Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
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From her own kitchen, Das Caramelini Caramels were born. Purpose Beverages contributes 25 cents from every bottle sold to one of four charities. The co-founders developed Track Your Impact, a website that allows consumers to find out who they helped and how. "We wanted to be on the leading edge of cause marketing, eager to include our consumers in the act of giving," Artavia says, so the co-founders came up with Track Your Impact (trackyourimpact .com), a website that allows consumers to find out who they helped and how, via a unique code on each bottle, and share (on Facebook or Twitter) the impact they've made. Helping today. Selecting the right charities took time and effort. "We utilized a very robust rubric to evaluate our partners," says Artavia, who explains that they looked closely at four areas: organi- zational fitness, financial strength, programming alignment and com- munications. "We identified and evaluated more than 30 nonprofits, and our four partners quickly rose to the top," he says. The charities focus on health and wellness (Bear Necessities and National Brain Tumor Society), food and shelter (Project Night Night), and education (Jumpstart). "It was critical to us that our company's donations stay in the U.S. and affect communities where our consumers live," Artavia says. To drive further awareness of the causes, says Artavia, "we offer our teas at the charities' events, and create special programs with our stores and consumers." To date, Purpose Beverages has donated more than $7,000. Joining the cause. Artavia encourages other businesses to join the ranks of fellow purposeful entrepreneurs. "[They will] see the value and merit of going beyond 'a portion of the proceeds go to charity,' as we have," he says. "Your consumers will react positively and the returns will be tremendous." D AS FOODS: BATTLING ILLNESS, SUPPORTING SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE Das Foods founder Katie Das likes to say that her company is "a small business with a big heart," and giving back to the community is a basic tenet of its mission. A sweet-and-salty compromise. Das originally had her eyes set on salt. Her plan was to introduce American consumers to gourmet cooking and finishing salts from around the world. But when she was accepted as a vendor at the World of Chocolate event in November 2006, sponsored by the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Das decided to sweeten her offerings. 32 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE ❘ specialtyfood.com Experimenting with "a great recipe for traditional caramels that I learned from a B&B; owner in Bretagne, France," Das says she was answering what "seemed to be a need for an affordable, all-natural non-chocolate candy that would be both inventive and familiar." The diminutive handmade caramels are wrapped in flavors such as lavender, lemon or ginger, that will "linger long after the caramel has disappeared, reminding you of how delicious it really was," Das says. The crowning ingredient is fleur de sel. The salted caramel collection includes Classic (lavender), Chocolate Walnut, Café Cortado, Chili Pecan, Ginger Pistachio and Orange & Honey. A call to help. Having grown up in the former Soviet Union republic of Ukraine, "I still remember what it was like to cope with shortages of essentials," Das says. "I feel that it is my turn to help the needy, while still being a for-profit organization." Das Foods donates 10 per- In addition to donating to the cent of its net profits from Das Caramelini, gourmet salts and all-natural lollipops to the AIDS Foundation of Chicago to help fight AIDS and HIV in the U.S. and abroad. "I love to help fund projects that I can envision," says Das, giving examples like the donation of bicycles for doctors in Africa, or refrigerators in Kenyan slums to store the HIV vaccine. "Everyday things that are vital for helping people deal with their chronic conditions." AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Das Foods helps impoverished communities with everyday needs, like refrigerators in Kenyan slums to store the HIV vaccine. Looking ahead. The Chicago-based company is constantly on the lookout for ways to give back. In using only natural and sustainable ingredients procured from small Midwestern farmers, Das Foods sup- ports sustainable local agriculture. Its newest project—aligned with plans to expand offerings to include chocolate—involves working with cacao farmers in Cameroon to help grow beans more sustainably, with two key efforts to enact: buying the harvest from the farmers, and help- ing the local communities find ways to convert the beans right at the source. "Adding a value-add component will help the farmers to verti- cally integrate, generate revenue and ultimately improve their quality of living," Das explains. "We're a small company but we, too, can make the difference," Das says. "There is so much still for us to do, and we will get there— step by step." |SFM| Lynn Santa Lucia is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Health, Food Arts, and Yoga Journal.