Marketing natural body care products, with a side of activism

In the personal care products market, organic products make up less than 2 percent of sales in the U.S. With plenty of room to grow, and more consumers awakening to the potentially harmful ingredients in the body care products they're using, it's not that surprising that companies like Burt's Bees, Honest Company and Eclair Naturals are stepping up their marketing efforts. But they're not just doing it with traditional advertising; they're doing it with campaigns to raise awareness about the decline of pollinators, for example, and conversations about ingredient transparency. Read more at The New York Times...

New companies are competing to make the vitamin space sexy

A class of young supplement brands is "breaking through the clutter and appealing to consumers through targeting and personalization," says Kelly Jo Sands, executive vice president of marketing technology at marketing agency Ansira. They're doing it with Instagram-worthy branding and minimalist packaging—Goop Wellness, for example, uses quirky names like "Why Am I So Effing Tired?" While they may not be superior to products already on the market, “where these newer vitamin brands will win is on the battlefield of increased customer experience,” Sands says. Read more at Digiday...

Online co-op grocery counts on strength in numbers

Community Grocer employs the same philosophies as a co-op—that bulk purchasing can give shoppers more affordable prices, and that organic, locally sourced food is best. But members order everything online and either pick up their products at a storefront or have them delivered. And there's only one type of a specific item available, selected by members via taste-test. Read more at Vancouver Courier...

Entrepreneur's pivot to food coloring pays off

Eight years ago, Ashley Phelps, a graphic designer, created plant-based paints for kids and sold them in local stores. But when sales took off for an Easter egg coloring kit she created free from artificial dyes, she knew she was on to something. Now her company, Color Kitchen, sells food coloring made with turmeric, beets and spirulina, and it's sold in 900 stores across the country. Read more at The Bulletin...

Is Boston the next urban farming paradise?

A strong entrepreneurial spirit combined with progressive legislation has made Boston a hotbed for urban agriculture. Anchored by Freight Farms, the urban growing community is finding new uses for rooftops, alleyways and yards across the city. Read more at The Guardian...