Nature's Path Organic Rice Puffs Cereal, 6-Ounce Bags (Pack of 12)
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 Canada’s 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 venture christened Nature’s Path, from the back of their natural foods restaurant. The company’s first product, Sprouted Organic Manna Bread, debuted at the Natural Products Expo in Anaheim, Calif. Organic Multigrain, Multigrain & Raisin, and Millet Rice Flakes were the very first Nature’s Path cereals and remain as popular as ever. By 1989, building on the success of its cereals, the company had grown 800%. To meet demand, acreage was bought and a 54,000 square foot organic processing plant was built in Delta, British Columbia, Canada. This was the first third-party certified organic cereal plant in the world. Later, ten years after starting Nature's Path, the Stephens family purchased back LifeStream from Kraft. Since, the company has continue to expand its facilities and the brands and products it offers--adding waffles, additional cereals, granola and energy bars, flaxseed meal, baking mixes, and more.