Kentucky company US Chia grows Chia seeds
Chia seeds aren t on most home pantry shelves now, but trend trackers expect the tiny brown seeds to explode as a healthy food.
Thpatagonia outlet store x box0at s great news to four partners in a fledgling Louisville area compatagonia better sweater vest womenspany, US Chia, which is growing the first chia seeds domestically and finding customers in kitchens and even horse barns across the country.
Chia until now has drawn associations with Chia Pets, the oddball clay figurine planters that, when watered, sprout green mossy plants. Because the seeds are rich in omega 3 fats and tasteless, the ingredient is increasingly added to smoothies, snack bars and even horse feed.
The ancient Aztecs purportedly prized the seeds as a power food, eating them alone, grinding them into flour and oils for medicine, and using them as offerings to the gods. Researchers recently have touted chia as a low calorie source of omega 3, dietary fiber, antioxidants and protein that can reduce heart disease and risk of strokes.
Growing a business plan
Partners Zack Pennington, Jacy Cruz, Scott Serdoz and Keith Starling met at University of Louisville MBA program in 2010 and seized on trying to grow the plants, a member of the mint family, commercially after Serdoz pitched the idea.
It Foodsday Tuesday, and Hayley has a pressing snack related question on her mind: just what exactly do chia seeds taste like?! Well, today she ready to find the answer by trying them out in a c
He d had been part of a research team at University of Kentucky working on breepatagonia outlet store x box3ding a chia variety to flower early and produce during a shorter season than the traditional crops, which has been grown for centuries around the equator in South America and Australia. US Chia and Kentucky Specialty Grains in Franklin have obtained exclusive licenses from UK to grow the plants and sell the seeds. The Louisville company also has a licensing agreement with Fort Pierce, Fla. based Omega 3 Chia Inc., which developed a separate line of seeds.
US Chia eventually intends to grow both typatagonia chile real estate for salepes of seeds, but for now, it s focusing on equine feed. Last year, US Chia enlisted LaRue County, Ky. seed grower Roundstone Farm to raise 96 acres after producing an early crop through an Arizona grower. The yield: 25,patagonia outlet store ventura california000 pounds and the start of a business.
We were really happy with that, said Pennington, 29, the company s CEO, spokesman and only full timer among the partners. Cruz is operations manager at Velocity Indiana, a nonprofit startup accelerator; Serdoz is a senior UK lab technician; and Starling markets commercial real estate.
This fall, although the seed just harvested has patagonia guide jacket manufacturersyet to be stripped of chafe and processed, the owners project doubling last year s production on 126 acres. The goal is to expand direct sales to horse farms in more than 30 states, and ramp up enough to supply feed retailers and mapatagonia outlet store x boxnufacturers.patagonia outlet store 01 Retail prices range from $7.50 to $12 a pound, with some sold from bulk bins.
At Rainbow, a chain of Louisville area health food stores, the seeds and a line of chia products from an Australian company are gaining a following because vegetarian customers are seeking plant based foods rich in omega 3 s, said Summer Auerbach, the second generation owner of the Louisville health food chain.
My omega 3 s are off the charts, Auerbach said, adding that she wasn t sure if her stellar tests recently were attributable to eating more chia or an array of omega 3 charged foods. Chia in general has been a big trend,patagonia discount code revolve with chips, juices and smoothies growing in popularity.
Generally, farm managers are reporting really stark benefits from chia mixed directly into feed, Pennington said, because it reduces reliance on supplementpatagonia outlet store x box1s, aids digestion, and boosts healthy joints, hoovespatagonia outlet store x box2 and coats.
Seed capital thropatagonia everlong review freeugh prizes
At U of L, the Chia pets, as the team calls itself, put Pennington at the microphone as they pitched their business plan on the competition circuit, a road traveled by many MBA students. They won $80,000 in eight competitions by graduation in 2012, and since have secured $70,000 in financing.
They expect $100,000 in sales this year and rapid increases in coming years.
At the Venture Sharks competition in May 2011, businesswoman and judge Dee Maynard said she remembered the Chia team as very dynamic and passionate, and that s a good patagonia guide jacket blousething. When you re inventing a market, she said, you re up against it.
Greg Langdon, a tech entrepreneur and mentor during Velocity Indiana s program for startups that wrapped up last month, said the Chia pets have gotten off on the right foot. The rate of sales and forecasts for production and marketing to ramp up gradually are positive signs.
There s every reason to be optimistic, Langdon said, adding of Pennington, the guy is pretty relentless.
His drive, explained Pennington, a 2003 graduate of Connor High in northern Kentucky, derives in part from his gig after finishing a communications degree at U of L. While leading a touring rock band, he drove drove the country, lining up bookings, selling CD s and urging people in parking lots to buy tickets and check out the show.
I got a first taste of being responsible for my own success I got over the fearpatagonia kids vest for sale that most people have of rejection, he said, and that there s little room for a bruised ego.
