Organic Business Development & Consulting Long Beach CA

Fifteen years ago, Marla Reis wanted to open an organic teahouse. Instead, she went to graduate school, became a psychologist and an Orthodox Jew, had three kids and started eating only organic food.

All of that fueled the start of her dream business – Café Emunah, a spiritual, organic kosher café with a Zen minimalist design in Ft. Lauderdale , Fla. It’s not the teahouse she once envisioned, though it does have an organic tea bar. Reis’ new café reflects her life values – part of a growing trend in the food industry of blending personal values with business for long-term success.

While healthy eating is a hot channel into the food business today, Reis believes it’s not a passing fancy. “Once people incorporate it into their lives, it becomes a mainstay,” she says.

The sector is hungry and looking to be fed, with 64 percent of all U.S. consumers buying specialty foods in 2006, according to National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, in New York . And most of those making specialty food purchases as part of a healthy lifestyle are 18- to 24-year-olds.

Environmentalism Aspects

Steven Batzofin created his 2005 startup, Earthwise Bag Company, to grab his piece of the niche: environmentally friendly products. The California resident makes reusable non-woven, poly-based shopping bags that are sold nationally in 2,700 stores for about $1 each.

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