ReGen Brands Podcast
The ReGen Brands Podcast is a place for brands, retailers, investors, and other food system stakeholders to learn about consumer brands supporting regenerative agriculture and how they’re changing the world. The ReGen Brands Podcast is hosted by Kyle Krull & Anthony Corsaro.
Listen on:
Episodes
Friday Nov 17, 2023
Friday Nov 17, 2023
On this episode, we have Monique Hypes and Marie Krane who are the Co-Founders of Tomato Bliss.
Tomato Bliss is on a mission to “save the heirloom tomato from extinction” with their line of heirloom tomato soups that are made with tomatoes grown on their certified Regenified™ farm in Southwest Michigan.
In this episode, we learn why tomato farming became Marie’s chosen form of activism, how she found Monique to help Tomato Bliss become more than just a farmers market brand, and the strategies they’re using to grow both supply and demand for regeneratively grown heirloom tomatoes at the same time.
Episode Highlights:
😍 “Saving Heirloom Tomatoes From Extinction”
👏 Marie’s journey fighting to save heirloom tomato seeds
💡 Why farming and CPG became her best path to seed-saving
🤝 Hiring Monique to take the brand beyond the farmers’ market
🤯 90% of tomato production comes from less than 25 seeds
👍 Intercropping as their secret weapon for pest prevention
🏅 Why their farm is certified Regenified™
🧑🍳 How they’re using food service to fuel their growth
⚡ Why stores should merchandise their SKUs in the produce department
📈 The imperative for regen brands to scale supply and demand in tandem
Links:
Tomato Bliss
Green City Market
Good Food Accelerator
The Food Foundry
The Dorito Effect
Regenified™
Notre Dame & Tomato Bliss
Please follow Kyle and AC on LinkedIn
Friday Nov 10, 2023
Friday Nov 10, 2023
On this episode, we have Cody Hopkins who is the CEO and Founding Farmer at Grass Roots Farmers’ Cooperative.
Grass Roots is supporting regenerative agriculture with its 7-species lineup of meat products.
In this episode, we learn why Cody was inspired to start the Co-Op after being a small-scale poultry farmer, what makes their business model and corporate structure unique, and how Heifer International and Heifer USA have been important partners along the way.
Episode Highlights:
👏 Why Cody started the Co-Op after being a small poultry farmer
🧑🌾 Being vertically integrated and cooperating 50+ farmers
🤔 Learning from Zingerman’s ecosystem of businesses
💰 Partnering with Heifer International & Heifer USA
🔥 Balancing standardization and contextualization
🔪 Having ownership in their processor, Cypress Valley Meats
🥇 Onboarding with Land to Market™ & EOV™
😍 Why philanthropists should fund nutrient density testing
💥 Using guaranteed contracts + “common pay rates” to buy from farmers
🤯 Why regen needs scale, efficiency, and vertical integration
Links:
Grass Roots Farmers’ Cooperative
Zingerman's Community of Businesses
Value-Added Producer Grants
Heifer International
Heifer USA
Cypress Valley Meat Company
Land to Market™
EOV™
Follow Kyle and AC on LinkedIn
Friday Nov 03, 2023
Friday Nov 03, 2023
On this episode, we have Adam Hiner & Maddie Hamann who are the Co-Founders @ PACHA.
PACHA is supporting regenerative agriculture with its lineup of organic and regenerative buckwheat bread products including 3 flavors of bread and 1 SKU of buns.
In this episode, we learn how PACHA found a reliable source of regenerative buckwheat through an innovative farmer partnership and how they’re rolling out their products nationally into Whole Foods as we speak.
Episode Highlights:
🤤 How Adam became obsessed with buckwheat bread
👏 Their national rollout in Whole Foods happening NOW!
🌊 Maddie’s transition from oceanography to entrepreneurship
🌳 Adam volunteering at a non-profit regenerative farm
📦 Why COVID forced them to focus on DTC early on
🏗️ Building buckwheat supply with John @ Field Theory
👍 The agronomic and commercial benefits of buckwheat
🥇 Working with Social Carbon Initiative (SCI) for certification
🤯 The simple power of slicing bread
💭 Creative marketing that drives trial at retail
Links:
PACHA
Trilogy Sanctuary
Lil Bucks
Field Theory
Soil Carbon Initiative
Cultivate CPG
Follow Kyle and AC on LinkedIn
Friday Oct 27, 2023
Friday Oct 27, 2023
On this episode, we have Hayley Painter who is one of the Co-Founders @ Painterland Sisters.
Painterland Sisters is supporting regenerative agriculture with its line of organic and regenerative Icelandic skyr yogurt products that are made with organic milk sourced from their family farm and others in the Northern Pennsylvania area.
In this episode, we learn about how Painterland Sisters has grown to a 3-million-dollar annual run rate in just under two years of business, how this sister duo proposed a CPG brand as a way to protect the future of their family farm, plus what the term “regenerative” means to them, their farm, and their brand.
Episode Highlights:
💥 The difference between skyr, greek, and regular yogurt
🐄 Why their cows are “grass-based” versus “grass-fed”
🙏 Why CPG was the best path to safeguard their farm
😂 Hand-labeling the first 60,000 yogurts
👏 Eclipsing $1M in revenue in the first 12 months
👍 Pooling organic milk from their neighbor farms for supply
💪 Why their yogurts are packed with nutrition
🎯 How regenerative starts with adequate farmer livelihoods
😍 Leveraging “The Moo Crew” to boost retail sales
💰 Their WeFunder campaign happening NOW
Links:
Painterland Sisters
Painterland’s WeFunder Campaign
Follow Kyle and AC on LinkedIn
Friday Oct 20, 2023
Friday Oct 20, 2023
In this episode, we have Maddy Rotman & Taylor Lanzet, the Co-Founders @ Anytime.
Anytime is supporting regenerative agriculture with two inaugural product lines in the adult beverage category. They first launched a canned cocktail lineup called the Anytime Spritz in May of this year and in just two weeks will bring to market their two inaugural spirit products: Anytime Famrhouse Vodka and Anytime Farmhouse Gin. All of these products are Regenerative Organic Certified® and made with wheat grown on Regenerative Organic Certified® farms.
In this episode, we learn about how COVID-related supply chain crises led them to co-found this booze brand, why they believe scaling regenerative row crop acreage is all about alcohol, and what it is like starting a female and queer-founded CPG company in a hyper-masculine category like alc bev.
Episode Highlights:
🎉 Launching the first Regenerative Organic Certified® booze!
🤤 Their inaugural lineup of 3 farm-to-can cocktails
😯 Why real spirits > malt liquor for RTDs
😂 The COVID supply chain crisis that inspired the brand
🥃 Why regenerative acreage depends on alcohol consumption
🎯 The huge opportunity for clean and organic adult beverages
👌 Focusing on certain retailers to drive product discovery
🤯 Why copper distilling is a gamechanger for flavor
👏 Starting a female and queer-founded brand in a male-dominated industry
🔑 Why retailers are the key to a regenerative revolution
Links:
Anytime
Regenerative Organic Certified®
Fresh Direct
Misfits Market
DIG.
Chipotle
Daily Harvest
TTB
Big Picture Foods
Follow Kyle and AC on LinkedIn
Friday Oct 13, 2023
Friday Oct 13, 2023
On this episode, we have Matt Maier who is the Founder, Owner, and Chief Grass Farmer at Thousand Hills Lifetime Grazed.
Thousand Hills is supporting regenerative agriculture with its vast array of fresh and value-added 100% grass-fed, grass-finished, and regenerative beef products.
In this episode, we learn about Matt’s background as a CPG brand manager and marketing consultant and the trip back home to the family farm that inspired him to start a better beef brand. Matt shares the 20-year journey of Thousand Hills Lifetime Grazed that has led them to recently become the number one meat brand in the natural channel of retail.
Episode Highlights:
🎉 Celebrating 20 years of Thousand Hills Lifetime Grazed!
💥 Matt’s background as a CPG brand manager & marketing consultant
💭 The inspiration to work on regen beef after returning to the farm
🥇 Becoming the number one meat brand in the natural channel
👏 Selling products in all 50 states and sourcing from 50+ family farms
🔥 How value-added product development helps them win
😯 Why their prices will only go up as they scale
🥩 Exciting nutrient density studies coming soon!
🧐 How imported grass-fed beef affects domestic brands
🤯 Working with Lorentz Meats and now 15 total processors
Links:
Thousand Hills Lifetime Grazed
SPINS
American Grassfed Association
Land to Market™
Lorentz Meats
Follow Kyle and AC on LinkedIn
Friday Oct 06, 2023
Friday Oct 06, 2023
On this episode, we have Rachael Petach who is the Founder and CEO at C. Cassis.
C. Cassis, also know as Current Cassis, is supporting regenerative agriculture with its growing lineup of products made from blackcurrants grown in Northeast, regenerative, agroforestry systems. Right now, the product lineup includes two alcoholic beverages: a bottled Liqueur and a ready-to-drink, sparkling, blackcurrant cocktail.
In this episode, we learn about how Rachael started the brand in her Brooklyn apartment, why blackcurrants were federally illegal for decades and what brought them back, and how C. Cassis is planning to use a combination of CPG, hospitality, and agritourism to get blackcurrant products into the mainstream.
Episode Highlights:
🫄 How Rachael’s pregnancy inspired her brand
💪 The amazing nutritional profile of blackcurrants
🥃 Why she started with alcoholic beverages
😂 Making the first products in her Brooklyn apartment
🤯 Why blackcurrants were illegal and why they’re coming back
💫 Moving to upstate New York to grow the business
🔥 Building an experiential distillery & tasting room
👏 The economic and environmental potential of US agroforestry
💥 Upcycling waste streams to create new products
🚫 Why leading with regen in marketing won’t work
Links:
C. Cassis
Western Reign Creative
Follow Kyle and AC on LinkedIn
Friday Sep 29, 2023
Friday Sep 29, 2023
On this episode, we have Will Burke who is the Founder and CEO at Sol Simple.
Sol Simple is supporting regenerative agriculture with its Regenerative Organic Certified® dried tropical fruit products and broader ecosystem of enterprises working with 1,200 smallholder farmers in Nicaragua.
In this episode, we learn about Will’s journey from educator to entrepreneur and why he had to build multiple businesses and tons of infrastructure to support the commercialization activities of his farmer partners.
Episode Highlights:
🎒 Will’s transition from educator to entrepreneur
🥭 How his wife inspired their focus on tropical fruit
🤩 Connecting 1,200 smallholder farmers to a better market
☀️ Investing in solar drying tech for higher quality & lower emissions
🔥 Why they needed to build a consumer-facing brand
👏 Creating an agronomic consulting and farmer financing company
💫 Building a processing facility and a B2B ingredient company
🌴 Helping farmers diversify through regenerative agroforestry systems
🍌 Becoming the 1st Regenerative Organic Certified® fruit supply chain
💰 Building better incentives for regen through economics and policy
Links:
Sol Simple
Sol Organica
Burke Agro
Regenerative Organic Certified®
Follow Kyle and AC on LinkedIn
Friday Sep 22, 2023
Friday Sep 22, 2023
On this episode, we have Jason Freeman who is the CEO of Farmer Direct Organic.
Farmer Direct Organic is supporting regenerative agriculture with its oats, beans, lentils, and pea products that are all certified organic with a growing selection transitioning to Regenerative Organic Certified®.
In this episode, we learn about the brand's journey from being the sales arm of a three-farmer Canadian Co-Op to a nationally distributed brand working with more than 60 organic farmers in Canada, the US, and Mexico. Jason gives a peak behind the curtain on organic grain production and how their brand is partnering with farms to transition acreage to Regenerative Organic Certified®.
Episode Highlights:
🧑🌾 Starting out as a 3-farmer Canadian Co-Op
📈 Becoming a national brand sourcing from 60+ farmers in 3 countries
🏛️ How working on hemp policy reform led him to sell organic food
🚀 Building a business off of demand from Whole Foods’ bulk bins
😯 Why the Great Recession inspired their pivot to retail
😂 Jason saying no to Whole Foods and what changed his mind
💥 Exiting the brand as an employee, acquiring it, and then selling it
😡 The massive problems with organic fraud
💰 Supporting farmers transitioning to Regenerative Organic Certified®
😍 Their current ROC® SKUs and what is coming next
Links:
Farmer Direct Organic
Biofach
Agricultural Justice Project
Whole Foods Market
Regenerative Organic Certified®
Follow Kyle and AC on LinkedIn
Friday Sep 15, 2023
Friday Sep 15, 2023
On this episode, we have Christian Ebersol & Nick Wallace of 99 Counties. Christian serves as a Co-Founder and CEO while Nick is also a Co-Founder and the Chief Farmer.
99 Counties is supporting regenerative agriculture with its direct-to-consumer, e-commerce business that partners with small family farms in Iowa and sells a myriad of regeneratively raised meat products to people in all of the lower 48 states.
In this episode, we talk about Nick’s personal journey that led to the creation of Wallace Farms, his vision to regenerate the 99 counties of Iowa and how crossing paths with Christian led him to turn his direct-to-consumer farm business into a brand aggregating from farmers across the entire state of Iowa and servicing customers across the nation.
99 Counties is truly on the front lines as Iowa is ground zero for degenerative agriculture that is driving countless human and planetary health issues.
Among the 50 states Iowa ranks:
Dead last in soil erosion rates
2nd to last in ecosystem impacts
4th to last in conservation practices
5th highest rate of water nutrient run-off
7th highest incidence of cancer
And the 11th highest obesity rate
Episode Highlights:
🤯 Iowa’s massive problems linked to food & agriculture
📈 How Nick started Wallace Farms and grew it to $1M+
🤔 The growth plateau that caused Nick to think bigger
🙏 Nick’s inspiration for 99 Counties from the Acres Eco-Ag Conference
🛻 How Christian met Nick and became his Co-Founder
✉️ Using direct mail “love letters” in their marketing strategy
🥩 Solving for whole carcass utilization through product development
📦 Differences between a DTC-focused and retail-focused brand
🇺🇸 Going national to do more good in Iowa
🔥 Why it’s time for all of us to “pick a side”
Links:
99 Counties
Acres USA
Ragbrai
Land To Market
Follow Kyle and AC on LinkedIn