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who had also spent time in Ecuador, set to work on a business plan. They named the product Runa, meaning "fully alive" or "fully living" in Kichwa. Today, the line comprises bottled and canned tea drinks in sweetened and unsweetened varieties, tins of loose leaves and bagged teas in boxes. Impact Returning to Ecuador after graduation in 2009, Gage and MacCombie launched the business with a grant from the Ecuadorian government. Sourcing guayusa solely from those indigenous communities, Runa now supports some 2,400 farming families—more than 10,000 people, Gage estimates. "This year we'll generate $275,000 of direct income for these farmers," he says. Funds have had a holistic impact on the region, with more than $20,000 funneled each year into community development projects, and some 150,000 trees donated to farmers and planted annually on their land. Gage says a nonprofit platform drives the business and its efforts to be as high-impact as possible. "We're not a supply chain. We're not just buying stuff and selling it, but we're using the sourcing of goods as a way to create value," for the local communities, the land, the country and consumers, he explains. Runa is currently working with the Ecuadorian government to implement partial employee ownership, to make the farmers shareholders in the business. Gage plans to have a minimum of 10 percent of the company farmer-owned. Future Runa has its sights set on continued growth. In 2013, Gage says, the business grew about 300 percent over 2012 numbers. "We're on track [for 2014] to hopefully triple our sales again and triple our impact for the farmers," he adds. International expansion has also begun: the organization is aiming to replicate Ecuador's successes in neighboring Peru and its native Quechua and Shipibo communities. "We've seen that this whole model we have—sustainable agriculture and what we call forest gardening—is one of the few tools that can be a stimulus for sustainable economic development for rural farming communities in the Amazon, but then also be a conservation tool," Gage says. In looking to the future, Gage, now 27 years old, reflects "We're using the on past specialty food leaders sourcing of goods that he says have paved the way for Runa's achievements: "Our as a way to create advisers and the people we value," for the see in the industry who have communities, the built incredible brands that we land, the country admire—it's on their footsteps that we're able to do what we do." and consumers. Winter Fancy Food show Booth 4520 34 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com