Top Natural Foods Industry Podcast Features D.C. Food Accelerator Union Kitchen and Its Model for Revitalizing Inner-City Food Entrepreneurship

Compass Natural’s Coffee Talk Highlights Cullen Gilchrist, CEO of Union Kitchen, Who Shares About His Revolutionary Ecosystem for CPG Entrepreneurs

BOULDER, Colo. (Feb. 14, 2024) – Compass Natural’s Coffee Talk kicks off 2024 with Episode 35 of its popular podcast series by exploring the impact an innovative food accelerator is having on revitalizing food entrepreneurship in Washington, D.C., with special guest Cullen Gilchrist, CEO of Union Kitchen.

Union Kitchen is a Washington, D.C.-based food business accelerator that strives to empower local food founders by offering expertise and support from launch to scale. Since 2012, Union Kitchen has supported more than 300 brands through its four-phase accelerator and, overall, launches products seven times faster than the national average. In addition to its accelerator, Union Kitchen has six store locations throughout the Washington metro area, with products made locally and throughout the nation. 

Union Kitchen connects entrepreneurs with the resources, capital, distribution and networks they need to establish sustainable success with their food businesses. Recently recognized as the "Best Startup Accelerator of 2023" by Startup Savant, Union Kitchen goes beyond being a typical culinary incubator and partners with food businesses of all sizes to grow and accelerate the success of their emerging food and beverage brands. Remarkably, their goal is to take a company from product to being on shelf within only 90 days.

“We started Union Kitchen as a solution to a problem,” says Gilchrist. “Historically, entrepreneurship has been reserved for people with capital and this has created barriers to entry for people who don’t have access to funding. Our model is based on removing this barrier for people who are passionate about food, passionate about business and about feeding their community. We take the financial risk away so as an Accelerator Member they just pay a monthly fee which allows businesses to get started in a way they couldn’t before.” 

During the Coffee Talk conversation, Gilchrist shares his recipe for helping businesses launch successful brands. Union Kitchen empowers brands on their journey through four phases: from Launch to National Scale. At each phase brands are given tools and resources they need to seize opportunities, overcome challenges and reach new heights whether a brand is launching locally or ready to saturate nationally.

• Phase 1: LAUNCH is about building a cohesive concept, executing the technical elements of a market-ready product and launching into the market.  

• Phase 2: PRODUCT MARKET FIT is focused on learning what consumers want and how to deliver that consistently through scalable systems, team building and leveraging Union Kitchen’s ecosystem.

• Phase 3: GROWTH is expanding a product that has achieved regional product market fit and building the operations to support that.

• Phase 4: SCALE is achieving national market penetration by outselling the leading competitors.

Brands that have emerged on the national scene due to Union Kitchen’s support include Compass Coffee, Snacklins, Myles's Comfort Food, Swapples, Aji Tea and many more.

Watch the recorded podcast and learn more about Union Kitchen’s roots, from a small commercial kitchen to their current 50k-square-foot manufacturing facility and how it enables entrepreneurs from all backgrounds to build their businesses. 

If you’d like to nominate a business leader for a future Coffee Talk episode, click here. 

About Compass Natural Marketing
Compass Natural is a leading PR, branding and business development agency serving the natural and organic products industry. Compass Natural’s Coffee Talk podcast is co-hosted by industry veterans Steven Hoffman and Bill Capsalis and features lively interactive conversations with leaders and experts in the natural products space. The podcast is designed to help entrepreneurs and businesses of any size succeed in the natural, organic, regenerative, hemp-derived and other eco-friendly products market. Watch all Coffee Talk episodes on Compass Natural’s YouTube Channel.

Media Contact
Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural, steve@compassnatural.com, tel: 303.807.1042

In Memoriam: Dale Kamibayashi, May 4, 1951 – Nov. 4, 2023

This article first appeared in Presence Marketing’s November 2023 newsletter.

By Steven Hoffman

Longtime natural products industry veteran and former Presence Marketing team member Dale Kenji Kamibayashi passed away on Nov. 4, 2023, at age 72. A beloved husband, father and family man, Dale was a valued community member, a friend to all, and a highly respected and admired colleague to many in the natural and organic products industry. Dale was an important member of our community and will be deeply missed.

From his roots in the late 1970s as the co-owner with his wife, Lisa, of a small natural foods retail store in the mountain town of Nederland, just west of Boulder, to serving as manager and purchasing director for the iconic Alfalfa’s Market, plus leadership roles in Cascadian Farm, Ceres, Rapunzel Organics and other leading companies, Dale was a strong advocate for healthy lifestyles. In 2019, Naturally Boulder honored Dale with the “Industry Leader/Community Champion” award for his vast contributions to the natural products industry and Boulder community.

Steven Hoffman (left) and Dale Kamibayashi.

Read on, below, for some shared memories of Dale Kamibayashi from some industry members and colleagues who knew and loved him best. To read more tributes and to share your memories of Dale, visit Dale’s memorial web page here, and please consider donating to his family’s GoFundMe page.

Lani Kamibayashi (Dale’s daughter, on behalf of the Kamibayashi family)
Our father was the hardest worker I knew, and our family grew up and lived for my dad’s passion. My brother Kenji and I grew up in Alfalfa’s Market; we ran around that store like we owned it. I loved it — I have so many great childhood memories of that store and the people who worked with my parents. Dad instilled our love of food and healthier eating styles that remain with us today. I am so proud of what he did and accomplished within the industry and am so fortunate to be his daughter. My family is overwhelmed with the support and generosity from all. Dale (Dad) was a remarkable leader, husband, and father for us and it’s just not going to be the same without him. We would be forever grateful if you ever had the chance to meet or know our father to keep a memory in your heart, thank you.

Chris Lobo, EVP, Presence Marketing
I worked at Alfalfa’s in the early ‘90s, mostly while I was completing grad school at the University of Colorado. During my time at Alfalfa’s, I worked in the Grocery Department and Dale K. was the Store Manager. For a time, I worked the opening shift, which meant assuring shelves were stocked and faced, and topping off the bulk bins – all before the doors opened.

That is also the period I met Michelle, my wife, who started as a cashier and also was on the opening shift. During the days Michelle and I dated, I would be in the back of the store trying to sweep up about a hundred different beans and grains that had spilled, before the “opening bell.” Michelle would often sneak back and we would quickly make out (I have no idea how dated that term is, but that is how we started a handful of mornings).

One particular morning the GM at that time, who was an uptight sort, caught us and threatened a write up. Well…that write up never came my way. I have no paper trail of who intervened, but it had to have been Dale, who was on site that day and who smilingly turned a blind eye many times to our very human practice.

I honored, respected, and cared a great deal for Dale K. as a colleague…but much more as a warm and wonderful human. RIP Dale.

Mark Retzloff, Co-Founder and Former CEO and Chair, Alfalfa’s Market and Horizon Organic Dairy, and Co-Founder of Greenmont Capital Partners
Like so many, I am shocked and grieving Dale’s passing. Dale was a brother, best friend, confidant, partner, and an example to me. I am heartbroken, as is my wife, Terry. However, I want to ensure we honor Dale appropriately. We must all remember and appreciate Dale’s legacy of treating everyone with respect, kindness, and always giving his full attention. His style of leadership should continue to be an inspiration to us all.

I have been fortunate to have known Dale for 43 years. I hired Dale in 1982 to manage our first Alfalfa’s Market store in Boulder. Dale was quickly beloved by all Alfalfa’s employees and hundreds in the community. A hallmark of Dale’s was how well-liked he was in the natural and organic movement and industry as well as on a local, state and national level.

In 2019 when Dale received Naturally Boulder’s “Industry Leader/Community Champion” award, Joan Boykin had this to say about her old friend and coworker: “Dale is a prince among men, a person of inestimable value to the community. He is known for his fair, diplomatic, understated, and generous leadership style and admired by all who know him.”

The last two times I saw Dale was at my 75th birthday in September and at our Naturally Boulder Legacy gathering. He was so Dale – that generous smile, that immediate warmth, and that always caring communication. Dale was a gem and his many life lessons will now shine through the hundreds he has touched.

I write this tribute from Kauai where I am grieving big time. I took a long walk on the beach to consider what is really important in life. Ultimately, we are all just grains of sand, and we each count ourselves tremendously grateful for friends like Dale in our lives. Too briefly, but beautifully gracing our lives.

While many of us will be absorbing this profound loss to our community, I implore each of us to send love and support to Dale’s wife, Lisa, and his children Lani and Kenji. Please consider supporting Dale’s family through their GoFundMe.

Joan Boykin, President, Boykin Consulting, Former Executive Director, The Organic Center, and Former Director of Marketing for Alfalfa’s Market, Celestial Seasonings, New Hope Network and Fresh Produce Sportswear
Dale was a consummate professional, an expert in retail operations and merchandising, and with a keen eye and mind for marketing, too. Yet, as I reflect on Dale’s contributions to the industry, it wasn’t so much about all he did, but about the manner in which he did it. He was calm and unruffled in every imaginable situation — always finding solutions to vexing problems — and I never heard a harsh word from him. I’ll remember him always for his kindness and warmth and will miss him dearly, as will countless others in our community.

Lyle Davis and Sylvia Tawse, Veterans of Alfalfa’s Market and Founders of the Fresh Ideas Group and Pastures of Plenty
When asked to describe Dale K. (everyone called him that!), Lyle Davis, who worked with Dale for nearly 18 years, said, “Sweet and steady – that was Dale I never once saw him angry or agitated.” Sylvia R. Tawse, who also worked with Dale at Alfalfa’s Markets and remained friends beyond the Alfalfa’s era, remembered working as a Marketing Manager at the Boulder store and being overwhelmed with local nonprofit requests for donations. She went to Dale to seek solutions to a tidal wave of requests. “I’ll always remember Dale’s calm and wise response. He said, ‘We just always find a way to say yes to our community.’ This lesson in generosity and inclusion has inspired and guided my decisions for three+ decades.”

Sylvia also remembers working on a ‘Healthy Choices’ newsletter story with Dale to share his family’s New Year’s recipes and traditions. Dale teared up respectfully when unveiling his grandparents’ story – a challenging time when they were interned up near Fort Collins. The recipe? A most generous New Year’s Eve soup with generous and warming ingredients. Just like Dale.

The last time Sylvia saw Dale K. was at a Naturally Boulder gathering in early October. She is forever thankful to have seen him with his iconic warm smile, and to have a big bear hug with him. All of the Alfalfa’s family and our natural and organic products industry benefitted from Dale K., and we still do. His legacy of managing through calm kindness lives on.

John Hay, Co-Founder, Celestial Seasonings
Having worked with Dale on and off over the past 40 years, I can truly say he was a very special human being. He knew all about the natural and organic food industry and had key relationships with most all of the folks in that world. Dale was a people person, and his positive and gracious personality was his greatest strength. He genuinely cared about your product, your business, but most of all about you, and that is why he was so successful throughout his long career.

Blair Kellison, Former CEO, Traditional Medicinals*
The natural foods industry’s culture of kindness and respect was set early in its inception by exceptional individuals like Dale. He embodies everything about the culture that makes our industry so special. He had a way of making each of us feel we were his favorite. I am lucky to be one of those people. The enduring nature of the HNF industry’s culture is the greatest testament to Dale’s memory. Godspeed Dale.

Bill Capsalis, Natural Products Industry Veteran and Former Executive Director, Naturally Boulder
Dale K. was a friend of mine … actually he was a friend to everyone he met. I had the pleasure of knowing him for more than 20 years as a member of the Naturally Boulder community. He would always make time for me or any of the new brands I was helping (including one I was running) to review the products and provide feedback and support. He never turned anyone away from his door while at Alfalfa’s and later at Presence Marketing. He was always kind and positive every time we saw each other. A few years back we recognized Dale with Naturally Boulder’s Community Hero Award, which was well deserved. He will be missed by so many people here and across the industry.

Debbie Wildrick, President, Frey Farms, Former Strategic Advisor, Beyond Brands, and Former CEO, BAZI Inc.*
To Dale’s family, I was deeply saddened to read today about Dale’s passing. My deepest condolences. Dale worked for me for several months when we were building a source water from Brazil. I was just speaking to my business partner the other day (just a couple of weeks ago). And, he said, “Do you remember when we all in Naples for a meeting and went to have sushi and Dale taught us how to properly eat with chopsticks?” I later moved to Denver and saw Dale often at events, especially Naturally Boulder. A very wonderful man.

JJ Rademaekers, Founder, Cocomels*
Dale was such an amazing introduction to this industry for me. When I started Cocomels at the Farmers Market, Dale was the first local buyer to express interest. Not only did he bring Cocomels into the store but he offered his time and insights so that I could understand what I was getting into and how to do it. After that, we’d meet occasionally and I’d ask a barrage of questions and he’d always give me his attention and time. He became a friend and ally in the industry and I always enjoyed bumping into him at events or shows. I’m so sorry to hear of his passing. He was a great guy who really showed interest and support for me and my journey. I will always be appreciative. Much love to his family and friends.

Steve Ehli, Natural Products Industry Veteran and Former Team Member, Presence Marketing
I met Dale in the late ‘70s and we stayed in touch through the decades. I was so pleased we got to spend several years working for the same company at Presence Marketing until I retired at the end of 2021. A kind soul and a consummate professional who dedicated his life’s work in service to grow our industry. Dale will be missed by many. The world needs more like him! My thoughts and prayers are with his family.

Kelly Shea, CEO, Shea & Associates, Former SVP of Government & Corporate Affairs, Charlotte’s Web and White Wave Foods, and Former VP of Sustainability, Sales & Trade Relations for Danone
I often saw Dale outside of his day job. His passion for “giving back” was legendary. His decade-plus volunteering on the Organic Trade Association’s annual campaign, and his passion for Boulder’s Community Food share showed Dale’s big-hearted spirit of charity. What a man! The world was better for Dale Kamibayashi in it. I went to university in Japan and spoke a little Japanese. I shared with Dale that I thought his last name must mean “bridge of God.” I imagine him walking that now.

Steve Terre, Natural Industry Veteran and Former VP of Sales, Traditional Medicinals
Sayonara Dale-San
We mourn the premature departure of a beautiful human being
His countenance
Was calmness
His bearing beneficent 
His mode passionate and considerate
His smile luminous
His greeting warm and generous of spirit
Godspeed my brother on your next journey
You will be sorely missed
Too soon gone!!!

* Source: Dignity Memorial. Read more shared memories of Dale Kamibayashi by his family, colleagues, friends and community at Dignity Memorial.

Oct. 19: Compass Natural’s Coffee Talk to Feature Annie Ryu, CEO and Founder of Jack & Annie’s and The Jackfruit Company

Compass Natural’s Coffee Talk, a popular live webinar series featuring conversations with top business leaders in the natural, organic and sustainable products industry, is also pleased to announce its new primary sponsor, Compass Coffee, an independently owned coffee roaster and cafe company based in Washington, D.C.

What: Compass Natural’s Coffee Talk
When: Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023, 8 am PT; 9 am MT; 10 am CT; 11 am ET
Presented by: Compass Natural, Connecting Media and Markets in Natural and Organic Products
Sponsored by: Compass Coffee, Presence Marketing, Naturally Boulder, Naturally New York and Naturally San Diego
Register: Register for free here 

BOULDER, Colo. (Sept. 14, 2023) – Annie Ryu, CEO and founder of Jack & Annie’s and The Jackfruit Company, producing delicious meat substitutes made from jackfruit, will appear Oct. 19, 2023, on Compass Natural’s popular Coffee Talk podcast, which features lively conversations with natural products industry leaders, innovators and experts designed to guide entrepreneurs and businesses to succeed in the market.

Annie Ryu discovered jackfruit in 2011 while working in India to implement a maternal and child health care program as part of her Harvard pre-med studies. Annie saw an opportunity to convert an underutilized crop to nutritious, delicious food and to create income and opportunity for Indian farming families. The company introduced jackfruit to retailers nationwide in 2015, and Annie left medical school later that year to focus on expanding the company. 

Annie Ryu

While Annie’s passion for jackfruit was immediate, the path to creating Jack & Annie’s took a decade. Annie worked relentlessly to help popularize jackfruit, nature's meatiest plant, as an ideal innovation and to build a supply chain to transport jackfruit from India to the U.S. Today, Jack & Annie’s offers a wide selection of nutritious meat alternatives made primarily from jackfruit, the fruit of the jack tree, and the company operates the farm-to-fork supply chain, supporting over 1,500 farming families in India.

Hosted by natural and organic products industry veterans Bill Capsalis and Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural’s Coffee Talk is produced by Compass Natural Marketing, a leading public relations, branding and business development agency serving the natural, organic, eco-friendly and hemp products industries. Capsalis and Hoffman will interview Annie Ryu to learn more about her and her company.

From India to the U.S.
The jackfruit trees, native to India, require no fertilizers or inputs and are the highest-yielding tree crop in the world. Since Jack & Annie's harvests from existing trees, and uses the most carbon-efficient transport to bring its jackfruit from India to North America, a Life Cycle Assessment showed that the company's jackfruit has a 94% lower Global Warming Potential vs. beef. Further, partnering directly with farmers enables Jack & Annie's to ensure that their farmers earn 10-40% incremental income annually from jackfruit sales. 

About Our New Sponsor, Compass Coffee
Compass Natural is proud to announce Washington, D.C.-based Compass Coffee as the primary sponsor for Compass Natural’s Coffee Talk podcast. The independently owned coffee roaster and cafe company was founded in 2014 by two former Marines, who were looking for the perfect cup after years of drinking terrible coffee on deployment. Working with a global network of farmers, Compass Coffee is committed to ethical sourcing, masterful blending and peak roasting in small batches. 

Register for Compass Natural’s Coffee Talk With Annie Ryu
Register here for free to participate in Compass Natural's Coffee Talk podcast, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023, 11-11:30 am ET.

About Compass Natural’s Coffee Talk
Take a 30-minute virtual coffee break with Compass Natural’s 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 entrepreneurs and businesses of any size succeed in the market for natural, organic, regenerative, hemp-derived and other eco-friendly products.

Compass Natural’s Coffee Talk is produced by Compass Natural Marketing, a leading PR, branding and business development agency serving the natural and organic products industry.

Previous Episodes of Compass Natural’s Coffee Talk
View the entire library of Compass Natural’s Coffee Talk episodes on YouTube. Co-hosted by natural products industry veterans Steven Hoffman and Bill Capsalis, Compass Natural’s Coffee Talk has featured notable professionals such as Jared Polis, governor of Colorado; Steve Hughes, co-founder of Sunrise Strategic Partners; John Mackey, CEO and co-founder, Whole Foods Market; Miyoko Schinner, CEO and founder, Miyoko’s Kitchen; John Foraker, CEO of Once Upon a Farm; Emerald-Jane Hunter, founder of the MyWhy Agency; Heather Terry, CEO of GoodSAM; Milton Zimmerman, executive vice president, Presence Marketing; Jennifer Maxwell, founder and CEO of JAMBAR®, and more.

Contact
Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com

Compass Coffee Talk Podcast to Feature Ibraheem Basir, Founder & CEO of A Dozen Cousins

Compass Coffee Talk™, a popular live webinar series featuring conversations with business leaders in the natural, organic and sustainable products industry, welcomes Ibraheem Basir, founder & CEO of A Dozen Cousins, a top Black-owned natural food brand.

What: Compass Coffee Talk™
When: Wednesday, July 19, 2023, 8:30 am PT; 9:30 am MT; 10:30 am CT; 11:30 am ET
Presented by: Compass Natural, Connecting Media and Markets in Natural and Organic Products
Sponsored by: Presence Marketing, Naturally Boulder, Naturally New York and Naturally San Diego
Register: Register for Free Here

BOULDER, CO (June 15, 2023) —Ibraheem Basir, founder and CEO of A Dozen Cousins, a natural food brand making beans, rice, sauces and more, will appear on July 19, 2023, on the popular Compass Coffee Talk™ podcast, which features lively conversations with natural products industry leaders, innovators and experts designed to help guide entrepreneurs and businesses to succeed in the market.

A Dozen Cousins, whose offerings hark back to the traditional Creole, Caribbean and Latin American dishes that Basir enjoyed in his childhood in the culinary melting pot of Brooklyn, N.Y., is named after Basir’s daughter and her 11 cousins.

Ibraheem Basir of A Dozen Cousins

Basir grew up in a large family where food was at the center of all celebrations and gatherings. After observing a gap in the market for authentic, nutritious cultural foods, Basir launched A Dozen Cousins to provide the comforting, flavorful recipes he grew up eating with his family. The brand’s flagship beans have become the No. 1 item in their category on Amazon and are sold nationwide at retailers including Whole Foods, Sprouts and Target, among others. 

Hosted by natural and organic products industry veterans Bill Capsalis and Steven Hoffman, Compass Coffee Talk is produced by Compass Natural Marketing, a leading public relations, branding and business development agency serving the natural, organic, eco-friendly and hemp products industries. Capsalis and Hoffman will interview Basir to learn more about his and his company’s story.

Helping the Natural Foods Industry Evolve
Basir is a passionate advocate for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the consumer packaged goods industry and seeks to help the natural foods space evolve and grow to reflect the diversity of the United States. He is a founding board member of Project Potluck, a nonprofit that provides a range of mentorship and education programming in support of its mission to help people of color build successful companies and careers in the CPG industry.

Basir holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the university’s Wharton School of Business. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter.

Project Potluck
While breaking into the natural and organic products industry isn't easy for anyone, Black, Indigenous and other people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds can find it especially challenging to attract investors, find the right co-packers, refine recipes and garner placement on retail shelves. Enter Project Potluck, established by Ibraheem Basir, CPG veteran and founder and CEO of A Dozen Cousins, a leading Black-owned natural food brand, to provide the support that minority entrepreneurs in the natural products space need to succeed. In March 2022, Project Potluck won New Hope Network’s inaugural Justice Award for its efforts to promote justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in the natural and organic products industry. Read about the organization in Forbes magazine.

Register for Compass Coffee Talk with Ibraheem Basir
Register here for free to participate in the upcoming Compass Coffee Talk, Wednesday, July 19, 2023, 11:30 am – Noon ET.

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.

Previous Episodes of Compass Coffee Talk
View the entire library of Compass Coffee Talk episodes on YouTube. Co-hosted by natural products industry veterans Steven Hoffman and Bill Capsalis, Compass Coffee Talk has featured notable professionals such as Jared Polis, governor of Colorado; Steve Hughes, co-founder of Sunrise Strategic Partners; John Mackey, CEO and co-founder, Whole Foods Market; Miyoko Schinner, CEO and founder, Miyoko’s Kitchen; John Foraker, CEO of Once Upon a Farm; Emerald-Jane Hunter, founder of the MyWhy Agency; Heather Terry, CEO of GoodSAM; Milton Zimmerman, executive vice president, Presence Marketing; Jennifer Maxwell, founder and CEO of JAMBAR®, and more.

Contact
Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com

Founding an Industry: Q&A With Energy Bar Entrepreneur Jennifer Maxwell

In the mid-1980s, Jennifer Biddulph was a nutrition and science major and track athlete at the University of California, Berkeley. Her boyfriend, Brian Maxwell, who had been a track star at UC Berkeley a decade earlier, was an Olympic marathon runner.

Like many marathoners at that time, Maxwell was concerned about what to eat to avoid running out of carbohydrate fuel and “hitting the wall” during a race. He and Biddulph began experimenting with recipes that included amino acids, complex and simple carbs, and other nutrients that could not only help high-level athletes perform, but also get what Biddulph called “that extra 1% advantage.”

In 1986, Maxwell and Biddulph debuted PowerBar®—the world’s first energy bar. In the ensuing years, the duo grew their company into a nine-figure business, married and had a family, and eventually sold PowerBar to Nestle in 2000.

JAMBAR founder and CEO Jennifer Maxwell

But in 2004, tragedy struck. Brian, who had been diagnosed with a congenital heart condition as a teenager, died of a heart attack at age 51—leaving behind Jennifer and six children under the age of 15. Devastated, Jennifer turned to music as a healing force. She took up the drums and today plays in two bands. She also started running again, and in 2021, combined all of her passions into a new energy-bar company, JAMBAR®.

All of JAMBAR’s four flavors are certified organic and whole-food based, and Jennifer Maxwell donates 50% of the company’s profits to community, education, music and outdoor activities. She also funds a sustainability program and entrepreneurship scholarship at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.

Recently, Maxwell joined industry veterans Bill Capsalis and Steven Hoffman for their podcast Compass Coffee Talk. Read on to learn more about the genesis and evolution of PowerBar and JAMBAR, along with Maxwell’s thoughts on philanthropy, sustainability and the future of the natural products industry.

Q: You literally created the energy bar industry and an entire food category out of scratch. What was it like back in PowerBar’s early days?
We started in our little apartment from nothing, really from nothing. And we grew not just a great product that was innovative at the time, but also a company that was innovative, as well.

We had an employee stock-ownership program, so all of our employees owned the company. We also divvied up the profits among all of the employees, from the warehouse people to top management. And I think that was one of the things that led to our success—people really believed in what we were doing, and they were essentially working for themselves.

Q: How did you actually get PowerBars out there and into stores?
We started as a mail-order business; of course, there was no Amazon at the time. We figured the bar would sell itself, so we'd go to events and give out a lot of product, and also put flyers on windshields of cars at races. There would be a little coupon you could tear off and you'd send it in the mail and get your three dozen bars for $39.

I was still a student at Berkeley, so on breaks from classes, I’d go to the post office, get the orders in the mail, go back to our apartment and fulfill the orders and put them out on the porch for UPS to come pick them up. And all of a sudden, we'd have 20, 30, 40 boxes a day going out of our little apartment.

After we moved on from being a mail-order business, our main market was bike shops. We went down to the local bike shop, walked in, showed them the product. People were so receptive to our bars that we were able to do our own brokering. We'd have stores calling us to place an order.

Q: By the '90s, things were rocking and you ended up selling PowerBar. And then you had some life events occur, unfortunately. You took a break to take care of the family and play music. What led you to get back into the industry with JAMBAR?
JAMBAR came about as part of a conversation I was having with my daughter around the kitchen table. She said, "Mom, I know you like energy bars, and there's nothing out there that you want to eat for one reason or the other." And I said, "You're right. I'm a food scientist, so why don't I get back into the game and spend some of my knowledge and experience creating something that is great?"

It took me about four years of putting ingredients together to come up with a product I liked. My big thing is I wanted it to be organic, because I believe in preserving our earth and helping people avoid pesticides and eating the best that they can. That limits ingredients a little, because you have to have mass quantities of organic ingredients available.

And then I wanted to use all real food. I didn't want to use ingredients that I didn't know where they came from, that were somehow changed in a lab or created with mechanisms that I didn't really want to put in my body. I wanted ingredients that are close to nature and that taste great.

And, of course, there are a lot of ingredient options that we didn't have in the '80s, whether it's different grains, proteins, fruits, chocolate, and different ways of holding the product together. That’s a plus because one of the most important things I wanted to include in my portfolio of flavors is a lot of variety.

Each of the four JAMBAR flavors—Chocolate Cha Cha, Malt Nut Melody, Jammin’ Jazzleberry and Musical Mango—is very different from the other. Where other products on the market might take a base formulation and just add a little of this, a little of that and call it a new flavor, I didn't want to do that. So it made my formulation job very challenging—working with an array of very different percentages of all of these different ingredients, but keeping each bar similar enough that it's treated the same in the factory.

We have our own state-of-the-art manufacturing facility—which, interestingly, was once a Grateful Dead recording studio—so that gives us the ability to call our own shots. We can do a run of one flavor and then reset for the next run of a different flavor. We can say, “OK, it's Mango Bar Day.” We cut our own mango, and because it’s the second ingredient on the label, we have a lot of mango in there.

Q: What are some of the other major differences you see in the supply chain and business practices as you’ve come back into the industry with JAMBAR?
I think there’s always a lot to learn. I have a lot of experience and I have my own way of doing things, but I have to be able to adapt to a new way of doing things, which is full of technology. We came from an era of no technology to an era of everything's technology. So that's a pretty steep learning curve. Of course, I don't live in a tunnel or a cave, but in terms of really getting the most out of your resources, you have to be very savvy with your technology.

But the caveat to that is we have to be able to keep what makes us human. And that’s the challenge we are having today, in terms of really looking at what we want to accomplish. With JAMBAR, we want to accomplish supporting community, we want to accomplish manufacturing a great product full of real-food ingredients, and we want to accomplish having a type of work environment where people feel they can really make a difference and be a part of.

And the overall arching concept behind remembering what makes us human is communication. Sometimes, when you get a lot of technology involved, effective communication goes out the window. That's what I'm seeing with sales, in distribution and sometimes in marketing and brokering—communication can become very challenging, and you can lose a little bit of the essence of what you want to accomplish each day or each week or each month. That’s why I emphasize communication—it’s paramount to keeping the ball moving forward.

Creating the Silicon Valley of Natural Food: Q&A With Entrepreneur Steve Hughes

In 1997, Steve Hughes was named CEO of Boulder, Colo.-based Celestial Seasonings tea company. Although he came from a conventional food background, Hughes quickly saw the potential of the natural foods movement—and he realized that Boulder was one of its epicenters. Along with local first-generation natural products company founders like Steve Demos and Mark Retzloff, Hughes was instrumental in turning Boulder into what he calls “the Silicon Valley of natural and organic food.” 

For more than 25 years, Hughes has helped build some of the natural products industry’s iconic brands. After leaving Celestial Seasonings, Hughes moved on to serve as CEO of Frontier Natural Products. He then built Boulder Brands, which launched EVOL Foods, Udi’s, Smart Balance, Earth Balance and other brands. Seven years ago, Hughes founded Sunrise Strategic Partners, which is now one of the leading investment firms in the natural channel. 

Steve Hughes, CEO & co-founder of Sunrise Strategic Partners. 

At Sunrise, Hughes identifies and invests in brands in trending categories that are transforming the healthy, active and sustainable-living space. Sunrise recently merged two companies in its portfolio—Teton Waters Ranch and Sun Fed Ranch—to create the industry’s leading grass-fed/finished-beef platform dedicated to regenerative agriculture. Other Sunrise investments include Maple Hill Creamery, which produces 100% grass-fed, organic dairy products, and Kodiak Cakes, which produces whole-grain, high-protein pancake and waffle mixes. 

Hughes recently reminisced about his experience in the natural products industry and shared his predictions about the future on the podcast Compass Coffee Talk, co-hosted by industry veterans Bill Capsalis and Steven Hoffman and sponsored by PRESENCE Marketing, Naturally Boulder, Naturally San Diego and Naturally New York.

Read on to learn more about Hughes’ perspectives on brand building, hot investments in the natural products space, regenerative agriculture, the top components of a good business model and more. 

Q: Over the years, you’ve really kept your eye on how to build brands, how to consolidate and scale, and how investments and economics affect the natural products marketplace. How is all of that going so far in 2023?
For 25 years, there was nothing but capital, increasing almost every year. If you had a good idea, you could probably get some funding to get started. But what happened last spring was that the pendulum kind of swung back the other way. People were less prepared to invest in companies that maybe had a great idea but not a great business model. 

There are a couple of reasons why this happened. First of all, the Fed started making money more expensive. And then there was a lineup of natural brands that went public, like Beyond Meat, Oatly, Tattooed Chef. They came out of the box trading well above their IPO price, but they were businesses that had great top lines without very good business models. They were losing money, and they’re now trading 95%, 90% below their IPO price. That has really cooled off investors looking to take the big swing at high-growth, not-great-business-model kind of companies. 

Before, this capital was pretty patient. They’d invest in a company, and if that company was losing money but the business was growing, they’d keep funding the business. But that changed pretty dramatically pretty quickly. I think there’s a little bit of retrenchment now, and I think it’s going to be with us for a while because interest rates are not going down anytime soon. They’re probably going up. 

Q: What does that mean for natural products companies looking for investors currently or in the near future?
I think when you look at the lineup of companies that went public in 2020 and 2021 and how they’ve performed in the public space, it’s given investors a real pause about, OK, what are the rules? What has to happen for a company to be successful today? I think the answer is a bit different than it was a year or two or three years ago.

If you’re a company that’s got some scale and making money, I would just be really prudent now and be patient and grow and protect your bottom line. But if you’re a smaller company that isn’t cash-flow positive, you’ve got to get cash-flow positive. You’re not going to get funded, or if you do get funded, you’re not going to like the terms of that funding. 

I think what we did with Teton and SunFed Ranch is a good example. These are two pretty good-sized companies, at about $60 million each. They had just turned profitable, but we figured if we put the two of them together and created Grass Fed Foods, we’d end up with a $120 million business growing 30% plus, making good money. 

That’s one model. The other model I call “safety in numbers.” If you're a smaller company that’s underfunded, is losing money and can’t get funding, think about other brands in your category that are complementary and are facing the exact same issue. Could they or should they be trying to merge? I think that’s going to be the theme over the next 18 months—call it the mini-merger, where you get two or three small companies in the same category that together are profitable.

Q: Grass Fed Foods just recently launched. Can you tell us more about how it came about?
We invested in Teton Waters Ranch, which was grass-fed hot dogs and dinner sausages, six years ago. They were sourcing most of their raw material out of Tasmania, which is the ideal place in the world to get grass-fed meat. We built that business, got it to $60 million. But there was nobody to scale in the grass-fed space. 

One of the challenges for regenerative agriculture companies like Teton is for the company to get the scale, so the retailers and food-service operators can really have confidence they can lean into it and get the product supplied properly and professionally. My partner, Vince, kept knocking on doors, saying, “If we could get two of these companies together, we could clear the field and be the largest.” 

Then, I met Chris and Matt from SunFed five years ago at Expo. They’re sixth-generation ranchers in Northern California that do fresh grass-fed meat—what goes in the butcher case, what goes on the table at the restaurant. They had gotten SunFed to $60, $70 million at that time.

So, we had these two beautifully complementary companies—one doing prepared meat with an international source, one doing fresh meat with a domestic source. The big challenge was this was going to require somebody who really knew what they were doing to put these two together. We brought in Jeff Tripician, who had spent 15 years in premium protein with Niman Ranch and Coleman Natural Foods and had successful exits on both. So now we’ve got a scaled business with a guy who’s been there, done that—a guy with a playbook. 

We invested in Teton when it was a $3 million business and today, it’s part of a $120 million platform. This is the largest grass-fed beef platform in the space, and I think it’s going to ramp and grow very quickly. This is really going to be a rocket ship. This could be the biggest outcome in Sunrise history. 

Q: Can you talk a little bit more about the regenerative agriculture you’re promoting with Grass Fed Foods and other companies? 
At Sunrise, we really felt six years ago that regen agriculture is going to be perhaps the biggest fundamental mega trend of the next 20 years—because, basically, it’s back to the future. It’s how we did it 100 years ago before we industrialized our meat supply and dairy industry. It’s better for the earth. So, we’ve put about probably 40% of our capital into this space. 

One of the companies we invested in is Maple Hill Creamery, which is America’s first and only 100% grass-fed organic dairy milkshed, with over 150 farms. There are so many great positives to their regen agriculture business model. 

First of all, they rotate the cows around the milkshed every three days. This makes the grass look like you haven’t cut it in three years—like how it used to be on dairy farms. The cows are also productive until they’re 14 years old, whereas an organic cow might be productive only until age 4. 

A calf never gets an ounce of the mother’s milk on an organic farm. They get their own formula. But we incentivize Maple Hill farmers to wean, to have the calves on the mom for eight months. That makes the chemistry of the milk different, and better for the consumer. Cows are naturally wired to eat grass—they have four stomachs for that reason—and their grass-fed milk is a different chemistry than the milk from cows fed grain. 

We launched Maple Hill Milk into Whole Foods. Our best item at Boulder Brands, Earth Balance margarine, sold $85 a week per store at Whole Foods. But after just 90 days, half gallons of whole milk from Maple Hill were going $600 a week per store. So, the consumer gets it. A challenge for us is to get the products there in an economical way that they can afford.

We were smaller, later-term investors in Vital Farms, which produces eggs, butter and ghee in the regen agriculture space, and it’s really exciting to see what’s happened with that business. It’s one of those that came out in the class of 2020 IPOs that traded way up, but is now normalized back to a pretty good place. It’s $15-a-share stock, and I think they've got nothing but white space in front of them.

Q: Speaking about brand development, we have a question from a listener: “What are the basic three to five general components of a great business model?” 
Well, the first ideal is a highly differentiated, meaningful point of difference, ideally attaching an untapped consumer need. You’re looking for something the consumer’s ready for but isn’t on the market yet, like Maple Hill milk. 

The second thing is margin. If you're a 50% gross-margin business, your ability to get the cash flow to break even quickly is there. But if you’re a 20% gross-margin business, you’ve got a long road to go and a lot of wood to chop. 

The third is talent. To get to a business of $10, $15 million, you’ve got to almost be manic, right? You’re spending your own money. You’re spending nickels like manhole covers. You make every decision, because you’re on the line. But when your business starts to scale, you need to have the ability to bring in the “been-there, done-that” talent and be able to manage that talent. And that’s a challenge, because people that have been successful, that have been with bigger businesses and then come to smaller businesses, have a different business-management model. 

Once we get the right CEO in place, the folks across our businesses see that, really, almost overnight, they start making the kind of progress and traction they need to get to scale the business.

Q: Can you give us an example, like how that applies to Kodiak Cakes? We know this is a story you’re really proud of personally, and there’s even a “How I Built This” podcast on NPR about Kodiak. 
Kodiak is probably my favorite business experience. I got a call from my partner Jamie Manges at Trilantic Capital Partners, and he said he knew somebody who knew Kodiak co-founder Joel Clark, and Joel was getting ready to take in capital. So, I went on the internet, and they had the hokiest video of a trailer, which is their office, and a bear breaking into it, right? I thought, “This is something. OK, I’m just doing Jamie a favor. OK, I'm that kind of guy.” 

Kodiak’s point of difference was a whole-wheat, high-protein alternative to white refined flour, which meant it could play in any category white refined flour is in. When Joel came to see me, Kodiak was at $15 million. It was at Costco and Target. 

Joel showed me his deck, and when I got to the second page, I went, “Holy smokes, Joel, this is a billion-dollar brand.” He went, “What are you talking about?” I said, “Joel, you have got a 20 share of pancake-mix business at Target, and the category's up 20%. The category nationally is up 2%. You’re bringing millennial moms with money to Target to buy pancake mixes.”

So, we partnered up with Joel, and it was fascinating. It was just a great collaboration. Joel has got such great business and brand instincts. His business IQ is off the charts. 

We came up with what we call the Kodiak Cabin. The foundation of the cabin is pancake mixes in 25,000 doors. The first floor is baking mixes in 25,000 doors. The second floor is all of that in a cup you can microwave in a minute. Then, the third floor is frozen waffles. 

Kodiak went from $20 million to $200 million when we sold the majority of the control to Catterton 18 months ago. When I spoke to Joel recently, he was at $350 million.

Two years before he met us, Joel and Cam, his partner, were on “Shark Tank.” They were told all the reasons they weren’t going to be successful. I think they offered Joel $500,000 for half of the company. And, he said no, wisely.

I’m kind of a brand junkie and a trend junkie. I’ve been on some of the great rides in this industry. But working with Joel on this one was so special because it was so personal. All of his family had equity in the business, and he got to an extraordinary outcome. To have a small part in helping him do that is so great. 

Q: Finally, what’s on the horizon for you personally? What kind of work is exciting for you right now?
I love looking for the next new thing. As I said earlier, I think products that revert us back to the basics are an untapped consumer need, whether it’s grass-fed meat and dairy or heirloom grains.

I’ve been talking with one company that’s doing stone-ground milling the old way. This company has just gotten started. They’re in the Northeast in Whole Foods, and they’re outselling Dave’s Killer Bagels by 50%, 75%. So, the consumer gets it, right? But one of the big challenges companies like this have is capital. 

I also like resolving the disconnect between what a company founder says their unique point of difference is and what their product package says. One of the things we learned at Sunrise over the years is that you have your story, your concept statement. You want that to be 40%, 50% top-box resonating with your target consumer. But you want to make sure your package reflects that concept too. Because the reality is that for these small, emerging companies, 99.9% of their marketing budgets are package.

This industry is so dynamic, and while it’s going to go through different peaks and cycles, I think it’s just fascinating to see how many brilliant and caring people are in this industry. I think a young founder can reach out to anybody in this town and get a cup of coffee. I think that’s something we need to continue to nurture and build on, because there are tougher days ahead.

I've gotten a lot of great things out of this industry, a lot of great friends, a lot of great experiences. I’ve done well. It’s been great for my family, and I want to give back a little bit, and not necessarily with a price tag to it—just to help out where I can. 

Compass Coffee Talk™ Gets Its JAM On: Podcast to Feature Jennifer Maxwell, Creator of the Original PowerBar® & Founder of the New, Artisan Organic Energy Bar, JAMBAR®

Compass Coffee Talk™, a popular live webinar series featuring conversations with top business leaders in the natural, organic and sustainable products industry, welcomes Jennifer Maxwell, Co-Founder of the original PowerBar® and Founder and CEO of the new Certified Organic, Artisan Energy Bar Brand, JAMBAR®.

What: Compass Coffee Talk™
When: Wednesday, April 5, 2023, 8:30 am PT; 9:30 am MT; 10:30 am CT; 11:30 am ET
Presented by: Compass Natural, Connecting Media and Markets in Natural and Organic Products
Sponsored by: Presence Marketing, Naturally Boulder, Naturally New York and Naturally San Diego
Register: Register for Free Here

BOULDER, CO (February 17, 2023) — How do you top being the person who created the entire energy bar category? By taking that category to the next level. Jennifer Maxwell, inventor of the original PowerBar and founder and CEO of JAMBAR, is doing just that. 

Maxwell will appear on April 5, 2023, on the popular Compass Coffee Talk™podcast, which features lively conversations with natural products industry leaders, innovators and experts designed to help guide entrepreneurs and businesses to succeed in the market.

Jennifer Maxwell, founder and CEO of JAMBAR®

Jennifer, along with her late husband Brian Maxwell, literally invented the entire energy bar category in the mid-1980s. Today, the energy bar category, valued at nearly $5 billion globally, is one of the most vibrant product sections in any retail food store.

Jennifer launched JAMBAR using her food and nutrition science skills first learned at the University of California, Berkeley, to create a line of artisan energy bars with certified organic, whole food ingredients, high-quality protein and fiber. 

Considered the “next generation” of energy bars, JAMBARs boast one of the cleanest labels in the category. In addition, Maxwell’s commitment to philanthropy is at the forefront of the brand’s mission – JAMBAR donates 50% of all after-tax profits to support music, active living and community connections in Marin County, California, where the company is based, and around the country.

Hosted by natural and organic products industry veterans Bill Capsalis and Steven Hoffman, Compass Coffee Talk is produced by Compass Natural Marketing, a leading public relations, branding, and business development agency serving the natural, organic, eco-friendly and hemp products industries. Capsalis and Hoffman will interview Maxwell to learn more about her comeback story.

A Legacy of Athletics, Entrepreneurship … and Music
A lifelong long-distance runner, Maxwell studied food science, nutrition and exercise physiology at U.C. Berkeley, where she met her husband, Brian. After developing the original PowerBar energy bar recipe in their kitchen, they began building the business from a small apartment, growing the company to more than $150 million in annual sales before selling the company in 2000. When Brian passed away unexpectedly in 2004, Jennifer focused on raising her six children and, over the years, discovered the healing power of music. Today, in her free time, she performs regularly as a drummer in bands in the San Francisco Bay Area.

“We’re thrilled to host Jennifer Maxwell on Compass Coffee Talk,” said Steven Hoffman, Managing Director of Compass Natural and co-host of Compass Coffee Talk. “As musicians in our spare time ourselves, Bill Capsalis and I appreciate JAMBAR’s mission and Jennifer’s passion for supporting music and active living. Jennifer invented the energy bar category and we look forward to hearing her perspective on this growing food segment, her comeback in the natural foods industry, and her continued entrepreneurship.”

Register for Compass Coffee Talk with Jennifer Maxwell
Register here for free to participate in the upcoming Compass Coffee Talk, Wednesday, April 5, 2023, 11:30 am – Noon ET.

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.

Previous Episodes of Compass Coffee Talk
View the entire library of Compass Coffee Talk episodes on YouTube. Co-hosted by natural products industry veterans Steven Hoffman and Bill Capsalis, Compass Coffee Talk has featured notable professionals such as Jared Polis, Governor of Colorado; Steve Hughes, co-founder of Sunrise Strategic Partners; John Mackey, CEO and Co-Founder, Whole Foods Market; Miyoko Schinner, CEO and Founder, Miyoko’s Kitchen; John Foraker, CEO of Once Upon a Farm; Emerald-Jane Hunter, Founder of the MyWhy Agency; Heather Terry, CEO of GoodSAM; Milton Zimmerman, Executive Vice President, Presence Marketing; and more.

Contact
Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com

Compass Natural Adds Talent to Boutique PR, Brand Marketing Agency Serving Natural, Organic, Regenerative and Hemp Products Businesses

Compass Natural Adds Talent to Boutique PR, Brand Marketing Agency Serving Natural, Organic, Regenerative and Hemp Products Businesses

November 9, 2022

Compass Natural, a boutique public relations & brand marketing agency serving businesses in the market for natural and organic foods and related products, is pleased to announce the addition of seasoned talent to its team.

Compass Natural, a Boulder, CO-based boutique public relations and brand marketing agency serving businesses in the market for natural and organic foods, industrial hemp and cannabis-related products, regenerative agriculture, and sustainable and eco-friendly products and services, is pleased to announce the addition of seasoned new talent to its team.

“Going into the new year, we are excited to offer our clientele a diverse, talented team with expertise in brand marketing, public relations, social media influencer marketing, digital communications, content development, business development, and trade show, conference and event planning — all focused on serving businesses and brands in the natural, organic, and healthy lifestyles market," said Steven Hoffman, Founder and Managing Director of Compass Natural. 

“When Compass Natural’s longtime associate Evan Tompros moved on in September to further career opportunities after seven years of service to our clients in the natural and organic channel, it provided an opportunity for us to reorganize our agency. As such, we’ve been fortunate and successful in attracting an incredible lineup of professionals to serve our client companies into the future,” Hoffman added.

Joining the Compass Natural PR, Communications and Brand Marketing Team

Allison Salvati (top left) — Natural products brand marketing veteran Allison Salvati joins Compass Natural as “Creator of Opportunities.” Having worked with such leading natural and organic brands including Bhakti Chai, noosa yoghurt, Honey Smoked Fish Co., and others, Allison will help lead brand strategy and marketing, social media influencer marketing, media outreach, and client services. Allison proudly claims her superpower is building and nurturing relationships. Human connection is her core value and she is passionate about curating meaningful experiences for clients and brands. 

Hope Keller (lower left) — Hope Keller joins Compass Natural to assist with digital marketing and communications, production, editorial and web, blog and related content. A veteran journalist, Hope has worked at the Baltimore Sun, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the International Herald Tribune, among other newspapers. She also served as director of communications for the University of Baltimore School of Law. In addition to her work with Compass Natural, she works as a writing tutor at Mitchell College in New London, CT, and as a freelance reporter for The Daily Record in Baltimore.

Elizabeth Lunt (top right) — Co-founder of Spark Events, Elizabeth Lunt joins Compass Natural as a contributing writer and to assist with trade show and conference planning, educational programming, booking speakers and other related services. Spark Events produces business networking and educational events for the cannabis industry in Maryland, where Elizabeth also has been active as a dispensary agent and cannabis advocate. She is fascinated by the development of the industrial hemp industry and has been a volunteer with the US Hemp Building Association as well as a writer for HempBuild Magazine.   

Rachael Carlevale (lower right) — Rachael Carlevale joins the Compass Natural Marketing team with more than 10 years of experience directing sales and marketing in the natural products industry. The co-founder of Suelo Vivo, a certified regenerative hemp farm and brand, and founder of Ganjasana Plant Medicine School, Rachael develops and teaches cannabis and hemp courses. Rachael is a certified Mindfulness Educator, yoga instructor and DEM Pure Educator who contributes to Skunk Magazine with her “Cannabis + Wellness Column.”

Advisory Board — In addition to new team members, Compass Natural’s distinguished Advisory Board includes the following members: Mark Retzloff, co-founder of Alfalfa’s Market and Horizon Organic Dairy; Michael Schall, former VP of Global Business Development for Whole Foods Market; Ari Adams, CEO of ShiftCon, the nation’s largest community of eco-wellness social media influencers; and marketing and branding veteran and current director of Naturally Boulder, Bill Capsalis.

New Clients in 2022-2023
In addition to working with longtime clients -- including We Are for Better Alternatives, producer of NoCo Hemp Expo and Southern Hemp Expo and publisher of Let’s Talk Hemp; Presence Marketing, the nation’s leading independent natural products brokerage; BeyondBrands, a leading collective of branding experts serving the natural, organic, and healthy lifestyles market; and others --  Compass Natural welcomed a number of new clients in 2022. Such new brands include JAMBAR®, a certified organic, artisan-made energy bar created by Jennifer Maxwell, the inventor of the original PowerBar®; the Glyphosate Residue Free certification program, administered by the Detox Project; Bay State Milling, provider of certified organic grain ingredients; Franny’s Farmacy, an Asheville, NC-based producer of hemp-derived CBD consumer products and operator of a chain of dispensaries in the Eastern U.S.; and more. In addition, Compass Natural founder Steven Hoffman serves on the Advisory Board of ShiftCon Media, the country’s largest community of “eco-wellness” social media influencers.

About Compass Natural — Connecting Media & Markets in Natural, Organic Products
Based in Boulder, CO, and founded in 2002 by natural products industry veteran Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural is a boutique agency serving the public relations, brand marketing, social media, and business development needs of companies and organizations in the $500 billion market for natural, organic, regenerative, socially responsible, and eco-friendly products and services. Compass Natural also is the producer of the popular business podcast Compass Coffee Talk, which in November 2022 featured Colorado Governor Jared Polis talking about sustainability and the growth of natural and organic products, as well as the hemp and cannabis industries in the state and the nation. Visit Compass Natural’s fully illustrated client deck here. Also, learn more at www.CompassNatural.com and on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Contact
Steven Hoffman, info@compassnaturalmarketing.com, tel 303.807.1042

Compass Natural Marketing™ Forms New Advisory Board

Seasoned Natural Products Executives Partner with Agency’s Specialized Team of Experts, and Provide Additional Support for Clients in Regenerative, Hemp, and Organic Industries

Boulder, CO (October 13, 2020) – Boulder-based Compass Natural Marketing is pleased to announce the launch of its newly established Advisory Board along with the appointment of three charter members. Natural products industry veterans Ari Adams, Bill Capsalis, and Mike Schall will provide their depth of knowledge, insights, and guidance to the Compass Natural Advisory Board, in addition to supporting the agency’s current team of specialized communications experts. Compass Advisory Board members will foster positive relationships and collaborate directly with Compass’s clients in the regenerative agriculture, industrial hemp, and organic and natural products industries.

“I am proud and honored for Ari, Bill, and Mike to join Compass's new Advisory Board. Each of these distinguished leaders has complementary skill sets, yet diversified disciplines that appeal to our client’s needs," said Steven Hoffman, Founder and Managing Partner, Compass Natural Marketing. “The Advisory Board’s level of expertise combined with the skill set of our internal team positions Compass as a premier boutique niche agency. This collaboration reflects a deeper commitment to the industries we serve, and I am grateful to announce this partnership.” 

The Compass Advisory Board is in its initial phase and board positions are being considered on an individual basis. For more information on the Compass Natural team, including capabilities and how to connect your brand to valuable media, please visit  www.compassnatural.com or contact Steven Hoffman at steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com.

ARI ADAMS 
Ari Adams is a parenting and lifestyle blogger, author, and CEO of ShiftCon Media, producer of the annual ShiftCon Eco-Wellness Influencer Conference for eco-friendly and health-conscious bloggers and influencers. She holds a master's degree in marketing and has more than 15 years of experience in the media industry. Ari is the lady behind the lifestyle and parenting blog Love, Peace & Tiny Feet, where she shares her adventures of balancing parenthood, holistic wellness, DIY crafts, recipes, and other tips for parents. Ari studied at the University of Virginia and Georgia State University and holds a Master's Degree in Marketing. Ari also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Digital Marketing at Clayton State University in Atlanta, GA.

BILL CAPSALIS
As an avid healthy lifestyle expert, Bill works with emerging brands and mid-sized companies on everything from brand & sales channel strategy, finance, operational challenges, and product innovation. His in-depth knowledge of the natural products industry gives him a unique perspective on today’s food and beverage brands' challenges and opportunities. He is a recognized expert in healthy lifestyles and go-to-market strategies in the natural and organic industry. He is currently the interim CEO of Haystack Mountain Creamery - an artisanal goat cheese company. Practicing what he preaches, Bill leads a vegan, low-impact conscious lifestyle and has done so in Boulder, Colorado, for 34 years.

MIKE SCHALL
Mike has over three decades of senior management experience in branded food companies spanning large national brands' entrepreneurial initiatives. Mike is a Managing Director at Los Angeles based FocalPoint Partners, LLC, a middle-market investment banking firm and serves as a co-leader of the firm's Food & Beverage Practice. He previously served as Senior Principal of Business Development at Whole Foods Market where he worked with the executive leadership team on a wide range of strategic, investment and operating initiatives. Mike earned his MBA in Marketing from The University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business and graduated from California State University with a bachelor's degree in Marketing. He is plant-based, an avid runner, and enjoys cooking, reading, and studying history. He and Lisa, his wife of 40 years, have two daughters and three granddaughters.

About Compass Natural Marketing
Based in Boulder, Colorado - considered by many to be the "Epicenter of the Natural Products Industry," Compass Natural is a boutique digital marketing, branding, PR, and business development agency serving the rapidly growing market for natural, organic, socially responsible, eco-friendly and other healthy lifestyles products. Founded in late 2001 and driven by a commitment to creating a better world through business, Compass Natural has been a leader in the Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) market.

Contact
Steven Hoffman, Founder/Managing Director, Compass Natural Marketing, 303.807.1042, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com

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