The Sales Manager at TerraSana, Sebastiaan Krouwel was introduced to anthroposophy and organic farming at an early age. His father was an entrepreneur in both organic and sustainability, his mother was a teacher at the Waldorf School and he went there himself, with great pleasure. Get to know more about him and TerraSana in this interview.
“I have worked in food and beverage almost all my life, in both on-trade and retail, at amongst others, Heineken and the Vegetarian Butcher. At TerraSana organic and vegan food come together, so I fully support TerraSana’s mission to make organic food and positive eating mainstream”.
When and where was TerraSana born?
TerraSana is a family business founded in The Netherlands by Kees Barnhard in 1989. We are a pioneer in organic and sustainable food products for specialty stores. We are now distributing in Europe and beyond.
What does your moto «positive eating» mean?
Organic food is our passion. We want to see you enjoy pure and honest products. This makes us happy. We believe that plant-based food is the future. This is why almost all our 436 products are vegan. We make it easy for you to do something good for yourself and the world around you every day. That is positive eating!
You offer a large range of products. Which are the most demanded in the Spanish market? Will we find some novelties in your catalogue soon?
We have 436 products in different categories. The most wanted categories are Japanese products (like soy sauce, noodles and ramen), but also coconut milk from Sri Lanka and maple syrup from Canada are popular.
We see that, due to the closed restaurants throughout Europe, people are spending more time in their kitchen. New dishes are tried. We help them discover different cuisines by introducing new food items related to the Asian cuisine this summer. Think Indian curries and Thai curry pastes. These items can be combined with the already popular noodles and coconut milk, to make a light and healthy dish.
Organic food is our passion. We want to see you enjoy pure and honest products
Above all, all newly introduced products need to have great taste. We’re strict with the food compositions, as recipes are always pure, organic, vegan and sustainable. They should not contain palm oil, refined sugars, or of course chemical additives or flavourings. Preferably they are gluten free. We want to be there for conscious people who care about their health and the world.
TerraSana’s products are commercialized in more than 40 countries, but only on organic supermarkets and specialized stores. Why is that so?
We are here for food lovers who are critical about what they put in their mouths. Typically, these customers read the ingredient declaration; out of interest or because of their belief(s) or diet. We call them conscious foodies. The organic supermarkets and specialty stores are the place where these consumers buy their groceries. That’s where we want to meet!
To search sustainable packaging is a trend. Is it possible to get rid of the plastic of every single product? What alternatives are there?
This is something we fully support. That’s why we pack our biggest share of products in glass jars. Also, in September 2020 we put over 100 products in industrial compostable packaging. That’s a big step forward and we hope this becomes the norm for everyone. Unfortunately, for some products, plastic is still the only way to package the food safely and avoid food waste. We continue to work on this.
We are here for food lovers who are critical about what they put in their mouths
TerraSana’s mission is making organic food mainstream. Are we close to achieving it?
For consumers it is hard to make the right choice when concealing and sometimes misleading marketing claims and ‘quality marks’ are still mainstream. TerraSana is a brand you can blindly trust in making the right choices for you. And: also in organic food there’s a difference in quality. Taste TerraSana and decide for yourself. Let’s make positive eating mainstream so you can enjoy your food carefree!
- Interview originally published on Bio Eco Actual Spanish & Catalan May 2021 Editions.
Author: Oriol Urrutia, Bio Eco Actual Co-Editor
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