Here’s some highlights of the trip out west so far…. and the first day at Expo West. I want to show you everything that’s happening here and could write for days about what I have experienced so far! But a girl’s gotta get to the pool before another long day of exploring new products, meeting companies and idea generation.
Speaking of idea generation, yesterday I met with the CEO of Yoforia, Luke Tashie. If you’ve been reading my blog – you know that I am super passionate about having the highest level of quality available in foods and hold companies accountable to their marketing. After writing about some of Yoforia’s questionable advertising and lack of ingredient disclosure, Yoforia positively responded to the attention. The CEO not only wrote me one, but two personal letters and publicly asked if I would be willing to work with the company to improve their product offering. Most recently, the company has conducted a course correction by finally changing and clarifying some of the marketing slogans displayed in their stores.
After meeting with Mr. Tashie yesterday, I see a lot of potential for the company and I am becoming convinced they are headed back in the right direction. Mr. Tashie is committed to making his product as clean as possible, but is only a year and half old CEO. And this may be one of the reasons Yoforia isn’t quite there yet. It’s worth noting he is already making groundbreaking partnerships with some notable organic food producers for new products, but still finds certain ingredients cost prohibitive to provide in his stores. For instance, would consumers be willing to pay more to top off their yogurt with organic gummy bears?
With persistence and the right partners and influence with formula makers and distributors, I think it is possible for Yoforia to become one of the first certified organic self serve frozen yogurt franchises. But will they be willing to take the financial risks? Only time will tell. There are many hurdles in this space and I am up for taking on the challenge and working with Yoforia to help overcome these obstacles.
Thank you for commenting on the multiple posts about Yoforia and sending your feedback to them directly, because this, as you can see, has made a lasting impact. It’s pretty incredible to think a blog and its readers have the power to influence positive change like this. They’ll be a lot more to come on this topic…Just wait.
On a lighter note, I ordered a juice for breakfast yesterday from room service here at the St. Regis, it was tasty – but not quite the level of quality I am used to. Lots of pulpy foam on the top of the juice. Today I’m going to try the Laguna Whole Foods and compare… really excited about making a salad there and taking it with me to the Expo.
I followed the juice with a quick 3 miles on the treadmill and some “made in your hotel room” oatmeal. It was delicious.
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