Greg Steltenpohl, Califia Farms: We avoid using the term 'natural' altogether
Next we spoke to Greg Steltenpohl, CEO of fast-growing beverage brand Califia Farms.
The meanings of certain words can become obscured or 'grey', and this applies to “natural.” It’s become something that means many different things to different people and we avoid using it because we don’t want our consumers to have to 'interpret' the meaning of our labels.
When it comes to ingredients, we feel less is more so we start with getting our core ingredient right – whether its almonds, coffee or fruit – we always use a process that brings out the best. For example, in the case of our almond milks, our process is different because we start with a whole blanched almond, instead of the nut paste utilized by many of our competitors, which lets us deliver an ultra creamy, velvety mouth feel without using a lot of gums and binders.