New Barn Organics Debuts Regenerative Natural Licensed Almond Milk

Since launching in 2015, New Barn Organics has been centered on making meals higher by its dairy-free, regenerative merchandise, together with almond milks, coconut milks, and pasture raised eggs. One notable current milestone for the corporate is the introduction of Regenerative Natural Licensed almond milk, tapping California-based Burroughs Household Farms, the primary Regenerative Natural almond farm within the nation.

Regenerative Natural is a brand new certification for meals, fiber, and private care components that mixes rigorous requirements in animal welfare, social fairness and natural sustainability underneath one umbrella, based by main sustainability centered organisations together with Dr. Bronner’s, Patagonia, and Rodale. Michael Bronner, president of Dr. Bronner’s evocatively described the certification to me as type of just like the maxim from Lord of the Rings: “one ring to rule all of them.”

I not too long ago spoke with Ted Robb, the co-founder of New Barn Organics, to debate the launch of their latest merchandise and the significance of this certification. As a second era pure merchandise entrepreneur, Robb shared his insights and experience on regenerative agriculture, New Barn Natural’s journey to launching the primary of its form Regenerative Natural Licensed almond milk, and the state of the meals business.

Christopher Marquis: Inform us a bit about New Barn Organics, your preliminary imaginative and prescient when beginning the model, and the way you all first began exploring regenerative merchandise.

Ted Robb: New Barn Organics is a purpose-driven model and has been from the start. Due to this dedication to one thing extra profound, we goal to make selections for the long run and to perform one thing extra than simply producing earnings.

We outline our goal as follows: Our deepest want is to make merchandise that deliver extra consciousness and consciousness to the meals system, keep a deep reverence for nature all through their lifecycle, and enhance the well being of our clients.

Given this motive for existence, regenerative agriculture has at all times been an necessary north star for the model. It strikes us from simply sustaining to thriving on the farming degree. We’ve had ambitions from the begin to help regenerative strategies, and we’ve at all times sought suppliers who have been deeply dedicated to sustainable practices on their farms. We’re so completely satisfied to see the validation of regenerative ag beginning to present up within the market.

Christopher Marquis: When you all began out as an unbiased model, you joined forces with NestFresh in 2021. How has that formed the New Barn Organics enterprise, and the way has it helped you evolve and develop the model and its product choices?

Ted Robb: Actually, it’s been one of the vital necessary selections we ever made, because it allowed the mission and imaginative and prescient of New Barn Organics to proceed flourishing. It isn’t straightforward to launch and construct a meals model, particularly one with nationwide ambitions; becoming a member of NestFresh gave New Barn Organics a well-capitalized accomplice who shares the will to construct a profitable and enduring enterprise. And extra importantly, they share our dedication to supporting regenerative natural agriculture.

On the product assortment aspect, becoming a member of NestFresh has been extra about refinement and focus. We discovered quite a bit about doing an excessive amount of within the first few years of constructing New Barn. Candidly, we tried to do too many issues without delay, creating lots of pleasure and an unlimited quantity of stress and challenges. Becoming a member of a bigger firm has been useful as a result of you possibly can’t do it all of sudden such as you assume you possibly can as an formidable startup. NestFresh would fairly see us do a number of issues effectively, as a substitute of taking up too many initiatives without delay. Becoming a member of this group has given us extra of a give attention to studying who our core customers are and what they really need, then doing our greatest to ship on these expectations.

We’ve labored to outline a stable base of merchandise we all know customers need: almond milk, coconut milk, and pasture-raised eggs. These are “important” objects that almost all US households now devour usually. We’re proud to supply them merchandise which might be each premium in high quality and comparatively accessibly priced. Like a mainstream model we’re conveniently present in grocery shops, however our product expertise and components are extra according to what you’d discover at a farmers market or smaller native store. We really feel this positioning will serve the model effectively in the long term, and we’re assured that we’ve got the proper accomplice to assist help us in that course.

Christopher Marquis: Burrough Household Farms is the primary regenerative almond farm. What was the method like figuring out a farm to supply regenerative almonds from to supply New Barn’s Regenerative Natural Licensed almond milks, and the way did you all work collectively on these merchandise?

Ted Robb: We discovered concerning the Burroughs a number of years in the past, however the timing wasn’t fairly proper as we had not too long ago switched all of our almond sourcing to European suppliers. On the time, we have been buying solely dry-farmed natural almonds. We felt this was essentially the most accountable ingredient we may select for our merchandise. Dry-farmed almond timber are watered just for the primary 12 months or so, then irrigated solely with rainwater after that. The yields are decrease for the farmer, however the taste is extra intense, and water utilization is dramatically decrease per acre. California almond growers don’t sometimes follow dry-farming at any form of scale.

Then in 2021 after we joined NestFresh, the group began down the street of including Regenerative Natural Licensed® pasture eggs to the New Barn Organics model. We labored very carefully with our buddies on the Regenerative Natural Alliance, and discovered quite a bit about how the usual for ROC merchandise was evolving. Throughout that point, we re-connected with the Burroughs and realized we shared core values and a dedication to regenerative natural agriculture. The partnership got here collectively shortly, as a result of they’d been engaged on attaining ROC certification for his or her almonds simply as we had been on our eggs. This created the best state of affairs as a result of we belief their intention 100% as farmers, and we are able to keep centered on making merchandise, which is what we do finest. The method of coming collectively has been great and we’re delighted to know that we are able to work with their household for the long-haul.

Christopher Marquis: What sort of practices are being applied to fulfill the Regenerative Natural Certification on the farms?

Ted Robb: The Burroughs comply with a foundational set of practices that construct a wholesome ecosystem and enrich the soil. They by no means spray any poisonous chemical substances and use no-till practices. Utilizing sheep to graze weeds and fertilize the almond orchards, they work with nature to keep up a pure concord between the soil and the timber.

By conserving the bottom coated all 12 months lengthy, the farm’s soil is enriched and guarded by a mix of canopy crops specifically chosen for optimum soil well being. A mix of mustard, rye, and different grasses cowl the bottom throughout your entire farm, fixing carbon and nitrogen into the earth whereas locking water into the soil beneath.

To advertise biodiversity and convey pollinators to the farm, hedgerows of native vegetation and wildflowers are planted on the borders of the almond orchards. A various mix of sorts corresponding to coyotebrush, white sage, and California wildrose take turns blooming all 12 months lengthy. The hedgerows entice native pollinators, they usually present a protected haven for a lot of chook species who name this lovely farm their house.

The Burroughs additionally imagine within the significance of taking excellent care of the individuals who work on their land. The farm’s employees are paid a residing wage, and are provided the flexibility to take part in a 401K program by the farm. They’re additionally supplied with housing or different monetary help as wanted, and plenty of have labored on the farm anyplace between 10–30 years. Workers additionally obtain baskets filled with farm merchandise to take house to their households.

Christopher Marquis: Criticism of almond milk is heavy use of water. Are you able to talk about the way you deal with that challenge and the way your water use compares to different almond farms?

Ted Robb: That is at all times an necessary matter and one we’re extremely enthusiastic about. We’re additionally frequently studying concerning the realities of water utilization towards the backdrop of a altering local weather.

The reality is that almost all crops use numerous water, not simply almonds. Nevertheless, almonds are distinctive as a result of they’re standard and grown in excessive concentrations in California, the place water challenges are at all times obvious.

At their origin, almonds are a desert crop from the Center East and Southwestern Asia. For hundreds of years, almonds have been grown with out a lot water aside from rainfall. It wasn’t till industrial farming got here alongside and demanded greater yields that we began seeing irrigated almonds. For instance, almonds in California weren’t generally irrigated till the Thirties. It’s additionally necessary to notice that greater planting density, chemical pesticide software, and quite a few different ecological challenges additionally got here with the economic type of farming.

Now we count on low cost almonds, produced in huge portions on the farming and provide aspect, and infrequently misplaced vilification of the water utilization on the patron demand aspect.

What’s thrilling is that regenerative natural farming meaningfully addresses almost each “drawback” that comes with conventionally farmed almonds. Water demand goes down dramatically with more healthy soil that is still coated and might retain moisture all through all seasons. Mix that with extra superior micro irrigation methods, and you’ve got a a lot decrease water footprint than what’s generally represented within the media.

You may see this example enjoying out in California presently. This winter introduced document rainfall and now snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In the meanwhile, California has an excessive amount of water. Almond farms that don’t keep cowl crops, or regenerative farming strategies, have been flooding and seeing vital runoff of their orchards. On a regenerative natural farm, such because the Burrough’s, that very same water is getting “banked” into the wealthy soil. This implies the soil will stay moist longer as temperatures rise in the summertime months, and fewer water might be wanted all through the rising season. That very same more healthy soil will even present a extra substantial base for your entire ecosystem of pollinators, animals, and employees who enter the orchard all year long. True regenerative farming means all programs are working collectively to create year-over-year enchancment.

As a result of that is our first 12 months of working with the Burroughs, it’s arduous to say precisely how a lot our water footprint has modified for New Barn Organics by shifting to regenerative natural sourcing. We have been utilizing completely dry-farmed almonds up up to now, and it’s doubtless that our water utilization really went up. That stated, we’re assured that we now have a long-term accomplice who shares our want to study and frequently enhance our information about how we’re utilizing water for almonds.

It’s additionally value noting the Burrough’s have began a multi-year research to grasp higher how a lot water their soil holds. They use superior know-how, corresponding to GPS water meters on every tree, to ship correct knowledge throughout the orchard. This can assist all of us have a transparent image of precisely how a lot water is getting used or, importantly, saved system-wide.

We’re dedicated to investing within the partnership in any means that may assist us present extra transparency to our clients. They wish to learn about our practices, and so can we. All of it goes again to being goal pushed as a model and bringing extra consciousness and consciousness to the meals system.

Christopher Marquis: Are you able to share any challenges you all have needed to overcome in creating and bringing to market regenerative merchandise?

Ted Robb: Probably the most appreciable problem we’ve confronted up to now has been succinctly explaining what regenerative natural farming means. Individuals are busy, a lot of our tradition will get distilled into sound bytes. We’re engaged on extensively interconnected programs, and determining how you can match that into an elevator pitch might be difficult. We’re grateful for retailers like this one, which might be bringing consciousness to the bigger regenerative agriculture story.

Christopher Marquis: You’ve been immersed within the meals business to your whole life. How do you see the business evolving to be extra sustainable, and what does the longer term appear like, significantly because it pertains to eggs and plant-based milks?

Ted Robb: Over the previous few years, I have been fairly disheartened concerning the state of the meals business on this nation. As a tradition, we’re so collectively obsessive about prices and efficiencies that we regularly lose sight of the enjoyment and love that is inherent in meals. We additionally are inclined to chase developments and shallow aesthetics. These days, there’s additionally been a bent to reward greenwashing as a substitute of wanting deeper into the story of the place merchandise come from.

The strain positioned on the meals system all through COVID additionally introduced lots of harsh realities concerning the provide chain out into the open. Labor shortages, inflation, and the over proliferation of private-label merchandise are just some examples. We have now reached some extent the place scale and consolidation drive most customers’ decisions. The previous few years have worn us out, making comfort and price our major focus; and that is finally not a great factor. Meals is not nearly energy, {dollars}, or model positioning – it is important to being alive. It ought to nourish your curiosity and connection to how your meals was grown and who it was produced by.

On the constructive aspect, every consolidation cycle will finally result in a renaissance. That is beginning now with the regenerative natural motion. Folks need wonderful meals, they usually wish to know it is not harming folks, animals, or the planet. Since regenerative natural builds on the well-established requirements of the Nationwide Natural Program, we’ve got a possibility as an business to redefine what “natural” means. It will not be straightforward, however finally, the primary rules behind natural and regenerative farming strategies will deliver extra consciousness and consciousness to our meals system. That is very true for our youngest generations, who’ve been uncovered to challenges for many of their lives. I’ve hope due to them – they get it and can power modifications and readability when their buying energy comes of age.