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Boulder is the No. 2 U.S. metropolis for high quality of life, based on U.S. Information and World Report.
Denistangneyjr | E+ | Getty Pictures
This story is a part of CNBC’s quarterly Cities of Success collection, which explores cities which have reworked into enterprise hubs with an entrepreneurial spirit that has attracted capital, firms and workers.
Nestled in opposition to the Rocky Mountains, Boulder, Colorado, has blossomed right into a thriving hub for the pure merchandise and wellness trade. Right here, firms generate billions in income, all stemming from a deep appreciation for entrepreneurship, the outside and wholesome residing.
The trade’s roots hint again to native hikers who, in 1969, hand-picked wild herbs on the foothills of the Rockies, inspiring the creation of tea firm Celestial Seasonings, a pioneer of the pure meals motion, based on an area trade group. The tea firm was later acquired by Hain Meals Group — now Hain Celestial Group — in 2000 for $390 million.
“This [region] is the epicenter of pure and natural,” Hain Celestial Group President and CEO Wendy Davidson instructed CNBC in a current interview for the upcoming primetime particular “Cities of Success,” which airs April 11 at 10 p.m. EDT. “If you wish to drive development, if you wish to be within the trade in an genuine approach, Boulder is the place to be.”
Hain Celestial Group CEO Wendy Davidson (left) and CNBC’s Andrea Day (proper) trekking alongside the historic footrails the place the founders of Celestial Seasonings gathered wild herbs in 1969.
CNBC
As we speak, Celestial Seasonings, nonetheless headquartered in Boulder, brews over 1.6 billion cups of tea yearly, with gross sales exceeding $150 million. Its success story serves as an inspiration for numerous entrepreneurs within the space.
“It is the individuals. It is the surroundings – the entrepreneurial surroundings and the deal with pure and natural and wellness has allowed us to scale and develop one among our largest and most worthwhile manufacturers within the firm,” Davidson mentioned.
The Boulder area’s emphasis on wholesome residing has fueled a booming trade, producing a whopping $2.1 billion annually for Colorado’s economy, based on an October 2020 research by the Leeds College of Enterprise on the College of Colorado Boulder. That contribution interprets to over 22,000 jobs and a big influence on manufacturing, provide chains and shopper spending, based on the research.
Turning peanut butter into gold
The Boulder County Farmers Market, a vibrant incubator since 1987, exemplifies the area’s thriving ecosystem.
An indication from the Boulder Farmers Market, working from April to November, serving as an incubator for quite a few small meals companies.
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From April to November, the market transforms right into a testing floor for aspiring meals entrepreneurs. Over 100 small companies showcase their merchandise to a hungry crowd of 100,000 customers yearly. Gross sales on the market have skyrocketed 400% since 2013, reaching a cool $5.7 million in 2023, based on the nonprofit group Behind the Markets.
It is also right here {that a} easy jar of nut butter can change into pure gold.
In 2004, Justin Gold, armed along with his selfmade peanut and almond butters, began “slinging jars” to the native Boulder group on the farmers market.
On this historic picture, Justin Gold, founding father of Justin’s Nut Butter, fills jars of peanut butter in the course of the early days when he bought his product at an area farmers market.
Justin’s
What started as free samples rapidly grew into a success product. The distinctive, all-natural flavors resonated with health-conscious customers, and jars of Justin’s, as they had been branded, grew to become a well-known sight on the market.
However this wasn’t sufficient for Gold — he finally leveraged his reputation to persuade native retailers to inventory his model on their cabinets. Slowly however certainly, the enterprise grew, ultimately culminating in a landmark cope with Complete Meals. Justin’s merchandise can now be discovered at well being shops and occasional retailers throughout the nation.
“What we completed simply blew out my wildest desires,” Gold instructed CNBC.
The journey from a single farmer’s market stall to a $286 million sale to Hormel Meals in 2016 is a testomony to each Gold’s imaginative and prescient and the distinctive surroundings that Boulder fosters.
Packages of Justin’s model peanut butter cups are organized for {a photograph} in Tiskilwa, Illinois, U.S., on Monday, Aug. 15, 2016.
Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Pictures
Gold mentioned the town’s vibrant group of entrepreneurs, its deal with well being and wellness, and the attractive pure environment are the important thing elements of his success story.
“All people right here is as much as one thing actually fascinating,” he mentioned. “You do not have to be in an workplace surroundings to be artistic, you could be outdoors. And I believe the confluence of all these nice issues breed some actually extraordinary outcomes.”
Impressed by Gold’s success, Juan Stewart launched his Latin American glowing fruit drink, Frescos Naturales, on the Boulder County Farmers Market in 2021.
Stewart rapidly acknowledged the market’s energy, calling it “the hub of the pure meals trade” the place many manufacturers have achieved nationwide success.
Frescos Naturales founder Juan Stewart maneuvers a cart laden with circumstances of his glowing fruit drinks inside a warehouse.
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His gamble paid off. Inside its first yr, Frescos raked in over $40,000 in gross sales and secured a distribution cope with grocery chain Kroger.
“I used to be very fortunate to be in Boulder once I launched this model,” Stewart mirrored.
Transferring cross nation
Naturally Boulder, a gaggle based in 2005, is proving to be a breeding floor for achievement within the pure and natural meals trade. By supporting entrepreneurs and connecting startups with native buyers, the group has fostered a robust cluster of firms that is attracting companies from throughout the nation.
“Firms that began right here, like a Celestial [Seasonings] they’d success. So different individuals began coming right here,” mentioned Kristine Carey, govt director at Naturally Boulder. “Firms are nonetheless shifting right here… there is a resurgence of vitality.”
This vitality is clear within the story of Kristy Lewis, founding father of Quinn Snacks.
Quinn Snacks founder Kristy Lewis displaying off her snacks in a grocery aisle.
Kristy Lewis
In 2010, Lewis constructed her enterprise to $2 million in gross sales simply outdoors Boston, however to succeed in the following degree, she knew she wanted to make an enormous transfer.
“I had this intestine feeling that if we had been going to be really profitable, that we needed to be in Boulder,” Lewis mentioned.
After that transfer 10 years in the past, Lewis noticed her model explode. Quinn Snacks’ annual gross sales, she says, at the moment are north of $30 million.
“I undoubtedly do not assume we might have succeeded with out this group of individuals backing us,” Lewis mentioned, referring to the Boulder group. “We knew it was precisely the place we would have liked to be.”
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