By Zak Zaidman, Kopali cofounder and CEO
Kopali (ko*pah*lee) is an ancient Mexican Nahuatl word meaning “incense,” particularly identified with the forms of aromatic tree resins used to this day by many descendents of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica as a ceremonially burned incense. To us, it represents the lifeblood of trees, our commitment to the indigenous cultures of our planet, and a reminder of our sacred connection to the natural world that we all belong to.
I grew up a city boy in Mexico City. Even as a young adult living in San Francisco as a software entrepreneur back in the 90’s, I was as excited to buy huge cases of cheap food as anyone else. I think I simply assumed that we were collectively progressing towards more efficient and better food production systems. I celebrated technological achievement without fully understanding the tragic realities behind our food supply and how so much of our perceived abundance is so unhealthy, unsustainable, and unfair.
But then, after selling the software company, I had the tremendous opportunity of spending an extended period of time in Punta Mona, an off-the-grid farm and sustainability center deep in the rainforest of Costa Rica founded by Kopali co-founder Stephen Brooks. That is where I began to study sustainable agriculture and began to understand the bigger picture behind the realities and unimaginable tragedies behind our food supply, and that is where we founded Kopali.
Even as I write, not so far from Punta Mona, low-flying airplanes apply highly toxic fungicides over banana plantations that are also routinely sprayed with equally toxic pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers. These agrochemicals, many of which are known carcinogens not only fall on the banana plants they are intended for, but also onto farm workers in the field and their families in homes, playgrounds and schools located within the plantations. And if that were not enough, carried downstream by water and gravity, the same chemicals wind up damaging ecosystems as far as coral reefs miles and miles downstream as well as every living thing in their path.
Being exposed to dangerous chemicals is only one of the abusive labor practices locals are exposed to while working for “the company” (the way they commonly refer to the banana plantations that produce the perfectly yellow ultra cheap bananas Americans and others enjoy around the world.) Sadly, there are few sources of income left for local farmers trying their best to feed their families in a world where food has become too cheap.
Unfortunately this story is not uncommon all over the world, and the high cost of cheap food is borne by everyone, everywhere. Increased cancer, diabetes, and obesity rates, soil depletion, loss of biodiversity, global warming, overcrowded urban centers, poverty and social unrest are just some of the externalities that are greatly affected by the large-scale, chemically intensive, unsustainable, factory-style agricultural techniques that are used to grow the vast majority of the “cheap” foods that flood grocery store shelves around the world.
Yet viable, sustainable, and healthy farming alternatives still exist. In fact, up to the middle of the twentieth century, these were the norm. What today we refer to as organic agriculture, simply involves farming on living soil without the harmful petro-chemicals used in conventional agriculture, and before World War II, pretty much all agriculture was “organic.”
As it turned out, I learned from, and became friends with some of the most amazing teachers, organic farmers who really do hold so many secrets to a healthy and good life. I learned there are thousands of them, many indigenous, who still know how to live and how to grow pure food in harmony with the natural systems that support all life. They take care of the land as if it is an extension of their own bodies, because it has been part of them and their families for generations and they always expect to live there. Wise and knowledgeable in ways that are valuable to all of humanity, these small farmers are the unsung heroes of our time. Yet, they are a dying breed. The food they grow is not only free of the poisons of chemical agriculture, it is beyond delicious and abundant in healthful nutrients. And these farmers not only don’t destroy the land like chemical agriculture does, they regenerate it. They are the stewards of remaining unpolluted land, air and water, so desperately needed for our global balance.
Life was very good in Punta Mona where hundreds of varieties of the most delicious tropical foods are grown, where rustic houses are built from fallen trees, and even though we were in the middle of the jungle, we had solar powered satellite wireless internet connecting us to the world. And as if that were not enough, some of the most amazing people from all over the world come to visit, share, live, teach and learn about sustainable living. It is one of the most magical places on the planet. But it is not enough to live such a good life, while entire ecosystems around us are being destroyed and entire communities of people are treated unfairly, and are directly and repeatedly sprayed and harmed by toxic herbicides, fungicides, pesticides and chemical fertilizers, in the production of cheap and unhealthy food.
In this new realization while experiencing a quality of food and a quality of life that I had never tasted before, a calling emerged: to tell the world and to invite everyone to live a more delicious, healthy, balanced, sustainable, and good life – no matter where they live. And that was the seed from which we founded Kopali Organics ( www.kopaliorganics.com ). Our original goal for Kopali was to connect our friends and neighbors, these very sustainable organic farmers with the growing market of shoppers who care about where their food comes from and the social and environmental conditions under which it is grown, produced, and traded. And that is what we did.
Since then our mission has expanded, to bring to the U.S. market not just bananas, and not just food from Costa Rica, but many products from all over the world that are nourishing, healthful, and healing in deep ways to all involved, to the planet as well as to current and future generations. Today we directly support thousands of organic farmers in nearly a dozen countries around the world such as Uganda, Turkey, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Colombia, and Peru and we do so through a premium product line of single serving organic and fair trade chocolate and fruit-as-candy “treats.” We call them SUPERGOOD SUPERFOOD because they are not just good, they are all the way through good, and so they are designed to be irresistibly indulgent from the flavor and eating experience to the package design, while being healthy and sustainable.
Although it seems obvious that nobody would want to destroy other people\’s lives, nor the ecosystems that support all life, only to save a few pennies on food, especially that which is unhealthy to eat, we realize that what motivates shoppers to buy Kopali’s SUPERGOOD SUPERFOOD treats, is not always the same purpose that motivated us to create them. In fact it is often the case that shoppers will buy a treat, or anything for that matter, because they are attracted to it, not because of anything they are supposed to do. So even though we want to believe that if properly informed and provided with viable alternatives, shoppers will make better and better choices, we also need to be extraordinarily competitive and excellent at everything about our business, from our strategy to execution, from messaging to our package design and branding, to our delivery logistics, and we have to compete on every standard metric with any other brand that may or may not share our values.
For me personally, this journey has taken me back to a fast paced city lifestyle in the urban jungle of New York City. I am sometimes overwhelmed by just how massive this undertaking is to grow a brand, to remain balanced and personally sustainable in the process, and to shift consumer patterns. And yet, at the same time, it seems clear to me that we have no choice but to move forward – and as best as we can to figure out how to integrate the speed of progress with grounded wisdom and compassion.
Together with organizations like The GreenMoney Journal and people like you we hope to prove that business can and must move beyond being harmful, and even beyond becoming responsible, to serving as a healing force in our world. Our long term plan is to inspire everyone everywhere to become part of a healthier, more sustainable, more compassionate, and more delicious world.
Article by Zak Zaidman. Together with his partners, Zak founded Kopali while living and farming on their off-the-grid educational farm and sustainability center in the rainforest of Costa Rica. In the face of unrelenting pressure to farm cheaply, organic local farmers, their neighbors and friends, were being driven out of business and off their lands, and being replaced by large-scale chemically-intensive industrial farms. The goal was to support organic family farmers and their communities by connecting them with the growing market of people who care about the quality of the food they ear, as well as the environmental and social conditions under which it is grown, produced, and traded. Today, Kopali’s organic and fair trade treats are sold all over the US, directly supporting hundreds of sustainable farmers and their communities around the world
Raised in Mexico City, Zak’s fascination with philosophy and science led him to a Cognitive NSF fellowship at UC Berkeley. He left academia to start Gravity, a virtual reality software company. Zak’s experience with cancer led him to a more purpose-driven and sustainable life. He sold Gravity, lead international interfaith delegations, and drove a vegetable-oil-powered bus from the US to Central America promoting sustainability to millions. Zak is a passionate songwriter and creator of EVERY1.me. He is based in NYC.
