Cleaner, Greener Cannabis is Growing in New Zealand
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Cleaner, Greener Cannabis is Growing in New Zealand
Puro is on track to become one of the world’s first organically certified cannabis cultivators.
MARLBOROUGH, New Zealand (April 27, 2021) — Puro, New Zealand’s largest licensed medicinal cannabis cultivator, is setting new standards in organic outdoor cannabis farming.
The company has been growing medicinal cannabis under organic guidelines at its outdoor site, Kēkerengū, in Marlborough — a region celebrated for its world-class wine industry.
BioGro, the country’s largest organic certifier, has audited Puro’s medicinal cannabis cultivation and last week certified the company’s first commercial crop of high CBD and CBG plants as being ‘In Conversion’ to organic.
This important milestone keeps Puro on track to achieve full organic status from BioGro for its medicinal cannabis production at this site in the next 18 months.
Once full organic status is achieved, Puro will be one of the world’s first certified organic medicinal cannabis cultivators.
For managing director Tim Aldridge, the certificate recognizes and rewards two years of hard work and challenges exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. It also reinforces the company’s overall mission of growing premium medical cannabis of the highest standard that is better for patients — and the planet.
“Worldwide we are already receiving interest in our product and stimulating discussion about the way in which we are establishing our farm,” says Aldridge.
Puro’s cultivation director Tom Forrest’s intimate knowledge and understanding of pharmaceutical growing operations have been instrumental in developing Puro’s organic and regenerative approach.
While it may have taken extra work to establish organic growing conditions, Forrest hopes that Puro’s achievements will encourage other cannabis growers to move their production practices away from a reliance on synthetic chemicals.
“Our focus and intention is to develop an ‘organic playbook’ for cannabis that other growers in New Zealand and globally can adopt and follow,” says Forrest. “Even if we can encourage one or two other commercial growers to move away from their reliance on synthetic chemicals and sprays, then this would be a wonderful achievement for our team.”
The first commercial crop is currently being harvested and over 25 tonnes of wet flower have so far been processed at the onsite purpose-built facility. Puro’s cultivation team believes the same terroir that produces the region’s world-class wine could also produce some novel terpene and cannabinoid profiles, and product testing is currently underway.
In another significant first, Puro is working with the New Zealand Government’s international business development agency, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, to pave a pathway for exporting bulk medicinal cannabis from New Zealand. Puro is seeking international partnerships for its products.
Puro is now working to finance further developments. Last week, the company successfully closed a $2 million retail investment campaign. The funds will be used to complete development of Puro’s breeding facility in Waihopai, near Blenheim, which will sit beside its existing indoor research facility at the site and be used for seed production. It is seeking further wholesale investment of $6 million that will fund the development of Puro’s commercial glasshouses.
If you’re interested in learning how to purchase Puro’s unique cannabis product or to consider an investment into Puro, please contact Tim Aldridge - tim@puro.co.nz.
For more information on Puro, including future investment opportunities, visit puro.co.nz and follow @Puro on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
For further press information, please contact: Melissa Reid - melissa@hempire.co.nz
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Diversity, Inclusion and the Natural Products Industry
Photo: Pixabay
This article originally appeared in Presence Marketing’s May 2021 Industry Newsletter and New Hope Network’s IdeaXchange
By Steven Hoffman
This month’s news items focus on recent efforts in the natural and specialty foods industry to advance and integrate diversity and inclusion in America’s food system. You can learn more and explore how to get involved in these efforts by visiting the J.E.D.I. Collaborative, www.jedicollaborative.com.
J.E.D.I. Collaborative Seeks to Expand Diversity in the Natural Products Industry
In a Compass Coffee Talk conversation in April, Carlotta Mast, Co-founder of the J.E.D.I. Collaborative, announced that the organization – dedicated to expanding Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the natural and organic products industry, will soon be appointing a new Executive Director. The organization recently engaged Ryan Pintado-Vertner, Founder of Smoketown, a Chicago-based agency dedicated to expanding diversity and social impact in the CPG industry, to help further J.E.D.I.’s reach, focus and influence in the natural products market. “We’re standing on the shoulders of a lot of effort and work, and with the Black Lives Matter movement, we’ve hit an inflection point. The 15% pledge is the reason companies like Target and Fresh Market have taken these initiatives,” said Pintado-Vertner, referring to an initiative launched in 2020 calling on major retailers to commit to a minimum of 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned businesses. The J.E.D.I. Collaborative was founded by One Step Closer (OSC), an industry organization dedicated to zero waste packaging, reversing climate change, conscious leadership and a just and regenerative society. Compass Coffee Talk is produced by Compass Natural Marketing and sponsored by Presence Marketing / Dynamic Presence.
How Natural Companies Can Turn Societal Upheaval Into Better Branding
In the recent issue of Nutrition Business Journal, featuring guest editor Emerald-Jane Hunter of the myWHY Agency, writer Rick Polito outlined lessons marketers and brand executives learned in the past year that they are taking into the future. One is to commit to Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (J.E.D.I.) (see above). “If you don’t have a diversity strategy, you don’t have a growth strategy,” one industry veteran said. For the natural products industry, that means “figuring out how to move beyond a primarily white and affluent audience, how to support Black-owned businesses and how to embrace diversity within its own corporate teams,” he wrote. According to a Natural and Organic Industry Benchmarking Survey, in the boardrooms of natural products brands, only 2% of leadership positions are occupied by Black professionals. Samantha Flynn, who works with the myWHY Agency, emphasized that authenticity means more than posting supportive messages, especially to Gen Z. “They believe in the power of their dollar and no purchase is too small for them to be examining what the company stands for,” she said.
Natural Products Industry Fund to Provide Scholarships, Networking for HBCU Students
The Organic & Natural Health Association (ONHA) recently announced a partnership with the Williams-Franklin Foundation to raise a minimum of $50,000 over the next five years to provide scholarship funds for students attending historically black colleges or universities (HBCU). The Organic & Natural Health Scholarship Fund will support students in financial need, and ONHA also committed to support networking opportunities for HBCU students, graduates and natural health executives with the purposes of creating internships and career opportunities, while helping to create a more diverse and inclusive industry. “This is an Organic & Natural Health initiative, but it’s not ours to own,” said Karen Howard, executive director of ONHA. “We want to make this an industry-wide initiative for diversity and inclusion, and we want it to be as big and as noteworthy as what Vitamin Angels has achieved for dietary supplement distribution to countries in need. Exposure to our industry is the biggest barrier to lack of diversification in our organizations. Together, as an industry, we can proactively work to change this dynamic.” The Williams-Franklin Foundation is a 501(c) 3 incorporated nonprofit that provides academic scholarships, business/career networking, and mentoring opportunities to HBCU students with extreme financial need. Led by husband and wife team, Dwight and LaShelle (Williams) Franklin, both HBCU graduates used their own seed money to launch the foundation in 2014. Leaders and companies within the natural products industry who want to donate a tax-deductible gift directly to the Williams-Franklin Foundation’s Organic & Natural Health Scholarship Fund select “Organic & Natural Health Fund” in the dropbox when donating at: https://www.wmsfranklinfoundation.org/donate/.
The Fresh Market Appoints New Head of Diversity
Specialty grocer The Fresh Market has named one of its senior leaders, Gerald Walden, to a newly created position within the retail chain as Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Head of Diversity. As Head of Diversity, Walden will oversee The Fresh Market’s efforts to advance and integrate diversity, equity and inclusion values and practices across the company and with business partners and customers, the company said in a statement. Walden previously served as VP, Head of Legal for The Fresh Market, which operates 159 stores in 22 states. Walden currently serves on The Fresh Market’s Diversity Action Board and, for a decade has overseen the retailer’s legal internship program, which provides exclusive opportunities to minority law students. Walden also has an extensive background in inclusive leadership, having served as the Chair of the North Carolina Bar Association’s Minorities in the Profession Committee, the President of the Guilford County Association of Black Lawyers, and currently Walden serves as a Board Member of the National Employment Law Council and two historically Black universities, the company said.
Dr. Bronner’s Issues Statement Against Hate Crimes Toward Asian Americans
Asian-American and Pacific Islander employees at Dr. Bronner’s, together with the company’s BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) taskforce, have issued a statement against hate toward Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders amid reports that anti-Asian hate crimes rose nearly 150% in America’s largest cities last year. “We have unfortunately seen this over and over again in human history: when a nation struggles with problems, its citizens look for a group to blame, a group they can scapegoat or attack—and often that group is one that is already considered to be outsiders, illegitimate, or somehow less deserving. We recognize that many in the U.S. are truly hurting—devastated by the multiple health and economic crises brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. But the healing of this pain will never be found in the oppression of other people. It is incumbent on all of us to speak up and intervene if we witness this kind of harassment or racism. It is also imperative that we speak up against the use of phrases like ‘China virus’ or ‘Wuhan virus’ to describe the Covid-19 pandemic, as that sort of language unfairly casts Asians as responsible for the pandemic and creates the conditions for the kind of racist abuse that has been on the rise. This kind of scapegoating of a particular racial group runs directly counter to our grandfather’s All-One vision and is against everything we practice and promote as a company. Dr. Bronner’s speaks out categorically against all harassment or victimization of members of our Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community,” the statement said. Dr. Bronner’s customers can opt in to donate 10% of sales proceeds – at no additional cost – to Asian Americans Advancing Justice through June 30.
Natural Industry Survey: Smaller Companies Are More Diverse than Larger Ones
Leadership teams and boards of directors in the natural products industry lack diversity and are predominately comprised of white men, according to a survey of 220 industry leaders conducted by the J.E.D.I. Collaborative and New Hope Network. According to the benchmark survey, Black and Latinx membership on natural products industry boards is only 2%, while Black and Latinx representation on leadership teams is 2% and 6%, respectively, according to New Hope Network. Smaller companies are more diverse than larger ones: companies with fewer than 10 employees have more women and people of color in management positions, the survey found. According to New Hope Network, today’s natural and organic consumer is primarily white (73%), yet the U.S. population is headed toward a white minority population by 2043. “The U.S. is becoming increasingly diverse and it is imperative that manufacturers and retailers serve the changing population,” the editors of New Hope said. “Becoming a more diverse community will allow us to be able to serve the people who could benefit most from health-promoting food and products and contributes to the long-term costs that all of society pays when we support an unjust food and agricultural system.” Companies can make the J.E.D.I. commitment toward inclusion and diversity here.
Target to Spend More than $2 Billion with Black-owned Businesses by 2025
Target Corporation in April announced it has committed to spending more than $2 billion with Black-owned businesses by the end of 2025. In a statement, Target said it is pledging to add products across multiple categories from more than 500 Black-owned companies, and is introducing resources to help its Black-owned vendors grow and successfully scale their businesses in mass retail. Building off of the retailer’s Target Accelerators, a program that supports entrepreneurs to drive innovation, the company is introducing a new program called Forward Founders. This program will engage Black entrepreneurs earlier in their startup journey to help them navigate the critical stages of ideation, product development and scaling for mass retail, Target said. With increased access to subject matter experts and educational workshops earlier in the startup process, Forward Founders is designed to help Black-owned businesses increase their potential for long-term success in retail, said the company. For more information, visit Target’s Supplier Diversity page.
Molson Coors Invests in TRU Colors, Founded by Rival Gang Members
Molson Coors, which has been expanding its portfolio beyond beer to include hard seltzer, spirits, energy drinks and non-alcoholic functional beverages, in April announced it has made an equity investment in TRU Colors Brewery, a Wilmington, NC-based company founded by a tech entrepreneur and rival gang leaders from the Bloods, Crips and GD. TRU stands for Truth, Responsibility and Unity, according to company founders, and the brand has a mission to provide employment and to unify rival gangs, Molson Coors said in a statement. In addition to an equity investment, Molson Coors will serve as a strategic partner to assist the company with distribution strategy, brand positioning, supplier relationships, marketing and advertising consultation, and product formulation. Molson Coors said the move is not only a strategic investment, but also marks the latest in a series of actions designed to foster a more inclusive and diverse culture. The company announced a goal of increasing representation of people of color in its U.S. operations by 25% by the end of 2023 and committed to donating a cumulative $3 million to 26 local and national organizations dedicated to equality, empowerment, justice and community building from 2020-2021.
Campbell Soup Company Flipping the Script on Diversity and Inclusion
By taking a stand on social issues and social justice, companies can attract and maintain talent and investors, said Campbell Soup Company CEO Mark Clouse in a recent webinar. “Our employees want to know where we stand on these things, and it’s also great to see investors starting to ask me those questions,” Clouse said, according to Food Navigator. “The idea of inclusion coming first is really about wiring comprehensively a broad scope plan and strategy that will change culture that make it conducive to attracting and retaining diversity,” he said. According to Clouse, Campbell in October 2020 appointed Camille Pierce as Senior VP and Chief Culture Officer to help ensure its diversity and inclusion efforts become embedded in the company’s leadership and culture. Campbell has developed strategies around three pillars, said Clouse: capabilities & education, advocacy, and accountability. These pillars serve as a framework for metrics – not quotas – he said, and outcomes that “are placed on a time continuum.“ Then Campbell “measures the heck out of them. We may not get it right every time, but we try to be thoughtful” and learn from experiences to create a more inclusive and diverse workplace, he said. For more information, visit here.
Organic & Regenerative Agriculture Has Roots in Black, Native American Farming
Dr. George Washington Carver was one of the founders of the organic and regenerative agriculture movements. A researcher, inventor, scientist and professor at Tuskegee University, Carver was among the first to spread the word about caring for soil and community, inspiring a generation of organic farmers in the late 1800s and early 1900s, writes Leah Penniman in Civil Eats. Penniman is Co-director and Program Manager at Soul Fire Farm in Petersburg, NY, a community organization that serves more than 10,000 people each year with food justice initiatives, farm training for BIPOC growers and more. Through “Afro-Indigenous” farming and forestry practices, Soul Fire has been regenerating 80 acres of land, while providing training, workshops and mentorship to underserved communities. “My ancestral grandmothers in West Africa braided seeds of okra, molokhia, and levant cotton into their hair before being forced to board Transatlantic slave ships. They hid sesame, black-eyed peas, rice, and melon seeds in their locks,” writes Penniman. “With the seed, our grandmothers also braided their eco-systemic and cultural knowledge. They braided the wisdom of sharing land, labor, and wealth.” However, Penniman notes, Black farmers once owned 16 million acres of land in the U.S. after emancipation, yet “almost all of that land is now gone,” she said. “In 2010, Soul Fire Farm was born with a mission to reclaim our ancestral belonging to land and to end racism and exploitation in the food system. What began as a small family farm is now a community organization committed to this systemic and ancestral change. And we pray that the words from our mouths, the meditations in our hearts, and the work of our hands are all acceptable to our grandmothers who passed us these seeds.”
USDA Secretary: Creating Equitable Opportunities for Black Farmers Lifts All Boats
Provisions of the recently enacted American Rescue Plan that seek to acknowledge and address systemic racism perpetuated against generations of Black farmers will benefit the entire agriculture sector, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack told stakeholders at a House Agriculture Committee hearing held in late March. President Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief plan earmarked nearly $5 billion for black farmers impacted by decades of discrimination made worse by the pandemic, NBC Washington reported. “Creating more equitable opportunities for Black farmers is a rising tide that can lift all boats,” Vilsack said at the hearing, Food Navigator-USA reported. “As one study found closing racial gaps in wages, housing credit, lending opportunities, and access to higher education would amount to an additional $5 trillion in gross domestic product and six million jobs to the American economy over the next five years,” Vilsack said in defense of “socially disadvantaged farmer provisions in the American Rescue Plan,” that have come under fire by some legislators and critics of the plan. “While Black farmers receive about $60 million in annual commodity subsidies, white farmers annually receive about $10 billion in commodity subsidies,” Vilsack said. He also noted that 97% of coronavirus food assistance payments went to white farmers, Food Navigator-USA reported. “More need to be done to drive our efforts deeper,” Vilsack told the House Agriculture Committee. He emphasized the necessity to “make clear that prosperous farmers of color means a prosperous agriculture sector and a prosperous America.”
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Join Ronnie Cummins on Compass Coffee Talk, May 19, 11:30am EDT
The Power of the Organic Consumer
Join Ronnie Cummins, Co-Founder and International Director of the Organic Consumers Association, as He Shares Perspectives on Advocating for a Healthful Food System and the Power of the Organic Consumer
Wednesday, May 19, 11:30 am – Noon EDT
Zoom, Admission is Free
Ronnie Cummins, Co-Founder and International Director, Organic Consumers Association
Policy reform, organic integrity, climate change, and grassroots campaigns are a sample of topics that Ronnie Cummins, the Co-Founder and International Director of the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), will cover. Additionally, Cummins will discuss his latest book, Grassroots Rising: A Call to Action on Climate, Farming, Food, and a Green New Deal, published by Chelsea Green in Feb. 2020, at the start of the pandemic. Cummins will share the power of the organic consumer and what implications may be felt throughout the natural products industry as the country re-opens after the pandemic.
About Ronnie Cummins
Ronnie Cummins has been active as a writer and activist since the 1960’s, with extensive experience in public education, grassroots mobilization, and marketplace pressure campaigns. Over the past three decades, he has served as the director of domestic and international campaigns focused on agriculture issues. Cummins is a frequent lecturer, both in the U.S. and abroad, and is a regular contributor to online publications such as Organic Bytes, Common Dreams, Mercola.com, Truthout, Alternet, Counterpunch, and Eco-Watch. He lives with his wife and 22-year-old son in Finland, Minnesota, and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
About Compass Coffee Talk™
Take a 30-minute virtual coffee break with Compass Coffee Talk™. Hosted by natural industry veterans Bill Capsalis and Steve Hoffman, Coffee Talk features lively interactive conversations with industry leaders and experts designed to help guide entrepreneurs and businesses of any size succeed in the market for natural, organic, regenerative, hemp-derived and other eco-friendly products.
Compass Coffee Talk™ is produced by Compass Natural Marketing, a leading PR, branding and business development agency serving the natural and organic products industry. Learn more.
VIEW OUR PAST COMPASS COFFEE TALK EPISODES ON YOUTUBE
Black-owned Vegan Meat Brand Cuts Investment Deal with Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban
Photo: Gage Skidmore
This article originally appeared in Presence Marketing’s April 2021 Industry Newsletter
By Steven Hoffman
Everything Legendary has a new partner – Shark Tank’s own Mark Cuban. After a recent appearance on the show, the Black-owned vegan meat alternative brand received a $300,000 investment from Cuban in exchange for 22% of the company, VegNews reported. Company founders Duane “Myko” Cheers, Danita Claytor and Jumoke Jackson appeared on Shark Tank to pitch their Washington, D.C.-based business, which makes vegan burgers based on a recipe inspired by their mothers using a blend of hemp protein, coconut oil, potato starch and beet extract. “It began with a search for something healthy and good-tasting that our mothers would want to eat. Once we had that, we took it to the streets with pop-up stores and street festival sampling, and let the community taste it for themselves. We all know that today’s consumers are demanding that their food be nutritious and supercharged with flavor. Our brand delivers. It’s Mom-Approved. And now, it’s also Shark-Sanctioned,” Cheers told VegNews. Mark Cuban has been vegetarian for more than a year. In addition to Everything Legendary, he has invested in a number of vegan companies including Delighted by Hummus, Snacklins, Wanna Date? and Pan’s Mushroom Jerky, VegNews reported.
Amy’s Kitchen: Becoming a B Corp. During Wildfires, a Pandemic, and Unprecedented Demand
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
This article originally appeared in Presence Marketing’s April 2021 Industry Newsletter
By Steven Hoffman
Amy’s Kitchen’s President and CEO Xavier Unkovic was recently featured among other Northern California food business leaders in the North Bay Business Journal. Last fall, the company became a certified B Corp. as if faced the challenges of keeping workers safe and securing its supply chain during the pandemic; wildfires in two of the three regions in which the company operates; and unprecedented demand for its products, as plant-based and frozen foods both have experienced a surge in sales. “Over the course of the past year, we faced some of the greatest challenges in the company’s history,” Unkovic told the Journal. “Since our start, our founders have strived to do the right thing, even when it wasn’t the easiest, and this certification validates those efforts and provides us with a benchmark from which to measure our continued progress.” The company had sales approaching $600 million in 2020, a double-digit increase over 2019, reported Food Navigator-USA.
Large-scale Study Finds No Evidence of Liver Toxicity from Oral CBD Products
Photo: Pexels
This article originally appeared in Presence Marketing’s April 2021 Industry Newsletter
By Steven Hoffman
CBD products do not cause liver damage when taken orally, according to preliminary results of a seven-month clinical investigation conducted by Validcare in response to the FDA’s request to help inform the agency’s regulatory approach regarding products containing hemp-derived CBD. Twelve companies, including CBD market leader Charlotte’s Web, helped support the study. Preliminary findings showed no evidence of liver disease in the 839 participants in the study, and no increase in the prevalence of elevated liver function tests when compared to a population with a similar incidence of medical conditions. The Validcare study’s findings were shared with the FDA when researchers met with the agency on March 15 to review preliminary liver safety results in the form of an abstract, reported Nutra Ingredients-USA. “We are encouraged by these findings and hopeful this study provides FDA with sufficient science-based data to determine and take action on a safe regulatory path forward,” said Keith Aqua, M.D., co-principal investigator of the study.
Organic Farming Could Boost Carbon Sequestration by Double Digits, New Study Says
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This article originally appeared in Presence Marketing’s April 2021 Industry Newsletter
By Steven Hoffman
In a meta-analysis of more than 4,000 studies, researchers found that organic farmers could increase the amount of carbon captured in the soil by double digits by adopting best organic farming practices. The study was published in the journal Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment by researchers at the University of Maryland in collaboration with The Organic Center, a nonprofit research and education organization based in Washington, D.C. Examining different practices such as the use of organic soil amendments, conservation tillage and cover crops, the researchers found that best practices in organic soil amendments, such as compost and manure, had the biggest and fastest impact on carbon sequestration, by an average of 24%. “The study is the first of its kind – looking within organic management to not only highlight the areas where organic excels at locking greenhouse gas in the soil, but also identifying the areas that have the biggest beneficial impact, enabling organic growers to maximize their ability to fight climate change,” said Jessica Shade, Ph.D., Director of Science Programs for The Organic Center. The study identified four practices that are most critical to good soil health, including planting cover crops; applying combinations of organic inputs; increasing crop rotation diversity and length; and conservation tillage. The Organic Center highlighted the report’s main findings here.
Global Earth Day Live Broadcast, April 22, Includes Focus on Regenerative Agriculture
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This article originally appeared in Presence Marketing’s April 2021 Industry Newsletter
By Steven Hoffman
The global organizer of Earth Day, Earthday.org, will present its second Earth Day Live digital event on April 22, 2021. The theme of the multi-hour, multi-channel livestream event, beginning at noon Eastern Time, is Restore Our Earth. Topics include regenerative agriculture, climate and environmental literacy, equity and environmental justice, climate restoration technologies and more. “The agriculture sector is one of the largest contributors to climate change, and regenerative agriculture has the power to change that by rehabilitating our soils and enhancing our ecosystem,” Jillian Semann, Earth Day Network’s Food and Environment Director, said in a statement. "This Earth Day, we have an important opportunity to challenge world leaders to see climate change for what it is – a pressing global security threat, one that threatens everyone and everything but particularly our most vulnerable people and places," said Kathleen Rogers, President of Earthday.org. Learn more at www.earthday.org/earth-day-2021.
Union President Calls Boulder King Soopers Employees Heroes After Mass Shooting
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
This article originally appeared in Presence Marketing’s April 2021 Industry Newsletter
By Steven Hoffman
Among the 10 community members killed in Boulder, CO, in a mass shooting on March 22 were three employees of King Soopers’ Table Mesa location, the store in which the horrific crime took place. An Instacart shopper also died in the tragic shooting. In a year where workers have served on the front line of a pandemic, the shooting episode served as a stark reminder of the risks retail workers face on the job, reported Business Insider. Yet, when a gunman started shooting at King Soopers’ popular South Boulder location, grocery store employees helped get customers out of harm’s way, said Kim Cordova, President of United Food and Commercials Workers (UFCW) Local 7. In an interview with Denver’s 9News, the local union leader repeatedly used one word to describe the workers: “heroes.” Cordova told 9News, “We know that when they heard gunshots, some of the workers grabbed coworkers, also led customers out to safety through various exits throughout the store, including the back dock and the back area of the store. They work during every manmade or natural disaster, and now, they again stepped up helped save customers and members of the community. They continue to be heroes.” King Soopers announced it will donate $1 million and Instacart is donating $100,000 to the Colorado Healing Fund to help support victims, families and the community in the wake of the shooting.
Dang Foods Founder Offers Ways Natural Products Industry Can Support the American-Asian Population in the Wake of Recent Hate Crimes
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This article originally appeared in Presence Marketing’s April 2021 Industry Newsletter
By Steven Hoffman
Vincent Kitirattragarn, founder of natural snack company Dang Foods, outlined ways in New Hope Network how members of the natural products industry can support the American-Asian population in the wake of recent hate crimes. Since March 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic started in the U.S., anti-Asian hate crimes increased 1,900% in the U.S., Kitirattragarn cited. Three thousand incidents have been reported, and many more go unreported due to language barriers and mistrust of authorities, he said. Kitirattragarn called on industry leaders to take action and to check in with Asian employees; making them feel seen can be a strong connector, he advised. Kitirattragarn also outlined things industry members can do to help, including: learn the basics of bystander intervention; have your companies take a stance (promote hashtags such as #StopAsianHate and #StopAAPIHate); amplify Asian voices in your community; and support the cause financially.