ReGen Brands Podcast

#83 - Kyle Sullivan & Jesse Smith @ Figure Ate

On this episode, we have Kyle Sullivan & Jesse Smith from Figure Ate Foods and the White Buffalo Land Trust. Kyle serves as the Director of Marketing and Communications while Jesse serves as the Director of Land Stewardship.
Figure Ate is supporting regenerative agriculture with their persimmon vinegar and beef biltong products, and the Figure Ate brand is a part of the larger White Buffalo Land Trust non-profit that is stewarding the 1,000-acre Jalama Canyon Ranch and serves as a global hub for regenerative land stewardship, ecological monitoring, research, education, training, and enterprise development. 
In this episode, we learn about why developing demand-building enterprises supporting ecological stewardship is a major key to regenerative success, Kyle and Jesse share the journey of launching the brand, formulating the initial products, and selling across multiple sales channels, plus we learn about some new projects and products they have in the works.
Episode Highlights:
🌎 Creating a global hub for regenerative agriculture
⁉️ Why does a non-profit have a food brand?
👉 Building enterprises that support ecological stewardship
🤯 The ecological complexity at the Jalama Canyon Ranch
🍶 Why persimmon vinegar was product #1
🔥 Developing domestic Elderberry supply + new products
😡 Dealing with legal and regulatory challenges in marketing
💪 Leading with nutrition claims on packaging
👀 New biltong flavors coming soon
💫 The quorum of energies that will scale regenerative
Links:
Figure Ate
White Buffalo Land Trust
Richard’s Regenerative
Sandhi Wines
Ventura Spirits
Value-Added Producer Grants
Good Food Awards
Land To Market™
White Oak Pastures
Thousand Hills
Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities
State of Regenerative CPG Report
Good Energy by Casey Means
Outstanding In The Field
Bionutrient Food Association
Nutrient Density Alliance
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#82 - Benina Montes @ Burroughs Family Farms

On this episode, we have Benina Montes who is the Founder and Co-Owner of Burroughs Family Farms.
Burroughs Family Farms is supporting regenerative agriculture with their regenerative organic farm producing almonds, olives, and walnuts while raising pastured sheep and poultry. Their brand predominantly sells almond-based products like various nut butters and their new almond concentrate, along with whole-snacking almonds offered in various formats and flavors. 
In this episode, we learn about the Burroughs family's long history in farming and with food brands, Benina details their regenerative journey and how they became the first almond farm in the world to be Regenerative Organic Certified®, and we learn about why they launched their own brand and how it has grown over the last few years.
Benina and her family are proving firsthand on their more than 1,000 acres that almond farming can be both regenerative and productive - leading to big wins in water infiltration, farm profitability, crop nutrient density, and more. They even host an Annual Regenerative Almond Field Day to share their efforts with other farmers, brands, retailers, researchers, and more.
Episode Highlights:
🧑‍🌾 The Burroughs family’s history with farming and brands
🫙 Why they created their own brand
😡 How the entire almond industry incentivizes bare ground
🌳 Why farming in California is so different
🏗️ How new harvesting equipment enables regen practices
🔥 Their Annual Regenerative Tree Nut Field Day
🐑 The challenge of building off-take for both crops and livestock
🏆 Their NEXTY-winning Almond Milk Concentrate
🥈 Why they have two regenerative certifications
🛒 How retailers and distributors can support regen
Links:
Burroughs Family Farms
2024 NEXTY Award Winners
4th Annual Regenerative Tree Nut Field Day
Ecdysis
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act
Undaunted Courage
Rick Clark
State of Regenerative CPG Report
Regenerative Organic Certified®
Regenified™
Naturland
CDFA Defining Regenerative Agriculture
Alice Waters Institute
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#81 - ReGen Brands Launches Unprecedented Support Ecosystem For CPG Brands Supporting Regenerative Agriculture

On this episode, we are celebrating some very big news.
This week, we launched a new unprecedented, multifaceted support ecosystem for CPG brands supporting regenerative agriculture including two new non-profit organizations and one future for-profit organization.
The three entities are called: ReGen Brands Institute, ReGen Brands Coalition, and ReGen Brands Capital.
We’ve shared bits and pieces of our work on all of this over the past year, but we have not really given our audience a full update since August of 2023. And there’s a reason for that, as we’ve been quite hard at work building this new ecosystem.Please check out the updated website, read our inaugural State of Regenerative CPG report, and view the press release to get a nice, concise, articulate download of what we’re doing.
In this episode, we wanted to give you a peek behind the curtain on what went into shaping this vision, building the inaugural entities, hitting some key milestones, and where we go from here. Long story short, if you want to know what the future of our work looks like, then this is a must listen. We’re so proud to take this massive step forward and we couldn't have done it without your support. We hope you’re as energized by this milestone as we are.
 
Episode Highlights:
🎉 The new ReGen Brands ecosystem
🤯 How we got here
↗️ Where we’re headed
❓ Why this new approach
🏫 Introducing, ReGen Brands Institute
📚 Our new research and education programming
🤝 Introducing, ReGen Brands Coalition
🔥 Our new trade association for regen brands
💰 Introducing, ReGen Brands Capital
🙏 Values-aligned capital for regen brands
 
Links:
ReGen Brands
New Ecosystem Announcement
State of Regenerative CPG Report 
ReGen Brands Institute
ReGen Brands Coalition
ReGen Brands Capital
ReGen Brands Weekly Newsletter
JellyShot
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#80 - Samuel Taylor @ Long Table

On this episode, we have Samuel Taylor who is the Founder and CEO of Long Table.
Long Table is supporting regenerative agriculture with their pancake and waffle mixes made with regeneratively grown heirloom grains. 
In this episode, we learn how Samuel went from actor to CPG Founder due to the combination of a pancake obsession and an acrobatic love interest. He details how the brand went from the farmers market to appearing on Shark Tank, and he shares why regenerative, stone-milled, heirloom grains are a game-changer in terms of flavor, nutrition, and environmental impact.
Lots of great stories in this one folks! Samuel didn’t land a deal on Shark Tank, but he scooped up the next best thing: “the best pancakes I’ve ever had” compliment from all the sharks and a million-dollar sales bump. A little over a year later, he’s looking to build out this brand both online and in retail while being a key purchaser supporting the regenerative grain shed of the upper Midwest.
 
Episode Highlights:
🥞 Next-gen pancakes from regeneratively-grown, heirloom grains
🎪 The acrobatic love interest that inspired the brand
🍿 Inventing popcorn flour pancakes
🦈 Going on Shark Tank with David Schwimmer
🤯 Doing $1M in sales the 6 weeks after Shark Tank
🌾 Building supply chains with the Artisan Grain Collaborative
🤤 Why stone-milled, heirloom grains are better
📈 Capital-efficient, omnichannel growth
🏅 Working towards Regenified™ certification
💰 Why regen brands need more investment
 
Links:
Long Table
Artisan Grain Collaborative
Long Table On Shark Tank
Seedhouse Design
Janie’s Mill
Meadowlark Organics
Regenified™
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#79 - Ben Mand @ Guayakí

On this episode, we have Ben Mand who is the CEO at Guayakí.
Guayakí is supporting regenerative agriculture with their various yerba mate-based products that are farmed in regenerative organic systems. 
Yerba mate is a tree of the holly family that is native to the Atlantic Forest of South America, and the consumption of yerba mate is related to the unique relationship between Indigenous Peoples and their forest environments developed over millennia.
On this episode, we learn how Ben has satisfied his appetite for impact across a wide array of brands, and he shares more about Guayakí’s Market Drive Regeneration™ approach - detailing what that means for their farming partners, their business, and their consumers.
 
Episode Highlights:
🍃 Creating the yerba mate category
🧉 The traditional gourd circle practice of sharing mate
📈 Going from incremental to exponential impact in CPG
❤️ Guayakí’s Market Driven Regeneration™
🙏 Partnering with Indigenous communities
🤝 Farmer price premiums and infrastructure investment
👉 Making responsible business the new norm
🔥 Nailing the brilliant basics to tell the regen story
🔮 Future-proofing their product portfolio
🎯 How retailers should support regen brands
 
Links:
Guayakí
Yerba Mate 101
Market Driven Regeneration™
Harmless Harvest
#73 - Allie O'Brien @ Harmless Harvest
Regenerative Organic Certified®
World Bank
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#78 - James Arthur Smith @ Seatopia

On this episode, we have James Arthur Smith who is the Founder and CEO of Seatopia.
 
Seatopia is supporting regenerative aquaculture with its direct-to-consumer business building consumer demand for innovative aquaculture practices in hopes of scaling a truly regenerative seafood supply chain to feed the planet and restore our oceans. 
 
In this episode, James breaks down the massive problems with current commodity seafood systems, how Seatopia is pioneering aquaculture 3.0, and why integrated multi-trophic aquaculture in the ocean is the same thing as regenerative agriculture on the land.
 
If you’re ready to take a deep dive (pun intended) into marine ecosystems and planet-positive commercial-scale food production then this episode is for you.
 
Episode Highlights:
 
🌊 James’ lifelong love affair with the ocean
🐠 Why wild caught isn’t necessarily better
👉 The parallels between agriculture and aquaculture
🐟 How Seatopia is championing aquaculture 3.0
🎣 Why we can’t feed the world with just wild-caught seafood
🔥 Sourcing from integrated multi-trophic seafood farms
🙅 Why regenerative doesn’t drive dollars
🔬 Using testing and transparency to boost product claims
😯 Fish isn’t actually supposed to smell ‘fishy’
📈 Leveraging R&D for more whole-fish utilization
 
Links:
Seatopia
California Coastal Commission
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
AltaSea
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#77 - Jacob Muise @ Maui Nui Venison

On this episode, we have Jacob Muise who is a Co-Founder and the CEO of Maui Nui Venison.
 
Maui Nui Venison is supporting regenerative agriculture with its lineup of venison products made from wild-harvesting the invasive Axis deer population on the island of Maui.
 
Maui Nui Venison is the most nutrient-rich, and protein-dense red meat on the planet. Their stress-free, wild-harvesting methods ethically and responsibly manage the invasive Axis deer population of Maui in an effort to restore ecological balance to the island.
 
In this episode, we learn how Jake went from surfing the frosty waters off of Nova Scotia to the warm waters of Hawaii, the ecological imperative for managing the Axis deer population in Hawaii, and how Jake turned his obsession for Axis deer into the powerhouse brand that Maui Nui is today.
 
Now look, this is a little ‘outside of the box’ application of the term regenerative agriculture, and that may not fly for some of you purists out there. But guess what, we don’t really care. Because Maui Nui’s outcomes in terms of ecological benefit, human nutrition, and community benefit are unquestionably regenerative. And this is the first of two episodes in a row where we feature a brand with a nuanced take on regen somewhat outside of the norm.
 
And the word on the street is there are multiple top-secret reveals buried deep in this episode, so I think you’ll want to listen until the very end.
 
Episode Highlights:
 
🛶 How Axis Deer came to Hawaii
🏄 Jake’s journey from Nova Scotia to Maui
🦌 Why Axis Deer populations increase so rapidly
🍖 Turning a removal project into a meat business
🤯 Their unique, stress-free, night-time harvesting process
⚙️ Building USDA-approved processing for Axis Deer
😮 Ecological and economic imperatives for eating Axis Deer
🎯 Accidentally creating the ‘perfect meat triangle’
🔥 Why taste and quality Always. Comes. First.
💥 Their upcoming broth collab with Kettle & Fire
 
Links:
Maui Nui Venison
Hawaiʻiʻs Axis Deer - From invasive species to food source
Peter Attia
Tim Ferriss
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#76 - Newtopia Now Preview with New Hope Network

On this episode, we have Jessica Rubino and Douglas Brown from New Hope Network. Jessica serves as the Vice President of Content and Douglas serves as a Senior Retail Reporter & Analyst.
 
New Hope Network’s purpose is to cultivate a prosperous high-integrity CPG and retail ecosystem that creates health, joy, and justice for all people while regenerating the planet. New Hope Network is at the forefront of the natural, organic, and conscious products industry. With solutions for the complete supply chain, including manufacturers, retailers, distributors, service providers, ingredient suppliers, media, and investors, New Hope Network offers a robust portfolio of content, events, data, research, and consultative services.
 
Most of you listening probably know New Hope best for their seminal, annual event, Natural Products Expo West, which Kyle and I broke down on Episode 66.
 
In this episode, we are talking all things Newtopia Now, which is New Hope’s newest event designed for buyers to discover their next best-selling conscious products through facilitated connections, deepened relationships, and actionable and inspiring content.
 
The unique floorplan at Newtopia Now is built around 4 neighborhoods, with one being ‘Regenerate’ showcasing brands building more regenerative supply chains and overall business models.
 
We get a special sneak peek preview into the event overall, what retailers and regenerative brands can expect when attending Newtopia Now, and I ask both Jessica and Douglas for their thoughts on the hottest topics in the world of regenerative CPG. Because I know y’all are tired of just hearing Kyle and I talk about them…
 
This was a super fun episode, and I’m looking forward to seeing many of you at Newtopia Now in August.
 
Episode Highlights:
 
💫 Introducing, Newtopia Now!
🤝 New experiences for brands & buyers
🚶 Strolling the neighborhoods and shopping the market
🍝 Creating new and deeper connections at curated dine arounds
💭 Translating customer feedback into product development
⚡ The exciting early potential of the regen movement
🤔 How almost all regen claims are 3rd-party validated
🔮 What will regen CPG claims look like in the future?
💪 Is nutrient density the silver bullet for regen demand?
🎯 Embracing empathy, interconnectedness, and deeper connection
Links:
New Hope Network
Newtopia Now
The Natural List
Natural Products Expo West
Marketing regenerative: How three ROC brands sell agriculture
Black Cat Organic Farm
The Wolf’s Tailor
Colorado Grain Chain
Pastaficio
Moxie Bread Co
Mad Agriculture
Nutrient Density Alliance
Patagonia Provisions
SIMPLi
Alec’s Ice Cream
GoodSAM Foods
Lundberg Family Farms
Ancient Nutrition
Dr. Bronner’s
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#75 - Ladd Wahlen @ Roots Potato Chips

On this episode, we have Ladd Wahlen who is a fourth-generation potato farmer and Co-Owner of Roots Potato Chips. 
 
Roots Potato Chips is supporting regenerative agriculture with its lineup of single-origin, regeneratively farmed potato chip products.
 
In this episode, we learn how a college research project catapulted Ladd into his regenerative journey, how radically different his farming operation is from his conventional potato peers, and what its been like to go from farmer to also potato chip manufacturer and CPG brand operator.
 
Ladd’s farm is proving that you can build a regenerative model for commercial-scale potato production with the farm boasting 10 times the diversity of conventional farms, a 75% reduction in tillage versus conventional farms, and ground cover 90% of the year versus an average 33% of the year for conventional farms.
 
The Nature Conservancy has made the Wahlen’s farm a demonstration site to help other Idaho potato growers adopt regenerative practices and Ladd and his family hope that the Roots brand can become a commercial engine that incentivizes those same farmers to adopt these practices and while being paid for their efforts.
 
Episode Highlights:
 
🥔 Single-origin and regeneratively-farmed potato chips
🤩 Fourth-generation farmer + first-generation CPG founder
✍️ How a college research paper sparked Ladd’s regen curiosity
😯 The stark contrast between their farm and conventional farms
🥇 Being a demo farm for The Nature Conservancy
🚜 The impossibility of eliminating tillage in potato production
🤯 Starting the brand with 25 initial SKUs
👎 Why don’t retail buyers care more about regen?
🤝 Working with Soil & Climate Health Initiative Verification
🔥 Using the brand as a tool to convert potato farmers to regen
 
Links:
Roots Potato Chips
Idaho farm offers model of regenerative potato farming
The Nature Conservancy
Soil & Climate Initiative (SCI)
The End of Craving
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#74 - Johnny Hunter @ Castor River Habitat & Farm

On this episode, we have Johnny Hunter who is a third-generation farmer and the President of Castor River Habitat & Farm.
 
Castor River Habitat & Farm is supporting regenerative agriculture with its lineup of rice products grown on their own farm and produced in their on-farm milling facility.
 
In this episode, we learn about the Hunter family’s deep agricultural roots, how Johnny was forced to go regen after ‘hitting rock bottom’ in 2012, and how the brand has grown since its inception in 2018.
 
Johnny is a masterful storyteller and this episode had a little bit of everything: thoughts on why we need to keep regenerative farmer-focused and rooted in reality, stories of collaborative commercialization with some of their retail and foodservice partners, plus what is ahead for Castor River including achieving Regenified certification and expanding sourcing beyond their home farm.
 
Episode Highlights:
 
🧑‍🌾 The Hunter family’s agricultural legacy
🤯 Committing to farming at 10 years old
💥The rock bottom year that sparked a regen transition
🎰 Why farming is like gambling and the house always wins
👏 Starting a brand to capture de-commoditized value
😂 Breaking into retail selling door-to-door at Hy-Vee
🤝 Their unique partnership with Just Salad
🦆 Why are they a habitat and a farm?
🔍 Onboarding with Regenified™
🍚 Sourcing from other farms to fuel future growth
 
Links:
Castor River Habitat & Farm
Ray Archuleta
The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
Hy-Vee
Just Salad
Regenified™
Gabe Brown
Missouri Delta Soil Health Alliance
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