Great ideas and thoughts should feed into our conscious everyday practices. It's the little things that can make a difference: routine procedures, good habits in everyday processes, every little bit counts.
The founder of Lifefood, Tereza Havrlandova, had a clear vision from the creation of the company to build it on several key principles. From the tiny one-woman show to the current company size, since 2006, the main ideas and ideals have been clear directions for our journey through life.
What are the key pillars of Lifefood?
Our aim is to promote healthy, joyful, sustainable and mindful life on planet Earth through our products. Love and respect for life are basic values for us. Practically, this means that we produce truly high-quality products that benefit both the people and the Planet. Our ideals are then reflected directly into specific settings and steps that we would like to share with you:
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Our products are 100 percent vegan, i.e. we respect the life of animals and we are trying to minimize animal suffering on the planet Earth.
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We live by, produce and support the ORGANIC way. All of our products are 100 percent ORGANIC, for two main reasons. The first is because of the nutritional value and abundance of energy in ORGANIC products. The second reason is our long-term interest in environmentally friendly and sustainable production as well as the management of the landscape - we are keen to have something to pass on to our children.
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Waste. During production, we pay close attention to waste management, as our primary goal is not to create any. More and more of our packaging is compostable, even though this is a very difficult task in the food industry. We use cloth towels in the kitchen, we pack our lunches in reusable boxes or we use plates, we don’t use Styrofoam boxes. We recycle boxes, and use parts of boxes and empty product wrappings for packing products that we send by mail. When they run out, we stuff the packages with wooden scraps that we get from a neighbouring wood worker.
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Organic waste. All of the organic waste from our Lifebars and other products goes into a special composting machine called “Rocket” that transforms it into perfect gardening compost. We have a zero waste level of organic waste, which is quite remarkable for a company working with such quantities of plant products. Also, we do not throw away the surplus samples when testing new products, such as samples of crackers, bars etc., but offer them to guests and employees. We collect the coffee grinds and give them to our colleagues for use in their gardens.
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Water. We pay great attention to water and only use filtered water while minimizing its usage.
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Brownfield revival. Our factory including the production hall, the warehouse and the offices were all created by renovating an old building in an industrial part of Prague. We are constantly refurbishing, modernising and upgrading the buildings and are delighted and proud that we haven't taken up a piece of fertile land, but have reclaimed an old brownfield.
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Green energy. As soon as this option appeared in 2008, we switched to a green source of energy – i.e. energy from renewable sources. It makes perfect sense that our production, including the office and the warehouse usage, doesn't have a carbon footprint.
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We care about personal relationships, a human approach and the depth of experience. That's why the owner of Lifefood, Tereza Havrlandova personally visits our suppliers at the family-owned farms and checks the quality of the ingredients as well as the development of communities and families there.
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At work, we all know each other by name and work in small teams orientated towards personal relationships. It is very important for us to know who is working next to us and that we can rely on each other. We are united through our inner philosophy. We organise our grocery shopping together, so that we can minimize transport costs and we organise common lunches, yard sales etc.
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Together, we can accomplish more than as individuals. For us, entrepreneurship is a way of life, finding a balance between personal and public matters. It creates a unique possibility to influence the world. We accomplish this through our products, awareness-raising activities and joining forces with like-minded people.`
This vision is based on the life attitude of Tereza Havrlandova, founder of Lifefood and has attracted like-minded people during the course of many years. Currently there are around 100 people working at Lifefood, we are still growing and spreading ideas of fair living and entrepreneurship through our everyday steps and through our products.
