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Leader of the pack

How Prana changed the organic snack-food landscape for good

by ERIN SILVER

A trip to India helped Alon Farber and Marie-Josée Richer realize the impact their food choices had on their health, food producers and the environment. With backgrounds in the restaurant industry, the two decided to start a business selling organic snacks that were not only nourishing for consumers, but also good for the planet.

The following year, 2005, the husbandand-wife team started Prana—which means “vital energy” in Sanskrit—and began testing recipes for nut mixes, granola and kombucha in Richer’s mother’s kitchen in Montreal.

“We started the business with only $5,000, so we were making the products, distributing and selling them,” Richer says. “We learned how to design the packaging and even drew the labels by hand at night, printed and cut them ourselves.”

After selling or demoing their items at markets and food shows, Farber and Richer received invaluable feedback. “Our goal was to make delicious food better, for customers and for the planet,” says Richer, co-founder and chief marketing officer. “Most of our products are organic, and all our products are non-GMO [non-genetically modified organism], plant-based and responsibly sourced.”

Within a year, they were making organic, vegan snacks and selling them to health food stores, whose organic sections were small or nonexistent at the time. Their business quickly expanded outside Montreal to the rest of the country.

“A big part of our job is making healthy foods accessible to more Canadians,” says Farber, who serves as co-founder and chief executive officer of the company. “The value Costco offers to members and the way they make high-quality products available to consumers aligns with our mission.”

After 18 years in business and with 100 people on staff, Prana is now the leading organic snack brand in Canada and has the highest Certified B Corp environment ratings in North America in the snack and drinks category. Each year, Prana engages in a carbon footprint assessment to further minimize its impact on the Earth. Prana composts, recycles and produces less waste each year with no food wasted, aiming for a zero-waste plant by 2025.

Always innovating, Farber and Richer still make sure to have their products tastetested at the grassroots level. “We have three boys now—8, 10 and 12. They eat a lot and give us their honest opinion,” laughs Richer. And while she’s sure her mother is happy to have her kitchen back, the Prana factory is nearby, making the company still very much a family affair.

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