continued shoppers; hopefully, there’s been a lot of trial,” she said.
April began Phase Three: Quarantine, according to SPINS data, with upticks in sales of baking mixes, pastas and spa-related items as Americans hunkered down at home and did their best to cook for their families, and pamper themselves while not being allowed to visit salons, massage therapists or other service providers. “Households seem to be bonding over baking, whether it’s bread or desserts – Instagram is full of proud creations,” Peters said.
The New Normal
“And then there’s Phase Four – what life is going to look like on the other side,” Peters said, noting that there will be some lasting shifts in consumer behavior in the “new normal” once the health crisis subsides. With consumers homebound, re-connecting with cooking and seeking more prepared food options, grocers are being presented with an opportunity to capitalize on providing mealtime solutions – something they were having difficulty with before.
Organic produce, too, experienced a resurgence, recording a 22% sales jump in March and an 8% increase overall for the first quarter, outperforming conventional produce sales, according to the 2020 Q1 Organic Produce Performance Report published by the Organic Produce Network and Category Partners. Growth may have been even higher, but was tempered by widespread out of stock conditions during the panic buying period in mid-March. “Organic fresh produce sales in the first quarter were strong, and the impact of COVID-19 in March pushed numbers even more,” Matt Seeley, CEO of the Organic Produce Network, said. “We continue to see organic fresh produce sales outpace the dollar and volume growth rate of conventional fresh produce.”
Another lasting trend will be a continued focus on proactive self-care and personal safety – immunity supplements cleaners, wipes, masks and other related household items will continue at a high level. Also, “while comfort foods are important, we are seeing growing recognition of healthy and nutrient dense food, too. This comes with consumers’ increasing recognition that our body’s immune system is the best line of defense. Even with economic pressures, we see this continuing. We believe that this unfortunate health crisis will be a bright spot in continuing to bring health and wellness even more mainstream,” Peters of SPINS said.
“We are very concerned about those negatively economically impacted by the coronavirus crisis. If there’s one major tectonic shift, it is the march toward more and better value product offerings to lower barriers of entry from a pricing standpoint,” said Ben Nauman, Director of Purchasing for National Co+op Grocers (NCG). Nauman noted that sales in March for its retail members were up nearly 30% compared to March 2019 sales.
NCG has been helping its members coordinate distribution and supply chain issues, take advantage of government stimulus programs, and currently, it is reinvigorating a recession playbook created in 2008 to help members manage cash flow and liquidity during economic downturns. “We’re also beginning to explore what it looks like to retail in a more contactless way going forward,” Nauman added.
For Sprouts Farmers Markets, a publicly traded natural foods retailer with nearly 350 stores and 30,000 employees, “due to our brands and distributor partners, we are in good stock level considering how high our sales are, and our customers are recognizing how good we are about being in stock,” noted John Soukup, Senior Category Manager for Sprouts. The company recently expanded curbside pickup and Instacart service to all its stores. “In addition, we have been very proactive in implementing measures to help our employees feel as safe as possible,” he added, noting that all employees are required to wear masks and gloves chainwide, the stores have installed sneeze shields in all checkout lanes, and store hours have been reduced to allow for deep cleaning. In addition, “we’ve offered bonuses to our employees instead of hourly increases. However, our leadership is doing a good job in compensating – we’ve already given out two to three rounds of bonuses to the front line employees in the warehouse and in the stores,” he said.
Soukup also expressed concern about the manufacturing sector as the health crisis wears on. “We are starting to see SKU rationalization – vendors are having to prioritize what items they’re going to make. That’s going to ramp up over the next four to six weeks that could cause other out of stock issues,” he said. To help counter that, “we communicate daily with our distributors and just about weekly with our vendors. In this unprecedented time, our primary distributors, KeHE and UNFI, have done a phenomenal job. The broker community, too, including Presence Marketing, has done a great job for us in terms of serving as a liaison between the brands and what’s going on in the stores.” In times of crisis, “you understand who your partners are pretty quickly,” Soukup added.
Distributors See Fundamental Shift in Demand
At UNFI, one of the nation’s leading distributors of natural products, EVP of Supplier Services John Raiche has noted some big changes as a result of the pandemic. “The big difference between April and March is we’ve seen a fundamental shift in demand as students come home from college, people are staying home, and the food service expenditure is gone. The infrastructure was not designed to handle a sudden shift of that magnitude,” he said. While retailers are no longer placing such massive orders, there was a period of time at the end of March where on some evenings orders coming in were 400% of capacity, Raiche noted. UNFI, which also has placed a large focus on worker safety and incentives, hired more than 1,500 people since the beginning of March.
For Raiche, flexibility and communication are key right now. “We are trying to be as flexible and creative as possible with our suppliers on purchase orders, and we are trying to communicate with the industry and reach out to suppliers to share with them what we see, to offer to work with them, and to provide updates in terms of demand and opportunity,” he said.
“For the team here internally, from receivers and collectors to drivers and the supply management team, there’s a real sense of purpose. People are open to working longer hours and doing whatever is needed. We’re spending a tremendous amount of time thinking about what the future holds, Raiche shared. “When it started, many people were thinking it would be like a light switch. Everything I read is that any transition back to normalcy will take place over a good amount of time. For our manufacturers, this demand is not going to go back to the old normal anytime soon.”
At KeHE Distributors, “our first priority is the safety of warehouse associates, professional drivers and in-store sales reps – the ones that are so important, the critical essential workers in this situation, said Scott Weber, EVP of Merchandising. “Our second priority is servicing retailers and suppliers to try to keep up with unprecedented demand. We’ve developed partnerships with food service distributors to align all our capacity to meet the massive demand in our industry. The third priority is giving back. Through our KeHE Cares philanthropic program, we are supporting those most affected by the COVID crisis.”
Weber added that while it may be a difficult time to introduce new products, “our overall category management and merchandising team remains heavily focused on innovation because we know that when those retailers get back to new items and category reviews, we’ve got to have a robust line to offer.” As such, KeHE revamped a “Trend Finder” event, originally scheduled for Natural Products Expo West, into a virtual event in order to meet with new suppliers. “The most important thing right now is working with our suppliers to ensure we have the flow of inbound product to KeHE that enables us to serve our customers,” he said.
Blair Kellison, CEO of Traditional Medicinals, a pioneering manufacturer of natural and organic teas, remarked that sales of tea in grocery was up 41% in the last month – “unheard of!” he exclaimed. Kellison often comes to work at 6:00 am to stand in the parking lot “just so I can say thank you to our workers,” he said. “If the workers are coming here every day, I should be here every day. These 120 workers are keeping our entire company going.”
Virginia Legalizes CBD as an Ingredient in Food & Beverage Products
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam; Photo Credit: Wikipedia
By Steven Hoffman
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam on April 16 signed into law landmark legislation legalizing the use of cannabinoid extracts, such as CBD, derived from industrial hemp as an ingredient in food and beverage products.
The measure states that “industrial hemp extract…is a food and is subject to applicable laws and regulations,” which will be administered by the Virginia Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The bill further states that “’industrial hemp extract’ means an extract (i) of a Cannabis sativa plant that has a concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol that is no greater than that allowed for hemp by federal law and (ii) that is intended for human consumption.”
Senate Bill 918, sponsored by state Senator David Marsden (D-Fairfax), will help guide the industrial hemp industry in Virginia by “regulating facility conditions and requirements for the production of hemp-derived products intended for human consumption,” reported NBC News. The bill… “gives validity to the CBD industry,” Charlotte Wright, a Virginia hemp farmer and owner of CBD company Hemp Queenz, told NBC News.
The bill authorizes the Virginia Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services to adopt regulations establishing contaminant tolerances, labeling requirements, and batch testing requirements. In addition, it provides that moneys collected under the chapter shall be deposited in the Virginia Industrial Hemp Fund, created by the bill. The bill directs the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry to report by Nov. 1, 2020, a plan for the long-term sustainability of funding for the state’s industrial hemp program.
The new law presumably will apply only to products meant to be produced and consumed within Virginia. The use of hemp-derived cannabidiol extract (CBD) in foods and beverage products and dietary supplements is still technically prohibited in interstate commerce, because the FDA has so far refused to recognize CBD as a safe food ingredient.
“While we commend the State of Virginia for taking the initiative to regulate products, we are concerned that a patchwork of state laws could confuse consumers and fail to provide all of the necessary federal safeguards, including setting a safe level of daily consumption for CBD. Unfortunately, this is another example of the states filling a vacuum created by the federal government’s inaction. We have promised to work with policymakers in Virginia and across the country to make real progress on regulating the growing CBD marketplace,” said Daniel Fabricant, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Natural Products Association.
In a letter to Governor Northam dated April 21, 2020, Fabricant wrote, “Congratulations on being the first state to declare cannabidiol (CBD) as a food under the law of the Commonwealth. With the signing of Senate Bill 918 into law, we wanted to inquire about the Administration and Board’s plans for implementation of the law, especially in light of the position of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Despite the agency’s actions and message, the market for CBD products in the US is surging and consumers are confused, Fabricant continued. “With these factors in mind, is the goal of the Commonwealth to challenge the current position of the FDA with regard to CBD or, is it to work with them on developing a Federal Standard with regards to CBD safety and quality standards?” he asked.
Grab Your Mug: Join Us for the Debut Episode of Compass Coffee Talk, April 29, 11:30am EDT
Welcome to Compass Coffee Talk™
Community | Conversation | Ideas | Inspiration
Take a 30-minute virtual coffee break with Compass Coffee Talk™. Hosted by natural industry veterans Bill Capsalis and Steve Hoffman, Coffee Talk features lively interactive conversations with industry leaders and experts designed to help guide entrepreneurs and businesses of any size succeed in the market for natural, organic, regenerative, hemp-derived and other eco-friendly products.
Frank Talk: The Stimulus, Taxes and the PPP
Episode 1 - Wednesday, April 29, 11:30 am – Noon EDT
Zoom, Admission is Free
So many businesses in America are applying for Covid-19 stimulus relief through the Small Business Administration and the Payroll Protection Program that SBA temporarily shut down its website to new applicants. Other businesses have applied for stimulus grants and loans, but have been waiting and waiting for a response.
Join us for the debut episode of Compass Coffee Talk™ with special guest and longtime friend Jim Frank, one of the nation’s leading tax attorneys. Jim will share tips and insights as you navigate your business through these uncertain economic times.
Jim Frank is a tax attorney with over 35 years of experience working with individuals and families operating closely held businesses and real estate interests. His experience covers the full spectrum of the business lifecycle, from business formation to tax efficient succession and transfer planning. A graduate of Penn State University and Temple University School of Law, Jim has authored numerous articles and training programs for financial professionals regarding financial, investment and estate planning. He regularly teaches continuing education programs for attorneys and CPAs. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, and the Philadelphia Estate Planning Council.
About Compass Coffee Talk™
Compass Coffee Talk™ is hosted by natural and organic products industry veterans Bill Capsalis and Steve Hoffman, and is produced by Compass Natural Marketing, a leading PR, branding and business development agency serving the natural and organic products industry. Learn more.
Snack Time Means Business: Gut Happy Cookies™ Sets New Standard in “Good For You” Functional Foods Category
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Snack Time Means Business: Gut Happy Cookies™ Sets New Standard in “Good For You” Functional Foods Category
Clinical Studies Prove Innovative Prebiotic Treats Created by Expert Dietitian are Good for the Gut, Support Healthy Digestion, and Bridge the Gap Between Nutrition and Taste. Fiber-Rich, Protein-Dense, Flavorful Cookies Meets Consumer Demand for Keto-Friendly, Low Sugar Snack
New York, NY (April 8, 2020) – Uplift Food, known as an innovative force in science-based nutrition, is pleased to announce the launch and availability of its new prebiotic Gut Happy Cookies™ line – salted peanut butter with chocolate and coconut; sunflower butter with vanilla and chia; and salted almond butter with vanilla and hemp seeds. Each globally-inspired, scientifically supported sandwich cream cookie was individually created and formulated by internationally renowned Dietitian Kara Landau, the first dietitian to create a functional food company focused exclusively on the supportive benefits between mood and gut health. That impressive innovation caught the eye of global food giant Mondelez International's new venture arm, SnackFutures, which provided Uplift Food with its first investment and allowed Landau the opportunity to create new products, such as the new Gut Happy Cookies™ line and redefine the “good for you” functional food category.
Gut Happy Cookies™ is positioned to disrupt the "better for you" snack category and sets a new standard with its "good for you" mission. Made with 100% plant-based, fiber-dense, resistant starches and four unique prebiotic-rich ingredients, including a heavy dose of powerful probiotics (one billion colony forming units), Gut Happy Cookies™ supports proper digestion and promotes immune health. Powered by a unique proprietary blend of lupin beans, tigernuts, tapioca fiber, kiwifruit, and probiotics, Gut Happy Cookies™ promote the growth of good lactobacillus bacteria, as well as the production of the short chain fatty acid, butyrate, which is known to reduce inflammation in the body.
“I created Gut Happy Cookies™ to provide the body with nutrients that support good gut, digestion and immune health benefits. Unlike other health food products on the market that sprinkle a touch of “superfoods," Uplift Food products have been formulated to provide whole-food derived nutrients that are supported by science and are known to have a positive benefit on the body,” said Kara Landau, Founder of Uplift Food and Media Dietitian Representative for the Global Prebiotic Association, USA. “Each delicious morsel has been created to provide the body with the nutrients it needs and the flavors a health conscious consumer craves. With our cookies, snack time just got a whole lot gut happier!”
Landau and her team at Uplift Food are committed to offering prebiotics in their new line of sandwich cream cookies, catering to all specialty diets, including those who follow a gluten-free, dairy-free, non-GMO, nut-free and vegan lifestyle. Adds Landau, “We’re not just another cookie with marketing claims. That’s why we performed a clinical study by an accredited university, which confirmed that gut health benefits increased after patients consumed one serving per day for a week. This data proves that our unique blend of gut happy nutrients supports good digestion and ultimately helps the body feel uplifted."
Portable Nutrition from the Convenience of a Cookie
Uplift Food’s signature Gut Happy Cookies™ contain less than a teaspoon of sugar, are made without artificial ingredients or sugar alcohols, and provide less than 160 calories per serving, which make them a convenient and nourishing breakfast or snack option. Also, Gut Happy Cookies™ combines a powerful punch of prebiotic soluble fiber, prebiotic resistant starch, and insoluble fiber (13g), which fuels the growth of good bacteria in the gut.
Recognized as a game-changer for delivering innovative products that not only taste delicious but also are better for consumers. Uplift Food – Gut Happy Cookies™ are available in three varieties on upliftfood.com and in the coming month on Amazon:
Salted Peanut Butter with Chocolate and Coconut: The perfect combination of peanut butter and chocolate in one delicious morsel.
Sunflower Butter with Vanilla + Chia: Made without nuts, this cookie packs sweet and savory – perfect portable snacking for breakfast or dessert.
Salted Almond Butter with Vanilla and Hemp Seeds: Fuel the gut with the antioxidant power of almonds and hemp. A delicious and fulfilling snack for any time!
About Uplift Food Founder and Dietitian Kara Landau
Kara Landau, a New York City-based, Australian Registered Dietitian, is a previous spokesperson for the Dietitians Association of Australia, and is now the Nutrition Advisor Media Representative for the Global Prebiotic Association, USA. Kara is a trusted and respected voice in the world of gut health and prebiotics globally. As the Founder of Uplift Food, she successfully secured the company’s first investment with global food giant Mondelez International's new venture arm, SnackFutures. Through Kara's efforts, Uplift Food was able to receive investment within the first year of launch and is now a disrupter in the "better for you" cookie category. Kara has set the new standard of "good for you" gut health-focused cookies.
About Uplift Food
Founded by one of the leading prebiotic gut health experts, Uplift Food is the world’s first dietitian created functional food brands to focus exclusively on the mood supportive benefits of gut health prebiotics. The company is leading the way in the prebiotic gut health plant-based revolution, by creating innovative, healthy and great-tasting premium whole food-derived products that make it easy for consumers to go 'gut healthy’ without compromise. The company also leads the next wave of gut health snack innovation and is the first to launch a prebiotic focused sandwich cream cookie line that is scientifically supported to promote good gut health.
Contact
Kara Landau, Registered Dietitian and Founder of Uplift Food, 917.251.4838, klandau@upliftfood.com
Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural, 303.807.1042, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com
For any sales information, please contact:
Jerry Schwartz, Head of Growth, +1.973.886.4877, Jerry@upliftfood.com
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