Jason:  No.  I think it’s been a long, natural progression.  The phraseology continues to change.  But just like ‘organic’ was a big buzz word five years ago, the attributes haven’t changed.  The desire to have organic clean food, the desire to do good for the planet hasn’t changed.  The desire to recycle and be smart with the choices that you make about the products you buy – those are logical progressions.  The organic and natural or Green industry as you call it is an aging customer, and it’s a cyclical development as well.  I grew up as a young adult, and now an older adult and I’m not going to change my ways.  My trend is going to continue.  I like clean food, I like natural, I prefer to be conscious about Green and my children were raised with that as normality.  There’s no logical reason for them to have become the antithesis of that, so the expansion is continuing.  I have older children and younger children and my daughter has an organic and natural food household and lives a Green lifestyle.  They wouldn’t have it any other way.   I wouldn’t put it on the same category of religion, but it’s similar to religion.   People make the conscious lifestyle choice that that’s how they’re going to lead their lives and it just continues.  As I get into my 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, my children get into their 30’s, 40’s and 50’s and they have children, so it’s likely that it’s going to continue to grow as well.  The trends are very powerful.

Lexy:  What advice might you give to a new entrepreneur that wants to create Green or natural products for consumers?  Any words of advice for them at this point in time?
Jason: The attributes are what’s most important.  At Organic To Go the attributes of organic products and timely delivery were very important.  But what people wanted to know was that it was delicious, good for you, and met a standard.  Set your standards, develop those standards and then live by your standards.

Lexy:  You’ve built Organic To Go most recently, and now you have a new venture that you’re involved in – Concept Development Group.  This seems to be a place where you can really use your experience to teach others.  Tell us a little bit about Concept Development Group and what you want to accomplish with this new venture.
Jason: Concept Development is an old new venture and was originally founded in 1995.  Before Organic To Go was founded there was a company by the name of Custom Nutrition Services, which was a vitamin business  we had created providing custom nutrition around voices of authority – Dr. Andrew Weil, the Zone Diet (Barry Sears), and Pritikin.  Custom Nutrition was founded by myself and my team at Concept Development Group and is made up of the same team members that have been working with me all these years.  The purpose of Concept Development is to capitalize on our large filing cabinet of experience and to help existing companies to fully capitalize on their own business through some outside support and help.  Whether it’s people needing ‘consultants’ to facilitate a project, or whether they are needing to review their business to package it properly, psychologically as well as technically, for future investment.  That’s our focal point and I’m very proud to work with my team, it’s the key point for me or key opportunity.  They’re really great people, and they do significant work extremely well, so I want to make sure that we continue to do that together.

Courtesy of Godlyf

Lexy:  What companies do you admire in the natural and organic space right now – besides the ones that you’ve developed?
Jason:  I’ll put it into three categories.   In the large category, I think United Natural Foods and Whole Foods have taken their scale and strength and fully developed the opportunity of leading the Green movement.  UNFI doesn’t just distribute food, it’s one of the largest solar players in the world.  Whole Foods doesn’t just sell food, it consciously is doing the best that it can to help promote buying local and to be the best that they can be in the business.   In the mid-size companies, there’s significant strength around some of the players like New Hope Communications.  You’ve got New Hope that is leading the charge for Penton and putting on a Green (literally) exhibition for the Natural Products Show annually.   They go out of their way and it is very impressive.  In the small company space you look at companies like Honest Tea and Late July.  These are dynamic, smaller companies that just do a beautiful job of making delicious food and drinks while building a successful enterprise, helping their employees, vendors and investors.

 Lexy:  Sometimes advising companies is a lot about telling them what to do, and it’s just as much telling them what they should be very be cautious about.  Is there a place where companies can seriously go wrong with consumers when it comes to natural and organic?
Jason:  Do your research and make sure that you don’t overstate the truth.  If you are going to be an organic company be the best that you can be.   At Organic to Go we were the first USDA certified organic fast casual café.  That was a big deal.  We decided that if we were going to have organic in our name that we needed to set the pace and be that kind of a company.  If you’re not that and you’re just on the fringe tell people you’re on the fringe – communicate it.  From my perspective my definition of leadership is to help people to succeed.  So my job at Concept Development is to support people in understanding what they’re asking for, but to look hard with them to make sure that is really what they need.  Be careful what you wish for.  My goal is to help lead people through giving them better information and an outside perspective, then it’s their opportunity to figure out how they want to move forward.

Lexy:  I’d like to ask you some questions about places that you love.  We’re about saving the planet and enjoying the planet.   What places do you enjoy being on this planet?  Do you have a favorite place?  What places do you love to go to?
Jason:  I’ve been blessed in this life and had the opportunity to live in New Zealand and Australia, Miami and Aspen, San Diego and Santa Cruz.  I’ve traveled much of Europe and Asia – Thailand and India.  So I’ve been to a lot of places and have had time to be in those places for more than just a weekend.  My  most favorite place is wherever and whenever I am with my children.  I love being outside with my family.  It’s not necessarily climbing a mountain, it’s being on a river bank skipping stones in Seattle or Redmond, Washington which is 10 minutes from our house.   It’s one of the prettiest places I’ve ever seen.   I’ll be on the Cowlitz River on Sunday fishing with my kids.

Photo by Kiwi-Sonja

Lexy:  You like to spend time in London when you’re thinking about a new idea and new ventures.  What is it about London that inspires you in that way?
Jason:  From a retail perspective, I think that London is a place where merchants abound, and they do it in a way that’s quite unique.  There are lots of small merchants that are ahead of a trend and by being in London I get an opportunity to quickly get my arms and mind around what’s out there in the marketplace.

Lexy:  Do you have any vacations planned in the next couple months and where might you go?
Jason:  The only vacation that is completely planned is to be with my children and grandchildren in San Diego over the Christmas holiday.  I enjoy being with the kids and have been very fortunate.  This year I spent a week in Koh Samui, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Thailand.  It was amazing.   I also went to India visiting Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai where I spent two weeks.  It too was incredible.

Lexy:  Thank you for doing this.  Those are all our questions and we know you’re time is tight today.  We especially appreciate your talking with us today.  Have a great, great holiday.
Jason: I love doing this and thank you for asking.  I wish you a healthy and happy holiday season and I thank you for your interest. I truly do appreciate it.