All Bets Are Off

There, I said it.  All bets are off in the Natural Products industry.  After a recent walk around the latest natural products convention I left with a bitter taste in my mouth wondering how many of the companies could actually look at themselves in the mirror and call their products natural?  I guess I had set the expectations for an event of this caliber too high.  After all I was hoping to see not only the products I know and love but also new products that were pushing the boundaries for creativity and deliciousness.  What happened was something entirely different.

These events show you where the money actually is flowing from.  Large multinational corporations have the most real estate in order to manipulate as many people as possible that walk by.  Start-ups have smaller spaces with maybe one shingle hanging up with a company logo.

But you realize quickly that it's just a sales facade and that the people working the products aren't really connected to them  This becomes apparent when you ask simple questions about the products and the ingredients used that make up the products.

"So, what's in this?" I asked.  "Its all great stuff and really healthy for you" the nice lady responded.  I took one quick glance at the packaging label to see things like... GLYCERIN, MALTITOL, SOY LECITHIN..."no thank you" I responded.   "It's all good stuff so come back and try it later if you're around she said." "Thanks, we'll see," I responded.

I kept walking. In all fairness there were some of my favorite companies in attendance and they didn't disappoint at all.  They helped stop me from engaging the pretenders and challenging them about the ingredients that were all around. Things showing up like.....
RESISTANT CORN STARCH. TAPIOCA SYRUP, TAPIOCA MALTODEXTRIN, YEAST, GUM (XANTHAN GUM, SODIUM ALGINATE, GUAR GUM), CULTURED CORN SYRUP SOLIDS AND CITRIC ACID (NATURAL MOLD INHIBITOR),SODIUM BICARBONATE, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE), ENZYMES) 

It opened my eyes to the manipulations that continue to exist.  The same manipulations are the reasons why we started Paleonola.  The ingredients listed above just do not deserve the right to be involved in anything that's called natural.  If you your 5 year old cannot easily pronounce it then it shouldn't make it into the package.  But thats where the manipulation begins.  Fancy packaging of the same altered crap boasting about how its less than 100 calories and how it has zero fat. Things like this have become archaic to us here at Paleonola because we make real food.  We are real people, and not just people who sit behind desks all day and push papers.  We are Active people who MOVE, train,  rush to and from to complete the days tasks and eat real food without counting calories or grams because we know real food fuels you in a completely different way than 95% of the junk out there.

What started out as excitement was quickly extinguished into frustration which then got recycled into more passion and determination to continue to find new ways to serve you because that's what it's always been about.  It's not about commercials or advertisements or marketing etc...it really comes down to you. We make products for kick-ass people who like living a kick-ass healthy lifestyle.  That's what it will always be about.



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