Where did you get that coffee?
I don’t mean Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts or Harris Teeter. But which farm grew the bean. How did they get to your kitchen? Did the farmers who grew these products get a fair price or are all the margin sucked up by importers, logistics companies, warehouses, distributors and all the other points along the distribution chain?
How about that fancy pink salt sitting on your shelf? Who took these minerals out of the ground so your frittatas could have a sensational salty taste?
Enter the Real Company– Single Origin Food Products
Their vision is simple; provide the mass consumer market, not just a niche of select affluent consumers, with an option of purchasing good quality food, at affordable prices with full transparency of where the food comes from and how it was grown.
Like most businesses, this one was started out of necessity. Colin Carter, the founder, was diagnosed with adult epilepsy at the age of 40, and this required him to consume a fair amount of medicine. Sadly, one of the effects of this medicine was for Colin’s energy levels to drop significantly, so rather than take more medicine to rejuvenate him, he found that coffee had the desired effect.
In his continuous efforts to find a better quality cup of coffee which made him feel better for longer, he discovered “Single Origin” coffee. This coffee came from small independent farms from across the world, and it was clear that the quality regarding taste and caliber was far greater than normal coffee sold in the majority of supermarkets or large chain coffee shops.
This experience led Colin to investigate the concept of single origin further and why it exists. He found that most of the Food Trade hid behind closed doors. Large corporations are either not interested in where the food they supply comes from, or in some cases purposefully concealing this information. Colin observed that the food industry breached the natural codes of trade and farming development in the name of affordable food, which is ultimately about larger profits.
This system directly impacts how people live in today’s farming communities; the corporations decide on pricing and infrastructure, which cripples everyone who is sustained by the farms and leads to a generational poverty trap that drives people from their healthy safe living environments and into the large built up cities of the world. Single origin is about a single trade route that benefits and empowers everyone.
Colin then attempted to adopt this “single origin” principle for all his family’s shopping, but it became evident the options were limited to coffee, tea and in some cases cocoa and chocolate, and thus the desire to create a Single Origin Food company was born!
Along with his close friend Muhammad, Colin created “The Real Co.”
The Real Co believes that good quality food should be an accessible and price-friendly option to all people and not just a luxury item to some. With so much focus on health nowadays directly related to our diet, we feel that the individuals responsible for growing our food; the farmers, should also be well treated and not exploited.
The Real Company is a different kind of company. The brand hinges on one word: transparency.
The video below demonstrates how they live their brand. The company brings specialty food products like Himalayan pink salt to mass markets at reasonable prices. In doing so, consumers benefit from knowing the origin of their product while the farmer benefits from gaining access to markets at fair pricing.
Four Lessons from The Real Company
- Stand for something that matters to you. Begin with Why.
- Live your truth. Don’t use it to market your brand. Live the values you are promoting.
- Demonstrate through inventive digital marketing real stories of human beings getting connected. In this case, watch the video of the pink salt miners gaining a reliable source of income.
- Keep it transparent. Don’t hide behind legal jargon. Create packaging that is as authentic as the brand showing off the source of the ingredients in big, bold fonts. The clear window on the package communicates this same message.
Check out The Real Company and their product. Their marketing efforts are focused on a clear target as they live their mission.
___________
Do you feel assaulted with confusing information on how to go to market with your product or service? Talk to me. Maybe I can help with seasoned advice.
Photo: Screen Grab from The Real Co. All rights reserved.
