organic
sustainable furniture made from agricultural waste
Terra Bio Furniture: simple and super-sustainable stools from the Tel Aviv-based designer Adital Ela. Looking like mud-covered beehives or chocolate bollards, the stools are made of compacted earth, construction debris and organic wastes like spent agricultural fibers and cow flop. Despite requiring little energy to fabricate (mostly elbow grease), their shape makes them strong enough to support quite copious rumps. And if they do break or you get bored of them, you can just wet the material and reuse it to sculpt new furniture.
Ela’s long been interested in products that promote sustainability and community empowerment, like a rainwater-collection funnel that neighbors can socialize under and a line of recycled-textile accessories meant to economically support a refugee camp. For “Terra Bio Furniture,” she challenged herself as a “designer-gatherer” by building chairs and lampshades with environmental ingredients that most people would consider worthless. The first step was finding all the waste material and mixing it into a sticky, grassy sludge. She pressed this stuff into molds and applied pressure – sometimes by standing on it – allowing it to harden into domed bricks.
She then shined the objects with flax oil, bottomed them with latex to prevent slippage and boom, she had herself some stools (in more than one sense of the word). Here’s Ela with a bit more detail on her all-natural furniture:
the objects can be produced anywhere with local earth and agricultural residue, require zero energy, create no pollution and are fully renewable and compostable. the series is developed using a unique compression process that combines indigenous knowledge and contemporary production methods. at the end of its lifecycle the objects can be either re-molded by the user or simply returned to earth. the grey objects for example, are made from left-over earth extracted from a significant archeological site in Jerusalem – creating a unique and rare natural sense and scent to every room.
You can see the bio-stools and shades at the 2013 Milan Design Week.
[via: The Atlantic Cities]
mushroom technology to replace plastic foam packaging
Ecovative Design is transforming the typical packing, creating an eco-friendly alternative to Styrofoam made from mushrooms. Their goal: to create a viable, eco-friendly alternative to the plastics industry and particularly to polystyrene, the versatile synthetic polymer best known for Styrofoam cups and packing peanuts.
Mushroom® Packaging - a compostable packaging alternative made of agricultural waste and mycelium, a fungal network of threadlike cells that is like the “roots” of mushrooms. The mycelium digests the agricultural byproducts, binding them like a natural, non-toxic glue into a structural material. This is being used to create next generation biocomposite materials, replacing plastic foams and dense materials like particle board.
Beyond packing alternatives, Ecovative Design is constantly developing new uses for the product and could eventually replace plastics in a variety of industries and applications. In fact, GOOD reports Ecovative will be working with its strategic partner, Sealed Air, to build a second factory in the U.S. and continuing to improve its sustainable material’s performance and price.
8 in 10 parents buy organic
U.S. families are increasingly embracing organic products in a wide range of categories, with 81 percent now reporting they purchase organic at least sometimes. This finding is one of many contained in the Organic Trade Association’s (OTA’s) newly released 2013 U.S. Families’ Organic Attitudes and Beliefs Study, conducted Jan. 18 to 24, 2013.
“More and more parents choose organic foods primarily because of their desire to provide healthful options for their children,” said Christine Bushway, OTA’s CEO and executive director.
Not only are more consumers choosing organic products at least sometimes, but the majority of those buying organic foods are purchasing more items than a year earlier. New entrants to buying organic now represent 41 percent of all families—demonstrating interest in the benefits of organic food and farming is on the rise.
Produce continues to be the leading category of organic purchases, with 97 percent of organic buyers saying they had purchased organic fruits or vegetables in the past six months. Breads and grains, dairy and packaged foods were also frequently cited (all scoring above 85 percent) among those who purchase organic. Families choosing organic foods are increasingly important to retailers of all types, with organic buyers reporting spending more per shopping trip, and shopping more frequently than those who never purchase organic food.
Consistent with findings from previous studies, nearly half (48 percent) of those who purchase organic foods said they do so because they are “healthier for me and my children.” Additionally, parents’ desire to avoid toxic and persistent pesticides and fertilizers (30 percent), antibiotics and growth hormones (29 percent), and genetically modified organisms (22 percent) ranked high among the reasons cited for buying organic products.
Awareness of the USDA Organic seal has also grown, with more consumers more likely to look for the seal when shopping for organic products. Moreover, over 4 in 10 parents (42 percent) say their trust in organic products has increased, versus 32 percent who indicated this point of view a year ago. In fact, younger, new-to-organic parents are significantly more likely to report improved levels of trust in organic products.
“Consumer trust is on the upswing for organic as the gold standard when seeking to avoid toxic and persistent pesticides, antibiotics, synthetic hormones, genetically engineered ingredients, and additives,” Bushway added.
Study findings, gathered in partnership with KIWI Magazine, are based on responses from 1,239 U.S. households about their attitudes and behaviors related to organic foods. The report provides in-depth information about organic consumers’ demographics, purchase motivation, labeling comprehension, shopping patterns, and more.
The 2013 U.S. Families’ Organic Attitudes and Beliefs Study is available for purchase.
[via NewHope 360]
foerstel’s package design selected for eye-catching excellence
Our Beanfields Bean & Rice Chips package design was recently included in a select group that was recognized by newhope360 for being an eye-catching design at Expo West 2013.
“How do you stand out on shelf? These 30 companies at Natural Products Expo West 2013 have figured out a way through color and attention-grabbing typography.”
This striking package design was created by our Creative Director Claudia Button.
build a vertical garden with recycled cups
Vertical gardens are a fun way to bring greenery indoors or to small patios and yards.
Turkish design firm Designnobis has created a living wall system with an upcycled twist: Their Naturwall allows anyone to create their own vertical garden using disposable cups. Rather than ending up in the landfill, coffee cups take on a second life as plant pots in the Naturwall system, which includes an aluminum metal frame with 10-12 cup holders. Users can set up the living wall in any arrangement that fits the size and type of their plants.
Designnobis believes that these vertical garden systems benefit the environment by not only reducing plastic waste, but also by increasing the number of plants indoors and in small outdoor spaces, which can help absorb carbon emissions. The Naturwall received the 2008 Green Dot Build Award, which recognizes innovative design and architecture that achieves the highest level of environmental responsibility.
[via Earth 911]
a magical paper extends the shelf life of produce, organically
Have you ever come home from the market with armfuls of fresh fruits and vegetables only to find them wilting and rotting in the fridge a mere week later? Or even get home from your local produce market with a box full and anxiously scarf down pounds of fruit before it goes bad? So, the question presents itself: How do we keep produce fresh from farm to fork for an extended amount of time, and thus reduce food waste? The solution came from Kavita Shukla who didn’t necessarily set out to solve the issue; her innovation developed from her middle school science project.
After years of research and development Fenugreeen FreshPaper was founded in 2010. The small magic squares of spice-infused paper were developed as a remarkably effective way to keep food fresh - extending the shelf life of produce up to four times longer than usual.
The exact combination of herbs and spices used in FreshPaper is proprietary, of course, however the only ingredient Shukla will reveal is fenugreek, a spice often used in Indian cooking, which also lent its name to her company.
How it works:
“It basically works by inhibiting bacterial and fungal growth, as well as the enzymes that cause fruit to over-ripen,” Shukla explains. “The concept is that you can just drop a sheet into a drawer or carton. Sometimes people put it into a fruit bowl. Our customers call it a ‘dryer sheet for produce.’” Each certified organic and biodegradable sheet lasts about two to three weeks, until its distinctive maple-like scent begins to fade. “That’s how you know it’s no longer active,” Shukla explains.
Today, FreshPaper is used by farmers and families across the world and most recently has been made available in Whole Foods Markets. The growing distribution has allowed her to pursue her efforts to begin a “get one, give one” program benefiting local food banks, starting with those affected by Hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey. Shukla says the brand has grown entirely by word of mouth, and credits much of this grassroots energy to increased environmental awareness in consumers.
“As we start to learn more about what’s going on with food waste, we realize that there’s water involved, there’s energy costs, land, resources, that go into creating the food that we eat,” she says. “And with the economy, people are becoming much more conscious of being wasteful at home, because they know not only are they struggling, but there are people in the U.S. that have no access to fresh food at all. It seems that everyone is coming to understand the importance of buying less or conserving what we have, and how that fits into the larger food crisis.”
Fenugreen is a social enterprise with the mission of “Fresh for All.”
[sources: FreshPaper, Fast Co.]
janie hoffman, founder and CEO of mamma chia, named “person of the year”
Here at Foerstel, we’d like to extend a massive congrats to Mamma Chia’s very own founder and CEO, Janie Hoffman. Hoffman was awarded “Person of the Year” at the annual BevNET Best of 2012 ceremony. We’re honored your company has chosen to do business with us. Congratulations, Janie!
Janie Hoffman, founder and CEO of Mamma Chia, a conscious and sustainable company that offers delicious, high quality, organic chia-based beverages, has been named “Person of the Year” at the 10th annual BevNET Best of 2012 awards. Hoffman is recognized for her impact on the beverage industry, including the creation of an entirely new category - the first chia-based beverage - as well as a leader in category sales and growth.
“Receiving this recognition from BevNET is both extremely rewarding and humbling-it really puts into perspective what the Mamma Chia team has accomplished in a relatively short period of time and acknowledges our innovation as the creator of the chia beverage category,” said Hoffman. “In a little more than two years, I’ve watched Mamma Chia grow from a delicious beverage I developed in my kitchen to now being a brand leader in the functional juice category. Best of all, we’re making a difference in people’s lives by providing a convenient way for them to increase their natural vitality with the powerhouse ingredient of chia.”
Since launching nationally in fall 2011 as the first-to-market chia seed beverage, Mamma Chia has experienced quadruple-digit growth and continues to expand rapidly. The company unveiled three new vitality beverages earlier this year-Grapefruit Ginger, Guava Mamma and Kiwi Lime-bringing the Mamma Chia product portfolio to nine varieties that are gluten-free, vegan, non-GMO, kosher and certified organic by the USDA. The brand was also honored with the BevNET “Best Non‐Carbonated Beverage Award” in 2011.
With a superior taste and a powerful synergy of nutrients, each 10 oz. bottle of Mamma Chia features more than a day’s worth of omega-3s (2500 mg), 25 percent of daily fiber, 4 g of complete protein and 95 mg of calcium, plus powerful antioxidants and valuable minerals. Mamma Chia is available nationwide at natural food stores such as Whole Foods Market, as well as mainstream grocery stores like Ralphs, The Fresh Market and Wegmans for a suggested retail price of $3.49 per bottle.
BevNET is recognized as the preeminent resource for beverage industry information. Its editorial mission to assist in increasing retail beverage sales led to the establishment of the “Best of” awards as a reference map for the developing beverage landscape.
[via: New Hope 360°]
BevNET.com, the leading beverage-oriented media company in the U.S., is pleased to announce its Best of 2012 award winners. Selecting from a pool of nearly 300 new product introductions, brand revamps, and line extensions, an overarching theme of health and wellness dominated this year’s list of winners. From cold pressed, high-pressure processed juices, to emerging functional ingredients, to natural sources of energy, the 17 award winners represent brands that have become key drivers of innovation in the beverage industry, and ones that BevNET expects to remain at the forefront of new growth in an ever-evolving marketplace.
power swing
A pop-up art installation outside the International Centre for the Arts in Guimarães, Portugal, the art collective Moradavaga added a modern, industrial twist to the swing set. What was used to be a self-contained pleasure of swinging - where the work and reward are equal, Moradavaga has installed a little bit of light, powered solely by the motion of the swings. Creating the perfect blend of power technology and energy efficiency with a favorite childhood pastime.
According to the company’s website:
SWING, is an interactive and playful installation conceived by Moradavaga for the Pop Up Culture program promoted by Guimarães 2012 - European Capital of Culture.
Based on the principle of swinging to produce electricity, SWING is also an ode to the rich industrial heritage of Guimarães, reflected in its mechanical devices and sounds evocative of the ones once produced in the factories of the city.
The base structure, made of re-usable wooden pallets (sponsored by Palsystems), serves as a podium for the swings at the same time that it contains the hidden electrical system. Traditional hemp rope, wooden beams, bicycle chains, wheels, dynamos and lights complete the material palette used in the installation giving it an “old-style” look and a low-tech kind of feel.
mamma chia featured in the new york times
Amongst the buzz of Thanksgiving turkeys and cranberry sauce, one of our favorite clients received a great writeup in The New York Times. Congrats Mamma Chia on the press, we love your product and we are so thankful to have you as a client.
30 Years After Chia Pets, Seeds Hit Food Aisles
By STEPHANIE STROM
Published: November 23, 2012
Janie Hoffman founded Mamma Chia, whose fruit juices with chia seeds are sold nationwide. Photo by: Sandy Huffaker
First there were Chia Pets; now there are chia people.Ubiquitous in television ads that began 30 years ago, Chia Pets were called “the pottery that grows.” Mixing chia seeds and water on the outside of an animal-shaped terra-cotta figurine produces a plant resembling green hair almost overnight.
Now, chia is having a second life as a nutritional “it” item. Whole and ground chia seeds are being added to fruit drinks, snack foods and cereals and sold on their own to be baked into cookies and sprinkled on yogurt. Grown primarily in Mexico and Bolivia, chia, like fish, is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, though of a different sort. It also has antioxidants, protein and fiber. Recognition of its nutritional value can be traced as far back as the Aztecs.
Companies like Dole and Nature’s Path have introduced chia products, which have begun showing up on shelves in mainstream grocery stores like Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons. Mintel, a market research firm, counted 100 products containing chia in a presentation it did in March on the potential of increasing the use of the seeds in dairy products.
“About two years ago, our retailers came to us and said, ‘We need you to be in this business everyone is talking about, the business of chia seeds,’ ” said Michael P. Hirsch, vice president of Joseph Enterprises, which sells Chia Pets and other novelty products and has now added chia seeds and milled chia called - what else? - Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia Omega.
Last spring, high demand collided with weather patterns that depressed production, raising prices and the awareness that chia had moved beyond the realm of health food stores into the broader market.
Fruit juices with suspended chia seeds at Janie Hoffman's home in Bonsall, Calif. Photo by: Sandy Huffaker
Janie Hoffman, founder of Mamma Chia fruit juices, was one of the first people to recognize chia’s potential as a food. She was complaining about flax seed - “I hate how you have to grind it and then it goes rancid” - to a friend, who asked why she wasn’t using chia instead. “She said it had no taste, it’s high in antioxidants, huge in omega-3, a far superior seed,” Ms. Hoffman said. “In short, she made me feel like an idiot - no one was using flax seed anymore.”
So she bought some chia seeds online and was quickly sold on their benefits. “I started incorporating it into everything I was eating,” she said. “Stir fries, yogurt, beverages - there really wasn’t anything in my kitchen that didn’t have chia in it.”
In 2009, Ms. Hoffman developed fruit juices with chia seeds suspended in them. (Exposure to liquid gives the seeds a sticky, gelatinous coating, which is how they bond to the terra-cotta pets.)
“My first sales call a year and a half later was to Whole Foods in the southern Pacific region,” she said. “I walked in to meet the buyer and presented this chia beverage and said I would like it to go into a few stores. She said, ‘No, I want you in all of them’ ” - about 40 stores - “and that was that.”
Within 11 months, Mamma Chia products were in Whole Foods stores across the nation, as well as in hundreds of bodegas and health and natural foods stores. They are now sold in Ralphs and Vons stores and will soon be in Albertsons.
“I personally think demand for it will grow for sure, though how big it will get is still a question,” said Brad C. Bartlett, president of Dole Food Company’s packaged foods business.
Dole chose chia as the first ingredient it would promote in its new Nutrition Plus line of products, which aim to provide a functional benefit to consumers. It won out over other candidates, Mr. Bartlett said, because of its long history as a source of nutrition - the Aztecs used it for many purposes - and because it does not require much processing to confer its benefits.
The company does independent clinical testing on each product in the Nutrition Plus line to back up claims it makes about their health benefits, and it was surprised by one finding: significantly more alpha-linolenic acid in omega-3 reached the bloodstream and was converted into eicosapentaenoic acid, a long-chain fatty acid considered good for the heart, when the seeds were milled rather than whole.
“That came as quite a surprise, and we stopped the rollout and reformulated our clusters to use milled chia instead of whole seeds,” Mr. Bartlett said, referring to Dole’s Chia & Fruit Clusters.
Nature’s Path, an organic cereal company, introduced its first chia-laced cereal, Apple Crumble Love Crunch, last December, and now has eight products that include the seed in some form. “Business has been great with these products - overwhelmingly positive and, perhaps surprisingly, not just in health food stores but also in regular grocery stores,” said Arjan Stephens, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Nature’s Path.
Mr. Stephens said chia’s nutritional attributes, along with its many uses in food processing, could turn it into a staple. “It can be used in gluten-free breads or waffles to add fluffiness or to replace eggs in vegan products,” he said. “It offers an alternative to those with nut allergies.”
Mr. Hirsch, the Joseph Enterprises vice president, was less certain that chia would be a blockbuster, even though his company is adding protein bars to its line of edible chia products, which are sold in Walgreens, CVS and other drugstores. He said he was concerned about the supply of chia seeds, which are harvested once a year and grown in rotation, usually with corn.
Australia has recently joined Mexico and Bolivia in the chia-production act with its own type of seed that is grown somewhat differently, Mr. Hirsch said. But it is a difficult crop to grow outside of the traditional areas, and the market is tiny, about $70 million.
“Everybody is looking at this because everybody is always looking for something new,” Mr. Hirsch said. “I also know from the sales at this point it’s a niche market still, and we don’t know how big the niche is yet.”
If that niche fails to expand, there will always be another Chia Pet. This year, Chia Hello Kitty is joining the lineup.
—
[via: The New York Times ]
A version of this article appeared in print on November 24, 2012, on page B1 of the New York edition with the headline: 30 Years After Chia Pets, Seeds Hit Food Aisles.
oprah’s organics to hit the shelves
AP
It appears that the media mogul Oprah Winfrey is venturing into the organic food business. Several applications for “Oprah’s Organics” were filed last month, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office. The filings indicated toiletry items such as soaps, oils, hair products, and sunscreen, as well as expanding into food products like salad dressings, frozen vegetables, soups and more. In addition, applications for “Oprah’s Farm” and “Oprah’s Harvest” were also submitted. According to the New York Post:
The addresses for the applicant’s include the Wilshire Boulevard addresses of Winfrey’s business and the Chicago address of Winfrey’s Harpo Inc., offices. Winfrey, who launched her own girls’ school in South Africa and has topped Forbes’ list of highest-paid celebrities this year earning an estimated $165 million, already owns hundreds of acres in Maui, which include a large farm and a bed and breakfast. A rep for Winfrey told us: “The trademarks were filed for Oprah’s farm on Maui to enable the farm to grow and distribute produce on Maui and throughout the Hawaiian Islands.”
What sounds like a forward-thinking business venture expanding from Oprah Winfrey’s empire could be more than just a publicity stunt or even “fall-back plan” as O.W.N struggles to survive on television.
As a savvy businesswoman, Oprah may have identified the organic market as a commercially viable space that she can easily dominate on store shelves. If she can get millions of viewers to read books together, she could definitely get millions of consumers to buy her organic brands. So how would this affect the industry at-large?
Some are saying this would spawn an “Oprah Effect” in organics, similar to “Dr. Oz Effect” within the natural products industry. Oprah was the catalyst that launched Dr. Oz into celebrity status, essentially building his brand and image.
It is unlikely we will see an increase in organic produce growth as her Hawaiian farm is limited to inter-island distribution. However, once her brands meet organic certification, we might see some serious competition on the mainland in organic salad dressings, beverages, packaged foods and even personal care products.
Competition is a good thing. Savvy customers reaching for Oprah’s brands will instinctively compare prices with established organic brands. Customers who may have never purchased organic goods before will seek Oprah’s for the sake of novelty, and perhaps continue with a new buying habit.
A line of Oprah-branded organic foods has the potential to reach more people, thus expanding access to areas where organic is not currently recognized or valued. With this in mind, along with a healthier farming environmental impact in Hawaii, we’d like to welcome Oprah to the organic scene.
[sources: NY Post, New Hope 360]
