Sunrise Wellness Weekend

 //  Travel

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to host a wellness weekend on behalf of Suja as part of Target’s Made to Matter initiative, and it was such an amazing experience! To give you some background, Target has handpicked 31 better for you and better for the world products from the natural space and beyond to feature in their stores, making them easily accessible and affordable for their consumers. We are so thrilled Suja is part of Made to Matter because we want organic, cold-pressed, non-GMO, unheated juices to be available to EVERYONE. We are the only organic, cold pressed, non-GMO juice available under $5 on shelves and that is soooo exciting because it shows the desire and demand for healthier products and an important shift that’s happening in the consumer product space! We hosted the weekend with two other wonderful Made to Matter brands, Soma and Olly.

On Friday afternoon, our amazing group of bloggers and influencers arrived at Cavallo Point for a beautiful and transformative weekend ahead. We kicked it off with massages and spa treatments before enjoying a healthy cocktail hour and heading to the most incredible dinner spot we could have in SF – the Golden Gate Bridge. The weekend included amazing yoga, a vitamin diagnostic session led by Olly, an inspiring talk about design and sustainability by Soma, and a cooking class taught by me! We went to the ferry building for lunch in the middle of the Farmer’s Market, had an intimate, rustic candlelit dinner at the Stable followed by a cocktail mingle with lots of wonderful guests, practiced meditation, and spent some quality time talking, bonding, and enjoying each other. Overall, it was such an incredible couple of days that are hard to sum up in words so I’ve got loads of pictures to share with you! Enjoy!

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What would you guys like to see happen in the consumer product space in regards to natural, sustainable, and organic products?

X

  • Kat Motl Meeker

    What a gorgeous spot to eat and hang out! I have only been to SF once but it was so full of awesome food & scenery and I would love to go back. I love hearing about more initiatives like made to matter with better choices for you & the world. To be perfectly honest, I’m really glad that a brand like Target is behind this. I know a lot of people frown when mom & pop companies get bought out by bigger national brands like Kraft or Johnson&Johnson that traditionally don’t have the same “all-natural / organic / hippie” feel, but that is precisely how products can be better marketed to reach more people for less cost. Sure, it’s great when I can buy hand picked berries from the farm where they’re grown, but this is real life and there’s a limit to how much time and energy anyone wants to spend on goods & services (or in the car!), and many times the more natural, organic things are more costly, time consuming and difficult. And really, after I’ve been at my paid job all day and I get home to a half-clean house and I’m tired and my family’s hungry, the last thing I want to do is rinse out ziploc bags to reuse because I don’t want the earth to be sad. I mean, it’s great that some people have the time and energy to do stuff like that, but life is busy and there are too many other things to do. It’s cheaper and easier to drive through McDonald’s than it is to cold press juice at home, but that’s what people do because it’s familiar and on every street corner and they don’t have to think about it. I personally would never eat at McD’s or feed it to my daughter, but I get it – it’s easy “these days” to be overwhelmed by the tidal wave of parenting and working and marriage and trying to make a difference or do something fun. I’m taking a looooong time to say – I’d love to see more natural products that are sustainable and fit into everyday life without being some extravagant expense or time consuming process, so it’s an easy choice – a Suja instead of a happy meal – and not, how am I going to afford my mortgage this month.

    As sappy as it sounds, I’m so inspired that our generation is full of exceptionally talented people like you who are doing what I think we all should aspire to – figure out what you are passionate about, and find a way to make a living doing it! XO

  • Rachel S.

    I’m glad you had such a good time in SF. It was amazing for me to experience even a small part of it, and I so loved meeting you, Annie!

    As far as the consumer product space, I totally agree with everything Kat said below. It’s been so exciting to see healthy brands and products become more readily available. I love the amount of healthy, organic options I’m starting to see at places like like Costco and even Walgreens – it makes it so much easier to grab a healthy snack when I’m out and about, or in between meetings at work. I’d love to see this continue to spread though, there are still so many places though where it can be so tough to find a healthy option, and this is when I find myself making the unhealthiest choices. If I’m going to splurge on something that’s bad for me (hello occasional donut!), I want to at least make that choice and have it be worth it, and not just be because there were no other options.

    Also, now that more healthy products are being sold outside of just “health food stores,” it really is encouraging more people to try them. I have so many coworkers and friends who aren’t exactly health enthusiasts, but I see them trying things like chia seeds and kombucha and it’s really exciting to see the trend of healthy eating gain more and more traction. Love everything that you’re doing! xoxo

  • Liz Stark

    Beautiful location, enriching experiences, and high quality Suja – can’t ask for more! I agree with the other comments about making products more widely available, along with more information available so that more and more people can reap the benefits (and WANT to learn more) about wellness – not just “bang for your buck” cheap products.

    Happy beginning of May and happy weekend to you, Annie! Hope you’re feeling better X

  • Lauren Shaber

    Your weekend sounds like it was so much fun! I feel so lucky that I was able to meet you in person & put a face to the girl behind the screen! You’re amazing — keep up the hard work! xo -Lauren

  • This sounds amazing!!! Hope you had an amazing time! The ferry building is my absolute favorite location in SF! Its awesome that the product is becoming more present at stores that most people have! I found Suja at Target to begin with and its when I first fell in love! I love that I can get something inexpensive that is healthy and contributing to my overall wellness. And I love using them for cocktail mixers. Seriously, spices everything up! Learned that trick thanks to TSC.

    xx, Tessa

  • I would like to see more affordable, less processed sugar-laden healthy foods for busy people who are always on the go. I’m about to start an intensive graduate program where my time is going to be very limited. I value my health too much though to compromise quality of ingredients, but affordability is also a concern. I love that Suja is an affordable alternative when I don’t have time to make my own juice (in fact I picked up a few juices at Target today) and I’d love to see other companies follow suit and use more natural ingredients with the consumer’s lifestyle and budget in mind. I realize that’s a little vague, but I think it captures the spirit of what I’m trying to convey.

  • blawnde

    That’s EXACTLY what Made to Matter is all about! Target is trying to democratize healthy natural products and create environment where everyone has access to “the better”. They are the perfect partner for Suja because we’ve always said our goal is to democratize juice and get a bottle of organic, cold pressed, non-GMO, unheated juice into as many hands as possible. Products like Suja do not need to be this $13 elitist thing that’s unattainable for 95% of the population. I’m so happy to be working with them! They really get it.

    Thank you for the kind words! I get inspired by our generation too!! It’s amazing what people are doing. XX

  • blawnde

    Rachel! Thank you SO much for coming! It was beyond fun meeting you and I am so glad you were able to be there!!

    I hear you on Walgreen’s. I’m a CVS shopper, but I saw organic essential oils (laveder, orange, and peppermint) and argan oil there the other day and it was really cool. I actually bought the argan oil because it was organic and I use it all the time. I took it for granted that day, but two years ago I would have never been able to buy that there. I love your point about making a bad choice occasionally but liking that it’s your choice! I’m SOOOO there with you! I don’t care if people want to eat a donut from Krispy Kreme knowing it’s bad for them but making the choice to have a splurge. That’s on them. I do care if people have no other choices available, don’t really want it, but are hungry, rushing to work, live in a low income area dominated by chains, and can only afford $1.99 breakfast so they grab it. There’s got to be a better option for those folks and I love how that’s becoming a real possibility. XO

  • blawnde

    Yes!! The interesting thing is, the demand is definitely already there. People do WANT these products and more of them! It was definitely a gamble taking Suja out of the natural space into conventional and it’s been shocking and totally unbelievable how many teeny tiny middle America towns are eating it up! There’s a market, now brands need to create the supply of healthier, affordable products for mainstream grocery. XO!

  • blawnde

    Yay!! Thank you so much for coming! It was awesome to have you!!! XOXOX

  • blawnde

    Ohhh, I love that you use the juices for cocktails! I think about all the shit people use as mixers like sodas, cranberry juice cocktail, energy drinks. etc and there’s just no reason for it! I also love that you first tried Suja from Target! You’re a prime example of someone who wanted a product like that and gladly bought it when it became available in your store. Consumers aren’t ignorant, they’re ready! You don’t have to be in a natural food store to care about your health! XO

  • blawnde

    Yes! Congrats on your grad program! But you will def be busy and need convenient healthy products more than ever! Check out some of the other Made to Matter brands at Target! There are 31 and lots of amazing affordable natural options. it’s really cool to see in their stores. Keep me posted on your program as you get going! XO

  • Thanks so much, Annie! Will do 🙂

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