subject: Simplydelicious LLC, natural products firms see need for regulation [print this page] Simplydelicious LLC, natural products firms see need for regulation
BOULDER - In the natural products industry, the word "natural" can pertain to just about anything: natural-flavored cheese, all-natural ingredients and natural enzymes.
But even arsenic is natural, and most people agree that it isn't good for the body.With the incessant controversy surrounding the issue, the buzzword needs to be defined and regulated, local natural product executives said at the Boulder County Business Report's CEO Roundtable about natural products on April 20.Many participants agreed the regulations or definitions need to come from governing bodies like the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Agriculture or the Food and Drug Administration.
As idealistic as it is to think the natural products industry will police itself and define natural and organic in a uniform way, many participants said it won't happen in part because there's too much money at stake. But the debate is something that Beryl Stafford, president of Boulder-based Simplydelicious LLC dba Bobo's Oat Bars, thinks about every day. Stafford said she struggles with using the word "natural" because of the sometimes greenwashed negative connotation. And though all but one of her ingredients are organic, she can't claim that tag and get the USDA stamp of approval.
Thus she uses the "all-natural" label, and she said it works.Though fewer and fewer people take marketing lingo at face value, many people see the words "all natural" and then look closer at the ingredients too, in Stafford's case, see that the product is indeed natural. But she and others still worry.The controversy is really a call to action for the natural products industry to collaborate and set standards, said Ellen Feeney, WhiteWave Foods Co.'s sustainability and right livelihood senior vice president.But Phil Anson, founder and chief operating officer of Evol Burritos, formerly Phil's Fresh Foods, said in many cases it's the governing bodies that are the real problem. He said many of the people making the decisions have backgrounds rooted in large corporations that aren't poster children for the natural industry.
They agreed that it's an uphill battle, but, despite the hurdles, one they need to face.As with many industries, the key to educating people and helping them make informed decisions about what is and isn't natural or organic is transparency, said Mike Fitzgerald, Cooper Tea Co.'s chief operating officer.The integrity and authenticity that is gained by being transparent is something companies can't buy, which should help separate the good companies from the bad. But as smaller companies grow and expand in the natural products industry, they increase the chance of being labeled as a "big guy.""If you're big in the natural industry, you're bad," Feeney said. She said companies need to shed the "poor is pure" mentality to keep themselves from being continually plagued by their own success.
Though well behind the human-oriented natural products industry, Marty Grosjean, Only Natural Pet Foods' president and chief executive officer, said people are realizing the importance of natural pet food as well.But the natural pet-product sector faces many of the same hurdles, like the natural versus not debate, that the human-oriented sector does. Grosjean said, though, that the pet sector has the luxury of riding the coattails of the rest of the industry. Despite the hardships the industry faces, the Boulder Valley, and specifically Boulder, remains a go-to for natural-product startups.
Lisa Bell, program manager for the Boulder Innovation Center, an entrepreneurial support organization that pairs entrepreneurs with mentors from all aspects of business, said she receives numerous calls every day from people looking to start natural-product companies in the valley. "It is a lot bigger than we understand or we realize," Bell said. But she acknowledged that many of those inquires won't come to fruition.Many managers agreed that Boulder attracts startups because of the vast array of mentors and well-known companies that are based here.
"The biggest thing about Boulder is the human capital," Beryl Stafford said, president of Simplydelicious LLC. "It's about connecting people."
