Conscious CPG Voices, Part I
These articles were originally published on the New Hope Network website
All articles by Steven Hoffman
How are “Conscious CPG” companies positioning themselves in today’s fast-changing consumer market—and how are they turning to the Newtopia Now as a vital new resource to advance their brand among key buyers and decision makers?
We asked the founders and leaders of 10 emerging brands who are exhibiting their innovations—many of them for the very first time at Newtopia Now—what factors drive their decisions today. Coming from diverse backgrounds, these entrepreneurs share at least one thing in common: The belief that gathering with peers, contemporaries, buyers, influencers, mentors, business leaders and others in an intimate setting is critical to learning about the marketplace, building relationships and growing your business and brand.
Funky Mello turns aquafaba into plant-based indulgence
Delisa Harper and her husband, Zach, are co-founders of Funky Mello. The Austin, Texas-based company is seeking to carve out a niche in the refrigerated desserts category with its line of plant-based marshmallow cremes formulated from aquafaba, the starchy brine derived from cooked chickpeas. Funky Mello’s product offerings are vegan, gluten free, soy free and free of eight top food allergens. Mission-based, the company also supports organizations tackling youth food insecurity. Here is the brand's story in Delisa Harper's own words.
Delisa Harper
Rasa showcases high-performance adaptogen brews at Newtopia Now
Boulder, Colorado-based Rasa was founded in 2018 by Lopa van de Mersch and Ben Levine Nahar. Combining an interest in Ayurveda with herbs, adaptogens, mushrooms and other functional ingredients, Rasa and Ben created a “dark, rich, roasty” coffee alternative. In 2021, Rasa announced it had become a Public Benefit Corporation, and in 2022, the company raised $4.1 million in a crowdfunding campaign. Today, led by CEO Lenny Chase—who as a marketing executive helped build Halo Top into a national brand—Rasa is expanding to offer a full line of high-performance daily brews designed to provide energy from adaptogenic ingredients, plus functional coffee, cacao, matcha and other beverage products. Here is the brand's story in Lenny Chase's own words.
Lenny Chase
HeyBamboo brings sustainability and inspiration to Newtopia Now
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Joslyn Faust worked in tech marketing for 20 years, yet she always harbored the entrepreneurial spirit to launch a company. When the toilet paper shortage hit during the Covid pandemic, Faust began looking into the impact of toilet paper manufacturing, along with the bleach and chemicals often used in the process. Seeing an opportunity from what she found out, in 2023, Joslyn launched HeyBamboo to provide sustainable, unbleached toilet paper made from 100% bamboo. With the motto, “Sustainable to the Core,” no plastic is ever used in the packaging. Here is the brand’s story in Joslyn Faust’s own words.
Joslyn Faust
Oodaalolly’s chocolate fills store aisles—and Newtopia Now—with 'unfiltered joy'
Oodaalolly founder Hernan Lauber grew up in the Philippines, Switzerland and the U.S. When Hernan’s Swiss father opened a chocolate company in rural Pennsylvania in the early 1980s, Hernan spent his formative years working in his dad’s chocolate factory, “doing every horrible job no one wanted to do.” After studying engineering, working in manufacturing and life sciences, and living overseas for 10 years, Hernan and his family settled in the San Francisco Bay Area, where, inspired by his father’s business and his Filipino roots, Hernan founded Oodaalolly. From the packaging to the product, Oodaalolly chocolate reflects deep cultural roots and traditional Swiss chocolate making techniques, all made in the U.S. Read the brand’s story in Hernan Lauber’s own words.
Hernan Lauber
Innovation, experience help Nature's Sunshine understand consumers’ health needs
Established in 1972, Nature’s Sunshine takes pride in its claim as the first company ever to encapsulate herbs. Today, the dietary supplements leader offers more than 500 products and employs a global direct sales force of over 670,000 independent managers, distributors and customers in at least 40 countries. The company operates its own R&D and quality control group and manufactures its products in a 200,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art, 100% solar-powered facility in Spanish Fork, Utah. The company also supports health and wellness for children around the world through its partnership with the Sunshine Heroes Foundation. Learn more from Nature’s Sunshine President Kevin Herbert.
Kevin Herbert