Podcast: Food

59: Amazi Foods – Snack on Purpose

Renee Dunn, Founder of Amazi Foods, studied abroad and did her thesis research in Uganda. While living there, she was blown away by their organic tropical fruits, bursting with flavors unlike back at home in the US. But stand after stand, people traded fruits raw or looked for cheap ways of processing or exporting. She had heard stories about cocoa farmers never saw a chocolate bar. Those at the heart of the resources were completely separate from the opportunity and innovation that existed in the global market —resulting in high unemployment and food waste. This sums up a lot about our supply chains as a whole.

Meanwhile, back at home, consumers look for products that serve a higher purpose. She realized there was a huge opportunity missed not only for local industry and job creation but also to satisfy a growing need for US consumers. Amazi Foods source directly from farmers and keep production in-country by partnering with Ugandan businesses. By creating over 150 jobs and paying 2-3x the local wages, paying farmers up to 67% above market price, prioritizing women and smallholder farmers, and committing to contribute over $13 million to the Ugandan economy over the next 4 years, they bring 100% made-in-Uganda products to the US markets. Listen now only on Mindful Businesses podcast.

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Africa
59: Amazi Foods - Snack on Purpose
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58: UpMeals – Healthy Food Hotspot

Vending machines and sustainability seem to be diametrically opposite objectives, But Upmeals is bringing together these two objectives in its innovative. Drew Munro, a professional Vancouver-based caterer, and Ryan Angel, a Red Seal Chef and Registered Holistic Nutritionist. He saw a market need for an option that allowed businesses to provide healthy, ready-to-eat meals for their employees or customers, in a scalable, cost-effective way. UpMeals is a flexible alternative to costly traditional catering or meal delivery services. Freshly made meals are delivered weekly to each refrigerated vending machine that can be monitored remotely via an app to determine the popularity of menu items and reduce waste.

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Food
58: UpMeals - Healthy Food Hotspot
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57: Ceres Greenhouse Solutions – Designing for a Better Future

We have on our show Marc Plinke, founder/CEO, and Miriam Schaffer Marketing and Communications Specialist of Ceres Greenhouse Solutions. Inspired by the Roman Goddess of Agriculture, Ceres is a company devoted to growing plants. Their core team consists of engineers, architects, builders, plant experts, designers, and tinkerers. Founded in 2011, Ceres Greenhouse Solutions aims to reinvent the traditional greenhouse. They combine passive solar design principles with innovative heat-storage techniques to create the most energy-efficient and durable greenhouses for any climate in the world. The result is a smarter, ‘greener’ greenhouse design: one that regulates its own temperature, can grow year-round, withstands the harshest weather, and uses little to no fossil fuel energy.

Ceres greenhouse solutions can be found around the world, in climates as far-ranging as Alaska to South Africa for backyard gardeners, sustainable farmers, school administrators, and big industrial growers. Listen to Marc Plinke and Miriam Shaffer on Mindful Businesses.

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Agriculture & Farming
57: Ceres Greenhouse Solutions - Designing for a Better Future
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52: Hungry Harvest – Eliminating Food Waste and Hunger

What started as a senior project in his dorm room at the University of Maryland, became his passion. “Everything we do is driven by the belief that every person has the right to eat healthy and every fruit and veggie grown deserves to be eaten. We won’t stop until that belief becomes reality.” – Evan Lutz, CEO, and co-founder of Hungry Harvest. Listen to his story.

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52: Hungry Harvest - Eliminating Food Waste and Hunger
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30: Diaspora Co – Building a Better Spice Trade

The original intent of colonial conquest of the Indian subcontinent was a desire for domination of the spice trade. 600+ years later, as a young woman born and raised in postcolonial Mumbai, working at the intersection of food and culture, Sana Javeri Kadri founder of @diasporaco, was slowly discovering that not much about that system had changed. Farmers made no money, spices changed hands upwards of 10 times between farmer and consumer, and the final spice on the shelf was usually an old, dusty, and flavorless shadow of what it once was. Living a life between two worlds – India and USA, and mindfully impacting lives in both places. Listen to Sana’s passion in this episode.

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30: Diaspora Co - Building a Better Spice Trade
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27: Ajiri Tea – Creating a Sustainable Cycle of Employment and Opportunity in Kenya.

What does it take to start a business several thousands of miles away, and that too when you were just 19. Kate Holby co-founded Ajiri tea with her sister Sara Kolby, to create a full cycle of sustainable aid. Because education is a sustainable investment, 100% of the net profits go back to Kenya to pay school fees for orphans. Ajiri Tea Company is now sponsoring 29 orphans in school and is employing four different women’s groups. Learn more about these amazing young ladies.

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Africa
27: Ajiri Tea - Creating a Sustainable Cycle of Employment and Opportunity in Kenya.
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26: Beyond Good – Chocolate Made Right.

Beyond Good, a pioneer in heirloom dark chocolate, is the only brand in the U.S. market producing bean-to-bar chocolate at source in Africa. From an organic certified chocolate factory in Madagascar, Beyond Good produces the finest heirloom chocolate, while providing a stable pay price for cocoa farmers. By making finished product in Africa, Beyond Good is redefining high-quality chocolate and sustainability in the chocolate industry.

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Africa
26: Beyond Good - Chocolate Made Right.
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18: Tahmina – Transforming Lives in Conflict Zones #tobebrave

We talk with Sarah Jackson (whose name has been changed due to security reasons), founder and CEO of Tahmina. Tahmina is an international brand with a vision to export transformational products from different conflict regions of the world. Their maiden project is saffron and saffron-infused teas from Afghanistan. Learn more about their work through this podcast.

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18: Tahmina - Transforming Lives in Conflict Zones #tobebrave
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11: The Farmer’s Dog – A Smarter, Healthier Pet Food.

The Farmer’s Dog was founded on the belief that, like people, pets should be enabled to lead their best possible lives. Their first product is a subscription service that delivers wholesome, freshly-cooked meals for dogs – an antidote to the unregulated, highly processed, preservative-fueled world of commercial pet food.The Farmer’s Dog launched in 2014 after co-founder Brett’s battle to solve the stomach issues of his dog, Jada. After testing every pet food on the market without success, Brett tried a fresh, home-cooked diet at his vet’s recommendation. The results were staggering – Jada was cured. Having witnessed first-hand the power of fresh food, he teamed up with Jonathan to rethink the pet food industry from the ground-up and create the simple, healthy product they wished had existed for their own dogs (and dogs everywhere!).

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Food
11: The Farmer's Dog - A Smarter, Healthier Pet Food.
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