In 1971, Arran Stephens and a business partner opened Canada’s first large organic supermarket, LifeStream. Founded on the ideal of serving delicious, wholesome foods grown and processed in harmony with nature, the store soon expanded into milling, baking, making muesli, granolas, alfalfa sprouts, nut butters, energy bars, and wholesale distribution. Within a few years, the LifeStream line had grown to include a wide range of products, including both natural and organic whole grain foods and soy-based vegetarian entrees. The company even published its own vegetarian cookbook, which sold over 125,000 copies. Annual sales at LifeStream reached $9 million, making the line one of Canadas leading natural food brands at the time. LifeStream sales continued to grow to $12 million, but an awkward partnership led to the sale of the company in 1981. It eventually was acquired by Kraft/Phillip Morris. Then in 1985, Arran and his wife, Ratana, started a new ventu (more…)
August 9th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
A very wel written article, I’ll be sure too bookmark it. Thanks!