Producer profile
Happy Planet
Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada
Drink to a happier planet
By Alicia Lundquist Guy
(Sound Consumer, May 2002) — Good ideas are bound to crop up sitting around an organic farm drinking a glass of fresh organic carrot juice. That's when high-school chums Randal Ius and Gregor Robertson harvested the thought, "This juice is so good! People in the city deserve to have fresh juice this delicious!" So began Happy Planet in 1994, a Vancouver, B.C. company that ships out 65,000 fresh juices and smoothies a week.
From the beginning, their goal was to get organic juice in as many people's mouths as possible. At the time, eight years ago, not many consumers were willing to buy a 100 percent organic juice if it was priced 30 to 40 percent more than its conventional juice counterpart, so not all ingredients were organic.
The market for natural and organic foods since has blossomed, however, and Ius and Robertson are proud to say their fresh juices and smoothies are now 100 percent certified organic. Ius beams, "It feels like a re-birth to us. It's great to be able to take a company thought to be idealistic and prove that it can be done. It's more work, but it's worth it!"
Brimming with idealism, Ius and Robertson also wanted to build a company that was bioregional, drawing all its produce from local organic farms. After all, one 12-ounce bottle of juice may contain two apples, a mango, a banana, and half a lemon. That's five pieces of organic fruit!
Sixty percent of the produce for Happy Planet today is from small-scale organic farms in North America, although no one has figured out how to grow bananas and mangoes in Canada.
From day one, Happy Planet juice has been made in small batches to ensure quality. Sometimes, they even have to make the same juice twice a day. They call this their "micro-juicery" approach. All of their juices are fast pasteurized to ensure safety. Happy Planet's juice plant is one of only two certified organic juice plants in North America. They have plans to build a second Happy Planet facility on the east coast so fresh juice doesn't have to travel horrific distances to market.
With four dozen employees, Ius and Robertson like to put the company's money where its mouth is. Many staff members are shareholders in the company. Ten percent of the company profits are given to non-profit organizations such as Provender Alliance, the Organic Trade Association, and the Vancouver Folk-Music Festival. Over the years, they've also donated more than 100,000 bottles of fresh juice to community organizations.
See Happy Planet for more information.