#52 - These Ain't Your Granny's Grits + Regen Dominates The NEXTY Finalists (Again)

March 05, 2024

The ReGen Brands Weekly

Weekly episodes, news, and insights from the world of regenerative CPG

Brought to you by The ReGen Brands Podcast

This Week’s Episode:

#64 - Jody & Crystal Manuel + Brei Larmoyeux @ Gruff

Highlights:

  • 🤤 Ancient Grain Grits made with cracked Farro

  • 💡 Crystal’s health journey that changed their farm forever

  • 👏 A beautiful integration of annuals, perennials, & animals

  • 🥣 The bulk kids’ breakfasts that inspired their hero SKU

  • 🤝 Why crop diversity requires market diversity

  • 🤩 Beefing up on-farm impact reporting with Mad Ag

  • 💪 Growing for Purely Elizabeth & Patagonia Provisions

  • 🎯 Making weeds an indicator instead of an enemy

  • 🔥 The foodservice opportunity for farro grits

  • 💥 1 Mom at a time, 1 family at a time, 1 eater at a time

“If you can boil water, you can make our grits. It started out as a hot cereal, served sweet with raspberries, maple syrup and what not. But we soon learned the grits were great for lunch and dinner with more savory flavors. Think everything from rice to risotto in texture, but with an ancient grain that’s superior in quality, higher in protein, and far easier to digest than conventional grains.”

Crystal Manuel

“I remember my dad – who I’d been locking horns with over [the transition] – riding on the combine with me. We’d be harvesting spelt and he kept turning to me, saying, ‘Now what do you call this stuff again? How much is it worth?’ And then he’d just kind of shake his head.”

Jody Manuel

Recap:

  • Don’t have time for the full episode? 😵‍💫 

  • Check out the recap! 🙃 

  • Everything you need to know in less than 5 minutes. 🥳

Click Image For Recap

We have some new recap images from our friend, Stacey!

These break down some of the recap content visually. What do y’all think? Let me know in the poll at the bottom of the email!

ReGen Brand News:

  • Brands or products supporting regenerative agriculture represented 21 of the 154 finalists (13.6%)

  • King Arthur Baking Company’s Regeneratively-Grown Climate Blend Whole Wheat Flour

  • Patagonia Provisions’ Organic Vegan Cheddar Cheeze Crackers, Organic Fusilli, & Kernza Lager

  • Force of Nature’s Homestyle Beef Classic Meatballs

  • GoodSAM Foods’ Crispy Crunchy Pineapple Slices

  • Gaia Herbs’ Infinity Glow

  • Cheddies’ Classic Cheddar Cheesy Crackers

  • Recoup’s Sparkling Lemon Lime Ginger

  • Ancient Nutrition’s ROC Gut Recovery and Probiotic

  • Burroughs Family Farms’ ROC-Almond Milk Concentrate

  • SIMPLi’s Gigante Beans & Peruvian Spice Salt Blend

  • Artisan Tropic’s Tomato Herb Organic Grain-Free Crackers

  • Big Picture Foods’ Fermented Banana Peppers

  • Zeal Creamery’s Mature Sharp Cheddar Cheese

  • Straus Family Creamery’s Organic Lowfat Blueberry Kefir

  • Serenity Kids’ Coconut Curry with Free-Range Chicken

  • Alec's Ice Cream’s Nutty Butter Brittle & Palm Springs Banana Chocolate Date Shake

  • Starwest Botanicals’ ROC Red Chili Flakes

Credit: Alec’s Ice Cream

Credit: GoodSAM Foods

Credit: King Arthur Baking

Credit: Cheddies

Credit: SIMPLi

Credit: Zeal Creamery

🏃‍♂️ Quick Hits:

🌳 Burroughs Family Farms is pioneering Regenerative Organic Certified® almond farming

🥣 Painterland Sisters is rapidly scaling their skyr yogurt brand

🏷️ The Soil & Climate Health Initiative (SCI) is launching a new label that represents ‘a holistic, science-based commitment to farming systems’

🎧 New Barn Organics’ Founder Ted Robb joins The Insatiable Appetite Podcast

💰 Philosopher Foods, Theo’s Plant-Based, & Painterland Sisters are participating in this year’s Natural Products Expo West Pitch Slam

🫘 SIMPLi products are now available chainwide at Earth Fare

🥚 Handsome Brook Farms partners with Propagate to increase agroforestry adoption with their laying hen farmers

🍗 Pasturebird’s ground chicken is now available nationwide at Sprouts

🥛 Alexandre Family Farm’s A2/A2 Organic 100% Grass-fed Probiotic Kefir has been named a finalist for this year’s Good Food Awards

🐄 Straus Family Creamery unveils a new Dairy Sustainability Incentive Program

🍞 Wildfarmed is taking on industrial ag by building radically different supply chains

ReGen Brand Jobs:

Fun Stuff:

Big fans of Marshall and this new marketing series from Force of Nature!

And big fans of this of course…. 🥹 🫡 💥 🫶

😎 Think what we do is cool and want to help? Forward this to a friend!

🤠 Forwarded this email and want to join our crew? Subscribe here!

How did we do today?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.