Ep132- Building an Amazonian Enterprise - Dan from Runa

The Food Startups Podcast

Dan MacCombie is the co-founder and former Co-CEO of Runa, an Amazonian social enterprise and beverage company supporting indigenous farmers sustainably growing guayusa tea in the rainforest.

He and the Runa team developed relationships with indigenous farmers and built a supply chain into nationwide distribution in Whole Foods and other U.S. chains.

Starting in 2009, it has been a fun, challenging adventure. Dan tells us how they got to where they are today:

• A” listening tour” in Ecuador
• Introducing an unknown food (guayusa) to the U.S. market
• Highlights of their growth
• On strategic relationships
• How they stayed on the shelves
• Musings on the food industry
• Keys to sampling your product
• Analyzing the social investment landscape
• Bonus: Matt and Dan rant on “New Vendor Packets”