JOHN SHEGERIAN: Thanks for tuning into another episode of Green is Good Radio. Today we’re taping live with our new media partner, Green Festival, at their event in Los Angeles. We had the pleasure of meeting a few vendors on the floor of the event, and here are some clips from today’s adventure. Today we’ve got the owner and the founder of Badass Foods with us. Your name is? JOHN LEWIS: My name is John Lewis, owner of badassvegan.com. JOHN SHEGERIAN: When did you start Badass? JOHN LEWIS: I started Badass back in 2010, and this is my first product out now that I started in July of 2013. JOHN SHEGERIAN: And, what is your product called, and what is it made out of? JOHN LEWIS: It’s called the Badass Power Cookie. It’s made out of organic oats, raisins, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and a little bit of spelt flour. It’s all organic, non-GMO, certified kosher as well. JOHN SHEGERIAN: How’s it been going since you launched Badass? JOHN LEWIS: It’s been going great. I actually got it approved for Whole Foods Florida region, so it should be moving over to the West Coast soon. I actually got my first NFL team that’s been reordering it, so it’s been going very, very well. JOHN SHEGERIAN: What team is that? JOHN LEWIS: That would be the Buffalo Bills. They’ve actually been reordering for about three to four weeks now. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Wow, so that’s just the first of many NFL teams and other pro sports teams to come. JOHN LEWIS: And, we hope that opens up the doors right there. JOHN SHEGERIAN: What is the URL for your company? JOHN LEWIS: You can find us at badassvegan.com. I have it right on the website as well, and I’m working on having it on quite a few more of the websites as well, too. JOHN SHEGERIAN: What made you start this business? Are you a vegan yourself? JOHN LEWIS: I actually am a vegan. I’ve been a vegan for 10 years myself. A lot of people don’t know I actually went to school for marketing, and then I did my master’s in business. It kind of sparked the whole thing for me to start the company. JOHN SHEGERIAN: I know our listeners can’t see you, but you’re a big guy. I mean, not only just tall, but also really built. This whole thing about being vegan and not getting enough protein and not getting enough energy to work out and stuff, that’s just not the case. JOHN LEWIS: It’s just a myth. A lot of people don’t understand. The things that they say, that you really can just get all the nutrients you want straight from your food, straight from plants. One thing that people don’t realize is that the funny thing about the industry is that plant eaters are not the ones filling up the hospitals. All the myths that people say that if you go vegan, you’re going to die, you’re going to get sick. If you really look at the numbers, that’s not the case. JOHN SHEGERIAN: What’s your dream with Badass? How big can Badass be? What other products do you want to have? JOHN LEWIS: I’m actually working on a protein powder that should be out by the beginning of 2015, and I just want to take it global. I want to show people that plant-based items are good for you, nothing to run from, and they can have flavor and be good for you. JOHN SHEGERIAN: How’s it working coming to the Green Festival and getting your product out here at the Green Festival? Has it been successful in terms of getting visibility? JOHN LEWIS: Oh, I love it. This is my third city that I’ve done. I’ve done New York as well as DC. I’ll be doing Chicago as well as San Fran, and it’s been great. There’s been love every time we show up at every event, and people just come and tell me that I have the best booth every time. They love the cookie, they love the product, and they feel great when they eat it. That just warms my heart. JOHN SHEGERIAN: I ate your product earlier. I’m a vegan, and I just think your product is delicious. JOHN LEWIS: Thank you. That’s what it’s all about. I want to impress people and let them know that you can be vegan and be strong and be healthy and still give a damn about the rest of the world, and just keep on living. JOHN SHEGERIAN: You can be cool and you can be a badass and you can be healthy too. JOHN LEWIS: Exactly. That’s what it’s all about. JOHN SHEGERIAN: One more time, where can our listeners buy your Badass cookies? JOHN LEWIS: Check us out at badassvegan.com. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Perfect. Thanks for today, and we wish you luck in the future. JOHN LEWIS: Thank you so much, and you can also find me at Twitter, Instagram and Facebook under Badass Vegan. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Perfect. We’re here at the Bio-K stand, and we’re here with? STEVE TANEMAN: I’m Steve Taneman. I’m the Regional Vice President for Bio-K+ International out of Montréal. JOHN SHEGERIAN: So, tell me a little bit about Bio-K. Why is it important for our listeners to learn about your great product? I’m a true believer; I take it every day. What’s so important about your product, and what is it doing to revolutionize how people look at their gut health? STEVE TANEMAN: Probiotics, to go back, is probably one of the largest growth areas in the United States in supplements. It’s been double digit growth over the last several years. With that good thing is a lot of product out there, and for most probiotics, probiotic is a marketing term, not a therapeutic term. Bio-K firmly believes in clinical research and studies. We are one of the few products out there that actually conducts double blind placebo clinical studies on the finished product in vito, in hospitals, that get published in American Canadian mainstream medical journals. So not only are we the top probiotic at Whole Foods and Sprouts, but we’re also on hospital formulary. We’re also the only supplement in the entire world as of January for Health Canada, which is our version of the FDA, gave us the only health claim. Ours is for prevention of C-Diff, which is an antibiotic resistance superbug that kills 30,000 people in the United States each year. We have a 98% success rate against it, and we also have a 95% success rate against associated antibiotic diarrhea. One in three prescriptions for antibiotics will cause an adverse event, and this is to help to prevent that. That being said, Bio-K is for an everyday use. Probiotics is foundational. If you were to walk into a Sprouts or a Whole Foods, and you asked the staff, “I’ve never done anything healthy. What should I do?” They’ll say, “There are four things you should do that are foundational. It’s all universal. Take a superfood, green for antioxidant, take a good multiple vitamin, take a good omega or fish oil for your heart, but the number one thing you must absolutely do is take an efficacious probiotic.” The reason is, it’s about absorption, bacteria breaking down the absorption in your body to provide the nutrients. If you’re not getting well-absorbed, and none of us are if we’re doing well absorption, then you need to be on a probiotic every single day of your life. JOHN SHEGERIAN: How about for our listeners? It’s hard on our stomachs when you travel and you go on planes and get exposed to different germs and also drink water and eat food in different cities. What can our listeners do in terms of your great product? If they can’t buy the jar immediately when they land in a city, is there something they could travel with and still get their Bio-K every day? STEVE TANEMAN: Yeah, absolutely. Actually, we introduced in Canada, and we just introduced here, a product called Bon Voyage. You take that cruise, I’m not going to say the cruise line, but you don’t know when you’re coming home. Bon Voyage is actually Bio-K, but it’s at 30 billion strength, and it’s really travel insurance for that upset stomach. But the difference with Bon Voyage, it’s in blister packs. So, it’s shelf stable at four months in your luggage, as long as you don’t bake it in the car, and two years in the fridge. So, you can take your Bio-K with you. It’s in blister packs, so if you go to a humid climate, whether it’s in Florida or South America, the moisture, which is one of the three things that kill probiotics, it protects it against that. You are able to continue and travel quite effectively with Bio-K, using a Bon Voyage product. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Steve, where can our listeners at Green is Good Radio find your great Bio-K products online, and in what stores across the United States and Canada? STEVE TANEMAN: Well, you can always look us up at biokplus.com, but we really don’t sell online, except for maybe the 50 billion capsules. In Canada and as far as the United States, you can find it in all the Whole Foods, all the Sprouts, just about any A or B health food store. You can find it also in more and more pharmacies. Up in Canada, we’re actually in all the Walmart pharmacies and all the Costco pharmacies and the Rexall Pharmacy chains and Loblaw markets and everything. So, it is easy to find, and it is a life changing product. That’s why I work for them. I’ve been in this business for 25 years, and this is a product that people say, “Well, you’re such a good salesman of it.” It’s because I’m passionate and I see the life results it gives people who are suffering, and it’s life affirming. I always tell people, “Do you know what the most expensive probiotic is in the world? It’s the one that doesn’t work.” The one with the best value is the one that works. This is something you put your name and your stake on. In fact, I tell people do a 12-day challenge. I challenge anyone. Go buy a six pack, drink a half-bottle a day for 12 days, and stop for three days. Why do I want them to stop? JOHN SHEGERIAN: They’re not going to feel as well as they did those last six days. STEVE TANEMAN: Absolutely. You can actually see the result. Nine times out of 10, people say, “Oh my God, I didn’t realize I was feeling that bad.” JOHN SHEGERIAN: Speaking of results, Steve, we’re here today at the LA Green Festival. What do you feel the visibility has been for your brand here? Have you done other Green Festivals and are you going to do more in the future? STEVE TANEMAN: Oh, absolutely. This is our third year with Green Festival, and we do both San Francisco and LA each year. We think it’s wonderful because what we find is the people coming here are engaged. It’s not about how many samples you hand out or how much product you sell; it’s about engagement, one-on-one conversation. When we’re talking to a consumer here, you’re truly looking for people who are looking for something natural, something organic, but something effective. What we’re excited about and what people get excited about when they come to the booth is that, usually, if you look at the wellness market, there are two types of product. You’ve got either one side of the spectrum you’ve got pharmaceutical, which has a lot of science that proves it works but a lot of adverse events. By the way, death is an adverse event. There’s a lot of side effects. On the other side of the coin, you have natural products, which really don’t have an adverse event, but let’s face it, there’s not a lot of science; a lot of anecdotal and there’s some snake oil out there. What Bio-K is is that transition product. It’s changing the market because we are a natural product that has pharmaceutical grade research to prove we do. You know what the FDA disclaimer is on all supplement products. There’s a little note saying, “This product is not meant to cure, perform, or do anything it says it’s doing.” Bio-K, on our liquid, doesn’t have to say it. It doesn’t have it. We’re able to combine the science and the proof with a natural product. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Steve, thank you for your time today. We appreciate all that information. For our listeners out there, again, if they want to find and more learn more about your Bio-K product, it’s www.biokplus.com. STEVE TANEMAN: Correct. Thank you very much. We’re also on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Thank you again, Steve. Thank you. I’m glad you’re all joining us at the Green is Good show. Today we’re highlighting the exhibitors from our media partner, Green Festival, at their event in LA. Here are some of the additional vendors we visited. GO MACRO: A lot of folks have never heard of us. A lot of folks have heard of us. Go Macro. We’re spreading the word about no-soy protein bars. JOHN SHEGERIAN: I’m enjoying one of the bars as we talk here. It’s a great product, and your products are vegan. GO MACRO: Yes, they are. Vegan, gluten-free, kosher, non-GMO certified, sugar-free, and there’s also love in every single package. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Where can our listeners find your great bars online, and in what stores are they around the United States and beyond? GO MACRO: We are sold nationally through Whole Foods, Bristol Farms, Sprouts and hopefully soon, eventually, maybe Target. JOHN SHEGERIAN: What is your website address? GO MACRO: It is www.gomacro.com. JOHN SHEGERIAN: How long has Go Macro been around? GO MACRO: About 10 years now. It was started by a mother and daughter. The mother had breast cancer. She beat the breast cancer by taking on a macrobiotic diet, and created these bars. JOHN SHEGERIAN: And, they still own it and run the company. GO MACRO: They do. It’s still a very small business, family owned. JOHN SHEGERIAN: What city is Go Macro out of? GO MACRO: We’re based out of Viola, Wisconsin, but we have a lot, obviously, in California as well. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Any last words for our Green is Good listeners around the United States and around the world? GO MACRO: Yes, go macro. JOHN SHEGERIAN: We love it. Thank you so much for taking time with us today. GO MACRO: Thank you. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Hi, we’re here at Green Bark Gummies, and we’re speaking with? LINDA MATTHEWS: Linda Matthews. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Linda, tell me the story of Green Bark Gummies. Who owns the company? How did you start it? How’s it going? LINDA MATTHEWS: Green Bark Gummies is a family-owned business, and we have a lot of veterinarians and nutritionists in our family. They, actually, realized that they were buying so many products to give their dog patients the proper nutrients they needed, not only food, but supplements. So, they decided why not make a treat that is extremely healthy? They came up with the formula themselves. We are the owners. No one has a chia formula infused with fish oil like we do. It offers the most omega-3s available to dogs. We have three formulas, skin and coat, healthy digestion, and hip and joint, and we have a new formula coming out in a couple months called health and vitality. JOHN SHEGERIAN: What year did you start Green Bark Gummies? LINDA MATTHEWS: We started developing three years ago, but we’ve only been selling for six months. JOHN SHEGERIAN: What’s your online website? LINDA MATTHEWS: Greenbarkgummies.com. JOHN SHEGERIAN: And, where can our listeners find your great products for their dogs? LINDA MATTHEWS: We are in 600 stores. I won’t give you the list, but I can tell you, if you go to Google, you’ll find a very lengthy list. You can also buy us on Amazon, numerous online dog stores, and if you go to your own dog store and ask them to get it for you, I’m sure we’ll be happy to provide it. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Linda, where are you guys out of? LINDA MATTHEWS: South Pasadena, California. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Is this your first Green Festival? LINDA MATTHEWS: Yes, it is. JOHN SHEGERIAN: And, how has the response been to your products here at the Green Festival? LINDA MATTHEWS: It’s overwhelming. It’s a much bigger response. We’re actually running out of things. We didn’t expect this crowd. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Are you going to be doing other Green Festivals in the future? LINDA MATTHEWS: Absolutely. JOHN SHEGERIAN: For our listeners out there that have a product that they want to get visibility for, would you recommend coming to the Green Festival? LINDA MATTHEWS; I would recommend coming with a lot of product, absolutely. JOHN SHEGERIAN: How about for just our listeners out there that want to get exposed to more green products and just learn what’s going on in the sustainability world? Is the Green Festival a good cross-section of products to come and get exposed? LINDA MATTHEWS: Well, I’ll tell you, I’ve learned a lot. This is such a variety of vendors here. I’m much more educated than I was when I walked in the door. JOHN SHEGERIAN: That’s wonderful. Thank you so much. We wish you a lot of success with Green Bark Gummies. We ask our listeners out there to go online and check it out. Again, Linda, tell us where to check out your great product again. What’s the website? LINDA MATTHEWS: Greenbarkgummies.com. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Thank you so much for your time today, and thank you for truly being living proof making green is good. SELENA: I’m Selena, and I don’t know. I just kind of like it here. It’s just nice to have the food around here. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Is your mom and dad a visitor here today or an exhibitor? SELENA: I’m not here with my mom. I’m here with her and her mom. JOHN SHEGERIAN: What’s your name? KARMA: My name is Karma, and I’m really big about solar panels and stuff like that, so I really just like that people make a good effort to be very earth-friendly. That’s why I like coming here. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Are your mom or dad selling solar panels, or are they just here visiting all the stalls and enjoying the Green Festival? KARMA: Actually, my mom is here with Antioch University. She comes here very year, and I like to come with her. JOHN SHEGERIAN: How old are you young ladies? KARMA: I’m almost 10, but still 9. SELENA: I’m 10, turning 11. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Is sustainability and green and making a better and cleaner world important you young children? KARMA: Yes. Yes, it is. SELENA: Yeah, of course, if we didn’t have good oxygen or good Earth, then you wouldn’t be able to live. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Is this something that they’re teaching you nowadays in school? Are your friends talking about it? Are you seeing it on television or online more? Where are you talking or learning about this stuff the most? SELENA: At school. KARMA: Pretty much at school, yeah. Basically, even when we’re on the road, I can just tell that the Earth isn’t doing well. JOHN SHEGERIAN: What are you kids thinking about now? What do you want to be when you grow up? Is there anything that you’re thinking about, or is it still too young to be thinking about those things? KARMA: I’m really interested in science, so I wanted to be a biologist. SELENA: I don’t know. Right now I just kind of want to be in Italy and I want to be professional water polo player. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Beautiful. Any other last things you want to say before we say goodbye today? KARMA: Sure. I want to suggest about solar panels because there’s lots of people here that do suggest solar panels, but people just ignore them, and I don’t like the fact that they’re ignoring them. They should get them. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Thank you, ladies, for your time today. We appreciate you taking the time to speak with us today at Green is Good Radio. SELENA: Thank you. KARMA: Thank you. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Today we’re highlighting the exhibitors from our media partner, Green Festival, at their event in LA. Here are some of the additional vendors we visited. We’re here with Green Foods, and your name is? MARISOL: Marisol. JOHN SHEGERIAN: How’s it going at the Green Festival with your Green Foods brand? MARISOL: It’s going very well. A lot of people are liking our products. A lot of people think that they don’t like the taste of wheatgrass, and when they actually taste it, they say, “Oh, it’s really good.” JOHN SHEGERIAN: What are the core products that you sell? MARISOL: Green Magma has been around for 45 years, and then we have protein shakes, green teas, a lot of variety of products. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Where can our listeners at Green is Good Radio find your products? MARISOL: Any natural products store. We’ve been around for so long that we’re in pretty much every store. JOHN SHEGERIAN: And what’s your website, Marisol? MARISOL: It’s greenfoods.com. JOHN SHEGERIAN: And have you been going to the Green Festivals since their inception, or is this your first Green Festival here in Los Angeles? MARISOL: It’s our first year in Los Angeles, but we’ve been to San Francisco Green Festival a couple of times. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Are you going to be at other ones later this year in Chicago and San Francisco? MARISOL: We’re hoping to be in Chicago, and definitely San Francisco. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Perfect. Any last words? MARISOL: No, thank you very much for having us. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Thank you so much, and continued success with Green Foods. Green is good. MARISOL: It is good. Thank you very much. JOHN SHEGERIAN: We’re here at the Hawaiian Moon booth at the Green Festivals in Los Angeles, and I’m speaking with today? ELIZABETH: Elizabeth. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Elizabeth, who is the owner of Hawaiian Moon? ELIZABETH: Shannon Seymour. JOHN SHEGERIAN: And, where is it out of? ELIZABETH: Portland, Oregon. JOHN SHEGERIAN: So, tell me how’s it been going today here at the LA Green Festival with your Hawaiian Moon products? ELIZABETH: It’s been going really well. We’re almost sold out, so we don’t have a lot to take on the plane, thank God. JOHN SHEGERIAN: You just were kind enough to give me some to put on my hands. Explain to our listeners who don’t have the benefit here of being with us today, what is Hawaiian Moon? First of all, what is your website? ELIZABETH: Our website is aloecream.biz, and Hawaiian Moon is an all-natural aloe vera. We use a certain strand called barbadensis. It’s the highest medicinal grade of aloe. Aloe is a carrier, so it gets carried right into the skin, opens up the capillaries, and supports circulation. It will stay in eight to 12 hours. It’s an excellent healer. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Today you’ve been here and you’re almost out of product. Have you exhibited before at other Green Festivals? ELIZABETH: We were here last year, and we’re going to be in San Francisco in November. JOHN SHEGERIAN: As an exhibitor, you’re very happy with the turnout and what the experience has been, and with the response from the crowd that’s come here. ELIZABETH: Absolutely. We did really, really well last year. We did even better this year, so it looks like something that we’ll be doing every time we get a chance. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Where can Green is Good listeners find your Hawaiian Moon products besides online? Are they at retail stores also? ELIZABETH: It’s based out of Portland, so we have one retail location in the Washington Square Mall in Portland, and other than that, we do have a really strong online presence. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Got it. How many products do you have? It’s just one product, or is there a line of Hawaiian Moon products? ELIZABETH: It started out with just the cream, and that’s been a staple, so everything is based off of that. Last fall, we launched a line. We have body wash and a face wash and an eye serum now, only available online. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Again, for our listeners out there, your online website is? ELIZABETH: Aloecream.biz. JOHN SHEGERIAN: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today, and continued success. Thanks for tuning into another episode of Green is Good Radio and sharing our experiences here at the Green Festival in Los Angeles. Check us out next time, as we explore the great windy city of Chicago at another great Green Festival event. Also, upcoming events in 2015, visit the Green Festival website at greenfestival.org, and be sure to tune in next week for more visionaries paving the way, and truly proving that green is good.