ReGen Brands Podcast

On this episode, we have Craig Camp who is the General Manager at Troon Vineyard.

Troon Vineyard is a Regenerative Organic Certified and Demeter Biodynamic Certified vineyard and wine brand. It is one of only 4 farms in the world to hold the distinction of being Regenerative Organic Certified® at the Gold level.

In this episode, we learn about Craig’s lifetime love affair with wine and how he landed at Troon. He details the vineyard’s journey from a conventionally-farmed, lifeless plot of land to an abundant and biodiverse ecosystem. Plus, we learn about the nuances of bringing wine to market and its potential to be a leading category in the regenerative transition.

Episode Highlights:

🦋 The abundant biodiversity in the vineyard

🥇 Being 1 of 4 farms that is Regenerative Organic Certified® Gold

💰 Why “there’s no mission without margin”

🤯 Their regenerative transformation since 2016

🍷 The Euro trip that inspired Craig’s career in wine

💫 Using natural yeast and tripling their YAN

☝️ Why no-till is the most important practice to scale regen

🚚 How selling adult beverages is different than other CPG

☑️ Why we have to plant things where they want to grow

⚡ Wine’s unique ability to lead the regen transition

Links:

Troon Vineyard

Regenerative Organic Certified®

Demeter Biodynamic Certified

On this episode, we have Michael Ham who is the Co-Founder and President at Wild Orchard.

Wild Orchard is the world’s first Regenerative Organic Certified® tea brand and boasts 27 SKUs of tea products.

In this episode, we learn about the incredibly unique growing conditions for Wild Orchard’s teas on Jeju Island in South Korea. Michael gives us a deep dive education on the wild differences between Wild Orchard’s products and the conventional tea industry. Plus, we talk about opportunities to bring regenerative brands to market through leading “tastemaker” channels like MICHELIN Star restaurants and other high-end food service operations.

Episode Highlights:

🤯 Their 1,000-acre regenerative farm in Jeju Island, South Korea

🆒 Michael’s background in nature photography & air quality

🏆 Winning global tea awards and becoming Regenerative Organic Certified®

😯 How all types of tea actually come from the same perennial tree

🔬 Plans to lab test all products for nutrient density, antioxidants, etc.

🧑‍🍳 Selling to MICHELIN Star restaurants and other high-end foodservice accounts

🪿 Heavy rainfall, volcanic soil, wild geese and other unique aspects of their farm

😵‍💫 Wild Orchard Regenerative Teas versus conventional teas

🥳 Recent retail wins (Jimbo’s + MOM’s) and plans for the future 

⚡ What regen can learn from the clear energy movement

Links:

Wild Orchard

On this episode, we have Susan Buckwalter who is one of the Co-Founders of Recoup.

Recoup is an all-natural, ginger-powered hydration beverage with regenerative organic maple water as its lead ingredient. Recoup is also the first beverage brand to be Regenerative Organic Certified® across its entire product portfolio. 

In this episode, we learn about Susan’s Co-Founder Siwat and the homemade health remedies that inspired Recoup’s creation. Susan spends time teaching us about the hydration and wellness power combo of maple water and ginger. Plus, we take a deep dive into all things branding, marketing, and merchandising for not only Recoup’s product but for regenerative brands at large.

Episode Highlights:

👌 100+ studies on the medical benefits of ginger

🤯 Siwat’s health journey that inspired Recoup

🤝 Susan leaving big CPG to partner with Siwat

🧘 Targeting the wellness-focused female consumer

💧 Using regenerative organic maple tree water

🤳 Leveraging TikTok for organic reach

🤸 Fitness studios as a key sales channel

✍️ What Regen can learn from Organic + Non-GMO

👀 Future products coming soon

🎯 The unifying messaging needed to scale regenerative

Links:

Recoup

Recoup Becomes Regenerative Organic Certified

On this episode, we have Brita & Bryce Lundberg of Lundberg Family Farms who are a father daughter duo representing the third and fourth generations of their family business.

Lundberg Family Farms is supporting regenerative agriculture with their organic and regenerative organic rice and quinoa products that now includes 107 total SKUs.

In this episode, we learn about how the Lundbergs got their start farming rice in California, how market opportunities through brands have guided their pursuit of organic and regenerative organic farming, and the big goals they have to certify all of their rice Regenerative Organic Certified® by 2027.

Episode Highlights:

🤤 Our favorite Lundberg products

🤯 How the business has scaled to 107 SKUs

🫡 The visionary regen influence of founder Albert Lundberg

🆒 Why rice is a great crop for their region + soil type

😍 The market that spurred their adoption of organic

😯 How they manage water, grass weeds, and aquatic weeds

🦆 How they’ve rescued over 30,000 duck eggs

🤩 Their “Ducking Good Rice” marketing campaign

🏅 Reaching 8,000 acres of Regenerative Organic Certified® rice

🎯 Why brands = markets = practice change (in that order)

Links:

Lundberg Family Farms

Lundberg ROC Announcement

“Ducking Good Rice”

On this episode, we have Jon Sepp who is one of the Co-Founders of Roam Free Ranch. 

Roam Free Ranch is supporting regenerative agriculture with their ready-to-eat bison snacks and meals.

In this episode, we learn about Jon’s journey expanding the operation from 240 acres to over 10,000 and how he has managed his herd regeneratively along the way. Jon tells us why the company has focused on building a brand and selling ready-to-eat products versus just selling bison meat.

Episode Highlights:

🦬 Why Jon fell in love with bison

🤠 When he met Brittany and went all-in on ranching

😯 Growing their operations from 240 acres to 10,000+

🔥 Bringing bison mainstream through ready-to-eat products

⭐ Their regenerative practices + systems

🤔 Why Jon believes only animal foods are truly regenerative

🧑‍🌾 How raising bison is so different than cattle

💯 Why truth & taste are your biggest marketing assets

💥 Building on-farm experiences to drive consumer connection

Links:

Roam Free Ranch

On this episode, we have Pat Schnettler who is one of the Co-Founders of 12 Tides. 

12 Tides is supporting regenerative aquaculture with its kelp chips made from regenerative and organic kelp farmed in Maine & Alaska.

In this episode, we learn about Pat’s deep family roots in conservation and his personal journey that inspired the creation of 12 Tides, and Pat educates us on how the company has already sold over 1 million bags of kelp chips.

Episode Highlights:

🌊 Pat’s deep family ties in conservation + journey in seafood

💰 Why we need brands to drive demand for kelp farming

🤔 Why they started with kelp chips

🧺 Developing their first products through farmers markets

➕ Why kelp farming is the only net-positive aquaculture

🤩 Helping reverse the loss of natural kelp habitat

🙅 Why they don’t use a co-manufacturer

⭐ Designing products around sustaining consumer trends

🦸 How to build a set of superfans at every store

🔥 The imperative for regen brands to cross-promote

Links:

12 Tides

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On this episode, we have Nicole Dooling and Michael Frey who are the 2nd generation operators of Mariah Vineyards and the Creators of Dirt Wine.

Mariah Vineyards is supporting regenerative agriculture as the first Land-To-Market Verified regenerative vineyard. This couple is working with their family to sell wine under the Mariah Vineyards brand while also developing a new concept in Dirt Wine that will be in the market soon.

In this episode, we learn about the history of this family-run, mountain-top vineyard, we take a deep dive into their transition to regenerative agriculture, plus Nicole and Michael spend time educating us on current under-discussed issues in the wine industry like shallow sustainability certifications, the use of over 70 additives in wine, and more.

Episode Highlights:

🍇 Their unique vineyard and AVA (American Viticultural Area)

⛰️ Nicoles’ parents building a mountain-top vineyard from scratch

🍷 Launching the Mariah brand with Brown-Forman

🤔 Why wine is valued by where it’s grown versus how it's grown

☑️ How to know if your wine is sourced from only one vineyard

🤯 The 70+ additives that can be in your wine

❤️ How their relationship changed the direction of the vineyard

🔥 Being inspired at The Regenerative Earth Summit

🥇 Being the world’s 1st Land To Market Verified Vineyard

🪱 Dry-farming, permanent cover, no-till, and animal integration

Links:

Mariah Vineyards

Dirt Wine

American Viticulture Area (AVA)

Brown-Forman

Regenerative Earth Summit

The Dorito Effect

Land To Market

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On this episode, we have Jordan Rubin who is a Co-Founder and the CEO @ Ancient Nutrition.

Ancient Nutrition is supporting regenerative agriculture with its regenerative organic certified farms in Missouri and Tennessee and the company’s various superfood supplement products. Their mission is to save the world with superfoods.

In this episode, we learn about Jordan’s personal health journey and his experiences as a two-time founder in the natural and organic supplement space. We take a deep dive into the countless regenerative initiatives that Ancient Nutrition is pioneering both on their farms and in their products, and we talk about hot-button topics like certification, retailer adoption, and scaling regenerative brands.

Episode Highlights:

🤯 Jordan overcoming 18 illnesses + writing 3 books

💥 Starting and scaling Garden of Life

🧑‍⚕️ Co-Founding Ancient Nutrition with Dr. Axe

🌟 Saving The World With Superfoods & The R.A.N.C.H Project

🐃 Their 2 ROC Farms in Missouri & Tennessee

🥇 The world’s 1st ROC supplement line

💪 Why building soil is like building muscle🤝 The need to build more B2B regen supply

🔭 Getting to 100 Renegerartive Organic Certified SKUs

🏪 Why retailers need to step up for regen brands

Links:

Ancient Nutrition

R.A.N.C.H Project

Garden of Life

The Maker’s Diet

Patient, Heal Thyself

The Probiotic Diet

Dr. Axe

Rodale Institute

Savory Institute

Regenerative Organic Certified

Ecological Outcome Verification

On this episode, we have Joe Carr who is a Co-Founder and the President @ Serenity Kids

Serenity Kids is supporting regenerative agriculture with their various regenerative and organic baby and children’s food products like their veggie and meat baby food pouches, dairy-free smoothies, grain-free puffs, and A2 formula.

In this episode, we learn about Joe and his wife Serenity’s personal health journey that led them to a paleo lifestyle and the idea to create the first paleo baby food, Joe educates us on how they’ve had regenerative sourcing in mind from the beginning of the company and how it plays into their product innovation strategy, plus Joe shares his vision for the future of Serenity Kids and how we can catalyze the regenerative movement through collective action.

Episode Highlights:

😷 Joe & Serenity’s personal health journeys

🥩 Starting the world’s first paleo baby food brand

📚 Why the research shows babies need animal-based foods

🐮 Grass-fed regenerative meat vs Organic feedlot meat

😡 Our alarming child nutrition crisis

🥛 Designing baby food to mimic breast milk

🤝 Getting help from Katie & Taylor @ EPIC

🤩 Selling 30 MILLION regen baby food pouches

🏷️ Working with the Clean Label Project

🔥 Why regen brands need to market together

Links:

Serenity Kids

Paleo FX

Land To Market

Clean Label Project

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On this episode, we have Bri Warner who is the CEO @ Atlantic Sea Farms

Atlantic Sea Farms is supporting regenerative agriculture with its various regenerative seaweed products grown using regenerative aquaculture practices.

In this episode, we learn about the deep fishermen livelihood and economic development vision driving the company, we get educated on what makes growing seagrass regenerative, and we discuss with Bri how we can scale vertically integrated, regenerative, and women-run businesses like Atlantic Sea Farms and others.

Episode Highlights:

🤯 The endless ways we can eat and use seaweed

💥 Why people are our best tool to fight climate change

🤑 Creating a regional economic engine through kelp

🆒 Why healthy carbon cycles > carbon sequestration

🌊 The environmental benefits of regenerative kelp

😮 Why kelp is the most regenerative food we can eat

📢 Getting consumers to eat more seaweed

👍 Why humility is the key to being a successful CPG founder

😡 Fundraising challenges for female and regen founders

🤩 The limitless potential of future seaweed applications

Links:

Atlantic Sea Farms

Follow Kyle and AC on LinkedIn