Compass Natural Adds Talent to Boutique PR, Brand Marketing Agency Serving Natural, Organic, Regenerative and Hemp Products Businesses
Compass Natural Adds Talent to Boutique PR, Brand Marketing Agency Serving Natural, Organic, Regenerative and Hemp Products Businesses
November 9, 2022
Compass Natural, a boutique public relations & brand marketing agency serving businesses in the market for natural and organic foods and related products, is pleased to announce the addition of seasoned talent to its team.
Compass Natural, a Boulder, CO-based boutique public relations and brand marketing agency serving businesses in the market for natural and organic foods, industrial hemp and cannabis-related products, regenerative agriculture, and sustainable and eco-friendly products and services, is pleased to announce the addition of seasoned new talent to its team.
“Going into the new year, we are excited to offer our clientele a diverse, talented team with expertise in brand marketing, public relations, social media influencer marketing, digital communications, content development, business development, and trade show, conference and event planning — all focused on serving businesses and brands in the natural, organic, and healthy lifestyles market," said Steven Hoffman, Founder and Managing Director of Compass Natural.
“When Compass Natural’s longtime associate Evan Tompros moved on in September to further career opportunities after seven years of service to our clients in the natural and organic channel, it provided an opportunity for us to reorganize our agency. As such, we’ve been fortunate and successful in attracting an incredible lineup of professionals to serve our client companies into the future,” Hoffman added.
Joining the Compass Natural PR, Communications and Brand Marketing Team
Allison Salvati (top left) — Natural products brand marketing veteran Allison Salvati joins Compass Natural as “Creator of Opportunities.” Having worked with such leading natural and organic brands including Bhakti Chai, noosa yoghurt, Honey Smoked Fish Co., and others, Allison will help lead brand strategy and marketing, social media influencer marketing, media outreach, and client services. Allison proudly claims her superpower is building and nurturing relationships. Human connection is her core value and she is passionate about curating meaningful experiences for clients and brands.
Hope Keller (lower left) — Hope Keller joins Compass Natural to assist with digital marketing and communications, production, editorial and web, blog and related content. A veteran journalist, Hope has worked at the Baltimore Sun, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the International Herald Tribune, among other newspapers. She also served as director of communications for the University of Baltimore School of Law. In addition to her work with Compass Natural, she works as a writing tutor at Mitchell College in New London, CT, and as a freelance reporter for The Daily Record in Baltimore.
Elizabeth Lunt (top right) — Co-founder of Spark Events, Elizabeth Lunt joins Compass Natural as a contributing writer and to assist with trade show and conference planning, educational programming, booking speakers and other related services. Spark Events produces business networking and educational events for the cannabis industry in Maryland, where Elizabeth also has been active as a dispensary agent and cannabis advocate. She is fascinated by the development of the industrial hemp industry and has been a volunteer with the US Hemp Building Association as well as a writer for HempBuild Magazine.
Rachael Carlevale (lower right) — Rachael Carlevale joins the Compass Natural Marketing team with more than 10 years of experience directing sales and marketing in the natural products industry. The co-founder of Suelo Vivo, a certified regenerative hemp farm and brand, and founder of Ganjasana Plant Medicine School, Rachael develops and teaches cannabis and hemp courses. Rachael is a certified Mindfulness Educator, yoga instructor and DEM Pure Educator who contributes to Skunk Magazine with her “Cannabis + Wellness Column.”
Advisory Board — In addition to new team members, Compass Natural’s distinguished Advisory Board includes the following members: Mark Retzloff, co-founder of Alfalfa’s Market and Horizon Organic Dairy; Michael Schall, former VP of Global Business Development for Whole Foods Market; Ari Adams, CEO of ShiftCon, the nation’s largest community of eco-wellness social media influencers; and marketing and branding veteran and current director of Naturally Boulder, Bill Capsalis.
New Clients in 2022-2023
In addition to working with longtime clients -- including We Are for Better Alternatives, producer of NoCo Hemp Expo and Southern Hemp Expo and publisher of Let’s Talk Hemp; Presence Marketing, the nation’s leading independent natural products brokerage; BeyondBrands, a leading collective of branding experts serving the natural, organic, and healthy lifestyles market; and others -- Compass Natural welcomed a number of new clients in 2022. Such new brands include JAMBAR®, a certified organic, artisan-made energy bar created by Jennifer Maxwell, the inventor of the original PowerBar®; the Glyphosate Residue Free certification program, administered by the Detox Project; Bay State Milling, provider of certified organic grain ingredients; Franny’s Farmacy, an Asheville, NC-based producer of hemp-derived CBD consumer products and operator of a chain of dispensaries in the Eastern U.S.; and more. In addition, Compass Natural founder Steven Hoffman serves on the Advisory Board of ShiftCon Media, the country’s largest community of “eco-wellness” social media influencers.
About Compass Natural — Connecting Media & Markets in Natural, Organic Products
Based in Boulder, CO, and founded in 2002 by natural products industry veteran Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural is a boutique agency serving the public relations, brand marketing, social media, and business development needs of companies and organizations in the $500 billion market for natural, organic, regenerative, socially responsible, and eco-friendly products and services. Compass Natural also is the producer of the popular business podcast Compass Coffee Talk, which in November 2022 featured Colorado Governor Jared Polis talking about sustainability and the growth of natural and organic products, as well as the hemp and cannabis industries in the state and the nation. Visit Compass Natural’s fully illustrated client deck here. Also, learn more at www.CompassNatural.com and on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Contact
Steven Hoffman, info@compassnaturalmarketing.com, tel 303.807.1042
'Glyphosate Residue Free' Certification Market Jumps 21% as Consumers Demand 'Clean Food' Labeling, Transparency
'Glyphosate Residue Free' Certification Market Jumps 21% as Consumers Demand 'Clean Food' Labeling, Transparency
October 25, 2022
More than 100 brands have been certified by The Detox Project’s Glyphosate Residue Free verification program to ensure their food, beverage, dietary supplement, and personal care products are free of glyphosate residues, driven by rising demand among consumers wanting to minimize exposure to this pervasive weed killer.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BOULDER, CO — As more health-conscious consumers seek to avoid toxic chemicals and pesticides in their foods, The Detox Project reported the “Glyphosate Residue Free” (GRF) certification market grew more than 20% in the past year to nearly $800 million, with a growing number of companies seeing the value of displaying the certification seal on their products.
Third-party, independent data from leading natural and organic products industry market research firm SPINS, revealed that the Glyphosate Residue Free certification market reached USD $778 million in Q3 of 2022, an increase of 21.2% YoY. Glyphosate Residue Free certification is now one of the fastest growing certification programs in the U.S. and the world. The certification verifies that a specific food, dietary supplement, or personal care product does not contain glyphosate residues.
“It’s getting increasing tough for consumers to decipher what products are truly healthy in the market. Certifications like Glyphosate Residue Free give them peace of mind that the products they certify are clean and safe for consumers and their families. That trust and assurance is proven in the growth and impact in sales for products that carry the Glyphosate Residue Free Certification,” says Megan Mahon, SPINS Product Intelligence Partnerships Program Manager.
Glyphosate is one of the world’s most widely used pesticides, applied primarily as an herbicide and often also as a pre-harvest drying aid in major crops such as oats, wheat, and pulses. Outside of agriculture it is widely used as a weed killer for parks and gardens in products such as Roundup. As consumers become aware of the dangers of glyphosate contamination in their food supply, many are turning to the GRF certification seal for peace of mind as they choose their groceries.
Leading Brands Display the Glyphosate Residue Free Certification Seal
Responding to consumer concerns over glyphosate, leading natural, organic and specialty brands such as Oatly, Chobani, Califia Farms, MegaFood, Chosen Foods, Puris, Uncle Matt’s Organic, Jovial Foods and Nutiva are amongst the more than 100 brands that have certified some or all their products as Glyphosate Residue Free (GRF). The American e-commerce membership-based retailer Thrive Market has also thrown its support behind the GRF certification.
“Natural brands in food, personal care and supplements are taking notice because the Glyphosate Residue Free seal is beginning to gain traction in retail buying circles,” said Henry Rowlands, Executive Director of The Detox Project. “The Glyphosate Residue Free certification program is our most important work because it brings widespread awareness of this toxic chemical that has been proven harmful to both humans and the environment. I am thrilled to see the increase in companies using the certification and happy to know that consumers have this information to use when choosing groceries for their families.”
Glyphosate has been a major topic on social media and in the mainstream media over the past few years with three focal points creating quite a stir:
A Working Group of 17 experts from 11 countries met at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) on March 3-10, 2015, to review the available published scientific evidence and evaluate the carcinogenicity of five organophosphate insecticides and herbicides: diazinon, glyphosate, malathion, parathion, and tetrachlorvinphos. The review led to IARC classifying glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”
In 2020, Bayer agreed to pay more than $10 billion to settle cancer suits that were bought against the company due to the fact that their glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup causes Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
Multiple recent studies have shown that glyphosate-based herbicides are causing massive damage to pollinators, which are the backbone of the global food supply.
Consumers have been paying close attention and the interest in avoiding this toxic chemical is only set to grow. Businesses and brands wishing to learn more about, and to participate in, the Glyphosate Residue Free Certification Program, please visit the Detox Project or contact info@detoxproject.org.
About the Glyphosate Residue Free Certification Program
Glyphosate Residue Free certification verifies that a specific food, supplement or beauty product does not contain the world’s most used herbicide. Glyphosate Residue Free certification is one of the fastest growing certifications in the U.S. and around the world. You can find the brands and the products that are already certified here. A third-party ISO 17025 accredited laboratory regularly tests certified products to make sure they do not contain glyphosate residues. To be certified Glyphosate Residue Free, products must have no glyphosate residues down to government-recognized limits of detection (LODs) for food, commodity, and supplement samples (usually 0.01 ppm), and lower levels than default government Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) in the European Union and Japan.
For more information, visit The Detox Project website at www.detoxproject.org or contact info@detoxproject.org. Follow The Detox Project and the Glyphosate Residue Free Certification Program on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Learn More
”What Does It Mean for Food to Have a ‘Glyphosate Residue Free’ Label?” by Martha Stewart Magazine
“Weedkiller Ingredient Tied to Cancer Found in 80% of U.S. Urine Samples” by The Guardian
“Avoiding Toxins In Our Food: Be Informed” by The Union
“The Poison in Our Daily Bread: Glyphosate Contamination Widespread in Essential Foods” by The Detox Project
“New Report Alleges ‘Mass Contamination’ of Foods from Use of Glyphosate to Dry Crops” by Food Navigator-USA
“The Detox Project Becomes Signing Node for Most Sustainable Blockchain in the World” by Medium
Media Contacts
Steve Hoffman, Compass Natural Marketing, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com, tel 303.807.1042
Henry Rowlands, The Detox Project, info@detoxproject.org