The New Year is synonymous with resolutions. It's hard to avoid, and frankly, it's as good an excuse as any for those seeking better health or wishing to improve their state of nutritional well-being. More often than not, a strict healthy diet seems easy to follow in theory but realistically wavers by the eleventh hour. Somehow fresh sticky cinnamon buns or leftover holiday chocolates become all the more seductive when donning that diet-driven mask, and that logic defying justification that ketchup chips are equivalent to a serving of fruit and vegetable seems to make perfect sense. Yes folks, eating healthy does take effort and ample determination, but in an era where time is too precious a commodity and our society places heavy reliance on ready-made or convenience products, the answer to sustaining this objective can be as simple as visiting the supermarket. Could ready to heat and serve food be organic, whole-grain, nutritious and tasty for the whole family all at the same time? These are the motivating factors that drive Life Choices Natural Foods.
President Matthew von Teichman explained to me that the company was created when he saw opportunity in the growing frozen food market. During her pregnancy with their first son, his wife decided to follow a healthier organic diet, and he brought home a competitor's brand of frozen organic pizza. The poor experience with the product lead to an idea. Soon after, von Teichman placed one fortuitous phone call to a large supermarket chain and found a warm reception to his concept of creating a better assortment of convenience products that were healthful, contained no refined flours or sugars, and most importantly, were kid-friendly.
In November 2002, von Teichman started Life Choices with two lines of nutritious and convenient meals: organic pizzas and bowl-form entrées. While the pizzas thrived on the shelves of Loblaws and Whole Foods Market, the dinner bowls did not. In fact, a couple issues came up with the one bowl solutions, "I learnt that there can be manufacturer inconsistencies," which were addressed in future products.
Most of Life Choices' product line is mainstream foods with an organic and healthy bent. Shoppers can find everything from pizzas to burritos and melts, as well as mac and cheese, and breaded chicken and fish.
"Because Life Choices uses only premium organic and natural ingredients, where organic foods cost anywhere from 20-30% more than non-organic foods, each product had to be outsourced to make things cost effective. We want the highest standard in our products but make them still affordable. It's like the nutrients in the nuggets - not everything is organic but it is a way better choice than what is out there. It even has omega-3." von Teichman shares that these items are "healthified" by the product development team headed by Life Choices' nutritionist who works closely with the company's co-packers. This formula of using outsourced manufacturers, successful logistics, warehousing, transportation and accounting practices seems to be working well for Life Choices, as its recent launch in the US as Living Right Natural Foods has also started to generate good sales.
Upon first glance at their packaging, it is easy to appreciate the obvious use of healthful ingredients that goes into the multigrain coating composed of flax, whole grains and oats on their chicken burgers, strips and fish sticks. Trans-fat free pizza crusts are made of 7 organic grains; and omega-3 fatty acids can be found in the multigrain perogies. Life Choices' mission of "Making the Right Choices Easy" can easily be followed due to their commitment to sourcing as much local raw material as possible, using poultry or cattle that are fed with vegetarian feed (no animal by-products) and that are raised without antibiotics or growth hormones. They also honour the process of sustainability by using fish that are wild caught from certified sustainable fisheries.
These days the multigrain chicken nuggets are Life Choices' biggest sellers, making up 50% of their sales. "My kids find McDonald's chicken nuggets too greasy compared with the baked multigrain nuggets which they grew up on," chuckles von Teichman who notes that the Life Choices product mix grows with his kids.
"Children are our first taste testers. It's interesting what kids like. We were planning to launch a line of Italian pastries that we thought were really good but we got negative feedback from kids and their mothers who said they were messy to eat." Instead, find focus group-approved butter- and egg-free oatmeal raisin or chocolate chip cookies on supermarket shelves. These are also additive-, preservative- and synthetic pesticide-free. von Teichman notes that upcoming convenience foods will be aimed toward families, including Canadian-sourced proteins for the meatballs that have hidden organic vegetables!
Even though he has a background in business, the culture of the organic food industry took von Teichman by surprise. "It's remarkable because I've never been in an industry where the competitors are helpful. It's fun! It could be because of the hippie culture/core philosophies and fundamentals that are associated with organic foods, and the need to stay in tune with environmental and social responsibilities. It is expected that new companies would incorporate ideas of sustainability, and make a better-for-you business."
von Teichman is proud of Life Choices, and feels it is a "good business with good business conscience." He notes that the company is involved in community programs, groups and associations where they are able to give back to the community, and also increase awareness in sustainability and the organic and natural food industry. While the company has grown "organically over the past 6 years, there is no ceiling to what can be achieved - there is so much potential to grow even more." Pretty soon children across the Atlantic might be raising their multigrain chicken nuggets to that!
Renée Suen is a graduate student at the University of Toronto, specializing in cardiovascular sciences. She has an insatiable appetite and can often be found with her camera, searching for something tasty to eat. Many of these culinary discoveries can be found on her Flickr site.
Images courtesy of Life Choices - used with permission.
I discovered their fish a year ago, the quality is so much better than any other frozen fish fillets out there. However, after buying one package where most of the fish was broken in several pieces I wrote them to complain.
They promptly sent me free coupons to show me it wouldn't be a recurring experience and I've been sold ever since. It's worth the extra money.