Industry News
March 2, 2010
“Why You Want to Be Well” will feature 31 questions, one new question each day during the month of March that will focus on one of the three pillars of health. For every person who posts a response to the question of the day, “Life…supplemented” will make a $5 donation to Vitamin Angels. Consumers can double their donation ($10 per response) during “Wellness Wednesdays.” Additionally, every Wednesday two participants will be randomly selected to win a prize for sharing their motivations, achievements and questions relative to the three pillars.
“It’s an honor for us to be able to help raise funds for a cause as worthy as Vitamin Angels,” said Judy Blatman, senior vice president of communications with Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), which oversees the “Life…supplemented” campaign through its educational affiliate, the CRN Foundation. “We’re also encouraged by the heightened participation in our own campaign that has come as a direct result of conducting our fundraising initiatives on social networking sites and entirely within the online space. We will continue using these platforms in the future in order to foster more discussion around the importance of wellness and how dietary supplements play a role.”
Go to www.lifesupplemented.org for more information, or visit the campaign on Facebook or Twitter.
“We’re thrilled that a natural brand has been recognized in such a prestigious venue among household names such as Audi, Subaru and Sprint,” said Yadim Medore, principal and creative director for Pure Branding. “Our goal was to position Gaia as the category leader that changed the conversation in supplements toward transparency and regaining consumer trust.”
“Pure Branding understood us, our industry and how to rebrand Gaia Herbs in a way that was deeply authentic and smart,” said Ann Buchman, vice president of marketing at Gaia Herbs. “They really ‘got’ Gaia Herb’s commitment to plant medicine and helped create a revolutionary expression of our brand that empowered our retailers and gave much needed assurance to consumers.”
To select winners, a new, international panel of multidisciplinary experts convenes yearly to review the best of the submissions. They consider “before” and “after” representations of brand transformations with written summaries. Emphasis was on executed strategy that made an emotional connection, and met the stated objectives and needs of the identified customers and prospects. Jurors were unaware of the brand strategists’ name and size when reviewing the projects. Consequently, a small consulting firm had as much opportunity to be selected, as did global organizations with exponentially greater budgets.
“OTA is truly pleased to have Gwendolyn join our staff. Her years of experience and expertise will prove to be invaluable to our organization,” said Christine Bushway, OTA’s executive director and CEO, citing Wyard’s work with certified organic operations throughout the U.S. and internationally during her tenure at Oregon Tilth and her knowledge of the National Organic Program (NOP) and National Organic Standards Board (NOSB).
In her role at OTA, Wyard will assist Laura Batcha, OTA’s chief of policy and external relations, to lead OTA’s interface with NOSB, NOP Standards Branch and OTA members to develop regulatory policy positions and enhance OTA’s leadership in standards development with the goal of strengthening the integrity of the USDA Organic seal. Wyard will be working from the West Coast to enhance outreach to producers and handler members.
“OTA has long recognized the need for a stronger West Coast presence,” Bushway said. “The addition of Gwendolyn to the staff is a perfect fit, and she is poised to hit the ground running.”
Wyard is already recognized as an industry expert with more than 15 years of experience with organic certification at the producer, inspector and certifier level. She has a B.S. in food science and minor in chemistry. Among other activities, she is co-chair of the Material Working Group, an industry organized group that assists NOSB on material-related issues. She most recently served as technical specialist at Oregon Tilth. Wyard will be introduced to OTA’s Board of Director’s at its April 5 meeting in Washington, D.C., and will be on hand for the upcoming OTA Policy Conference and Hill Visit Days to interact with members on April 6 and 7.
The seminar on organic wine labeling will take place on Saturday, March 12, 4-5 p.m. in Rm. 205A at the Anaheim Convention Center. The panel of experts will discuss the confusion around the labeling of organic wines, including no sulfite added NSA wines, as well as wines made from 100 percent certified organically grown grapes. The panel will discuss how a petition under review by the National Organic Standards Board can clear up consumer confusion around organic wine labels, reduce “green washing” and help propel the growth of the market, while maintaining strict organic standards.
The panel is being hosted by a group of artisan organic wine producers, including Paul Dolan Vineyards, Barra of Mendocino, Redwood Valley Cellars and Organic Vintners, and will feature wine columnist W. Blake Gray, publisher of The Gray Market Report.
For more information, contact Paolo Bonetti, Organic Vintners, at (303) 245-8773 x17, paolo@organicvintners.com; or Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural, (303) 807-1042, steve@compassnatural.com.
The researchers along with an MRAG observer have recently returned from their first five-day journey on board the Saga Sea. The survey will provide fresh data to the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) to monitor and set the annual krill fishing quotas and help to ensure that the krill fisheries currently in the Antarctic seas are harvesting on a sustainable biomass.
Their full report is scheduled for release later this year, but upon the conclusion of this first week at sea, Nina Jensen, conservation director at WWF-Norway, praised Aker’s commitment to sustainable harvesting and scientific research. “Taking a week from their harvest season to dedicate to scientific study is a substantial commitment and demonstrates Aker’s understanding of their responsibility as members of the world-wide community concerned with the health of the Antarctic and its living resources.”
The new brand is a reflection of the overall positioning of the company, according to DSM. It stands for the DSM strategy, DSM culture and the way DSM wants its employees to work together. It represents the company’s sustainability value (working with a triple bottom line of people, planet and profit thereby creating value for all stakeholders), the one DSM philosophy (based on the realization that DSM can only fulfill its strategic goals if it operates as one united team across the globe), and it fits with the DSM mission to create brighter lives for people today and for generations to come.
“With the portfolio restructuring completed, with our new strategy that focuses on growth, with the culture change on the road and with our One DSM philosophy, this is the time to mark the new DSM, internally and externally,” said Feike Sijbesma, CEO and chairman of the DSM managing board.
The new DSM is summed up by the new tagline: Bright Science. Brighter Living. The company uses its science and innovation in partnership with its customers to create products and solutions that make a positive difference to people lives.
For more information, visit www.dsm.com.