flora insider June 2015
newsletter devoted to the people, purpose, & products of Flora
facility expansion for lynden
Otto Greither’s Birthday 90 Years!
Mexican Distributors Healthy Snacks in Burnaby Flora Insider Newsletter
June 2015
employee survey fill it out by June 30th!
New
Employees staff appreciation photo: Mt. Baker (in Washington State) Skyline Divide Trail
tired of being tired?
New Floradix ad to be featured in September issues of numerous publications.
Iron + Herbs helps reduce exhaustion and fatigue* Iron-deficiency symptom checklist Do you suffer from any of the following?
Are you continually tired and lack appetite? Pale skin & dark circles under eyes Often have difficulty concentrating? Feel chilly or catch colds easily? Have brittle hair or fingernails that chip easily? Are you vegetarian?
The more questions you answered “yes� to, the higher your risk of being iron deficient. Iron deficiency often goes undetected, so you may want to ask your doctor for a serum ferritin test.
If you are feeling tired & run-down, Floradix could be the simple solution. Its unique low-dose formulation, with highly soluble iron gluconate as well as whole food concentrates and co-factor B and C vitamins, ensure that it is easily absorbed by the body. Floradix is an easily absorbed, plant-based, nonconstipating, liquid iron supplement with no artificial additives or preservatives and has been helping women reclaim their energy for over 60 years.* www.florahealth.com
Locate a store near you.
floradix is available at:
*THIS STATEMENTS HAS NOT BEEN EVALUATED BY THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION. THIS PRODUCT IS NOT INTENDED TO DIAGNOSE, TREAT, CURE, OR PREVENT ANY DISEASE.
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CONTENTS June 2015 Newsletter
Editor’s Note Nothing says summer quite like long sun-filled days… now is the time to enjoy fun and healthy activities (and smoothies) with your loved ones. A group of Burnaby staff kicked off the start of summer by participating in a 10 km Vancouver Sun Run in April. It was great to have Flora’s Road Racers among the close to 40,000 participants this year. Way to go team! Lynden’s Workplace Community Garden is flourishing. As you may recall, on Earth Day last year (April 2014), we unveiled this Community Garden in Lynden. Lynden staff volunteer their time to tend to this garden and share a variety of fruits and vegetables together–strawberries, raspberries, beans, snap peas, cucumbers, zucchinis, pumpkins, kale, tomatoes, and many more. Great job Lynden! Here are some Flora products that you could try to boost your immune system and your overall health: • Flor*Essence 7-Day Purification Program • Udo’s Choice Super Adult Probiotic (Advanced Adult Probiotic) Salus Red Beet Crystals are naturally sweet tasting and instantly soluble, making them a great choice for the summer drinks and they can be enjoyed by all ages: sangria for you and popsicles for the kiddos.
What’s New
2-3 New Employees 4 Employee Anniversaries Appreciation/ 5 Staff SustainabilityInitiatives Award/ 6 Excellence Facility Expansion 7 HealthySnacks/MexicanDistributor 8 Employee Survey 9 OttoGreither’sBirthday/BabyNews 10 Recipe/ Workout Flora Insider Newsletter June Edition 2015 www.florahealth.com Managing Editor Design CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Enjoy a fun, safe, and healthy summer! Grace Dehn Human Resources Manager
COVER PHOTO CREDIT
Grace Dehn Jennifer Freeman Grace Dehn Tricia Terpstra Andrzej Markowski www.istockphoto.com
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New Employees
Welcome New Employees Oriana Agudelo Oriana Agudelo started in March 2015 as the Territory Manager in our Burnaby Office. Oriana loves nature escapes. Being new to BC, she’s exploring all the hidden nature BC has to offer. Oriana loves the fact that there are parks and many green spaces in and out of the city. Oriana did tango dancing in Montreal and now looking forward to giving it a try in BC. She loves reading and watching TED talks. Oriana also loves swimming, walking, and going to the gym. With the warm weather, she’s planning to do more hiking. Oriana enjoys following World Cup and for obvious reasons, Colombia is her favorite team to cheer for. She’s also following the Montreal Canadians in the Stanley Cup. Oriana’s mom and dad are in Colombia, but her sister, nephew, and niece live in Colorado. She is working on bringing her friends around the world to BC.
Dana Remedios Dana Remedios started in March 2015 as the Bilingual Product Information Assistant in the Burnaby Office. Outside of work, Dana participates in a coaching program for personal development, and has a nutrition consulting practice called Green Remedies Holistic Health. She loves helping people discover their unique biochemical makeup and dietary needs. Dana likes to spend weekends with her happy little family listening to music and trying to get outside as much as possible–hiking, gardening and struggling to get her seven year old interested in bike rides around Queens Park. Dana follows hockey. She also enjoys skiing and kayaking, but her passion is in movement. Dana has been practicing yoga for 20 years, and is a passionate funk and house dancer. She wants to learn locking, breaking, and hooping next! A fun fact about Dana - in the 2004 Federal Election, Dana ran for MP in the Burnaby-New Westminster riding. Dana loves the local community and helping other communities! She grew up near the Fraser River and has been involved in the charity fund-raiser Run for H2O that runs along the banks from Vancouver all the way to Flora’s front door! She is passionate about the cause - bringing fresh water to those without! www.RunforH2O.ca
Jonathan Young Jonathan Young started in April 2015 as the Quality Control Laboratory Technician in our Burnaby Office. Jonathan enjoys cooking, reading, writing, and sports. He also spends a lot of his spare time playing music. On his recent trip to Hawaii, he fell in love with ukulele. Born and raised in Victoria, Jonathan’s family moved to the mainland when he was a teenager. Jonathan went to college in Ontario (where his folks are from) and after a brief stint in Ireland, he settled in Burnaby where he met his wife. Jonathan plays baseball and watches hockey and not the other way around. Jonathan would like to recommend all of us to listen to “Where Did Our Love Go” by Diana Ross & the Supremes. Great recommendation, Jonathan! Thank you! 2
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New Employees
Rebecca Pröckl Rebecca Pröckl joined us for three months to complete her practicum as part of her university degree. Rebecca enjoys spending time with her family and friends. Rebecca also enjoys travelling, running, nature, and in the winter, knitting. Rebecca’s family lives in the southern part of Germany in a small village called Grosskarolinenfeld, which is located approximately 60 km from Munich. Rebecca has a younger brother, Pascal, who is 15 years old. Rebecca got her passion for language from her mother who speaks 6 languages, German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Russian. She also has two budgies back home called Sky (because he is blue like the sky) and Chico (Spanish for boy). Rebecca practiced ballet for 15 years starting at the age of 5. When Rebecca was younger, she wanted to become a ballerina. Rebecca is a mini fan of FC Bayern Munich and she just watched one of their home matches in the stadium in Munich this year. She really enjoyed it. Like her mother, Rebecca speaks multiple languages: German, English, French and Spanish. This summer, Rebecca will learn Dutch. Rebecca has already lived in Germany, Austria, France, and now Canada and as of this coming August, she will live in the Netherlands for one year.
Marlyn Ong Marlyn Ong started in April 2015 as the Quality Control Technician (PM shift) in our Burnaby Office. Marlyn has two kids: Aaron is 10 years old and the youngest is Alyanna and she is 6 years old. Marlyn considers them her precious gifts from God because both of them were born earlier than expected. Marlyn has been married for 12 years and she and her family came to Canada four years ago. Because they have no other families here in Canada, Marlyn and her husband maintain close relationships with their children and try as much as possible not to let them forget their culture while they are gradually adapting to the Canadian way of life. Outside of work, Marlyn likes to cook and bake with her kids. Both of her kids love to eat and they love helping. Marlyn loves to watch movies with her family. Marlyn also loves bowling and table tennis.
Brianna Erchinger Brianna Erchinger – Customer Care Rep began in Lynden Customer Service April 1, 2015.
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New Employees cont./Anniversaries
Nathan Rodich Tom Gaylo Tom Gaylo started in April 2015 as the Account Manager responsible for the Southern California territory. Tom has been in the Health Food industry for over thirty years as an outside (field) sales representative and sales broker. This is Tom’s second time with Flora, his first territory was Los Angeles from 2009 through 2012. Tom is happy to be back as a member of the Flora family.
Nathan Rodich started in May 2015 as the US Key Account Manager. Nathan graduated Suma Cum Laude and All American with degrees in Marketing, Management, and Finance from Austin Peay University. He joins Flora with 15 years experience in the industry receiving numerous performance awards for double digit growth in outside sales and key account growth. Nathan lives in Georgia with his family.
Employee Anniversaries Celebrating 15 years with Flora Alton Loy Shipper (Export) in the Burnaby Warehouse When asking Alton’s coworkers how they would describe Alton, they used two words: ENERGIZER BUNNY. That pretty much sums it up. Alton has worked tirelessly for all of his 15 years with Flora. Alton is a positive, thoughtful and dedicated employee whom displays his tireless work ethics and puts his team first all day and every day. Alton has even remained optimistic about the Canucks Stanley Cup chances throughout these many years of drought - a TRUE FAN. On behalf of everyone who has had the pleasure to work alongside Alton…congratulations! We all look forward to the next 15 years together!
Celebrating 10 years with Flora Ivonne Choy Regulatory Affairs Officer in Burnaby Office Ivonne says, “I am proud to be part of the Flora family and thankful for working in such a great company and department for the last 10 years. I enjoy my role because there are always new things to learn in the evolving regulatory environment.”
Celebrating 10 years with Flora Barbara Marin
Congratulations Alton, Ivonne, and Barbara! Thank you for your hard work! 4
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Account Manager responsible for the Maritime Provinces Barbara says, “It has been 10 years working for Flora and it has been a pleasurable experience so far. Flora has been good to me and patient and supportive. I was able to grow with the company and acquire more experience in this industry and at the same time enjoy it.”
Staff Appreciation/Sustainability
STAFF APPRECIATION Steve Kaestner (Production Manager, US) would like to nominate Roman Mendoza (Production Employee). Roman started with Flora in 1997 and ever since he has been a trusted, self-motivated employee. Over the course of his 18 years with Flora, Roman has learned almost every process in production and has helped to shape and improve many of them. Roman is always willing to go the extra mile for Flora and the production team. He has willingly taken on more work and responsibility numerous times and will continue to be regarded as a very valuable asset to the Flora family. Thank you for all of your efforts and hard work, Roman.
Lisa Ciarallo (Customer Care Manager, Canada) would like to nominate Robert Ferguson (Inside Account Manager and Customer Care Representative – Bilingual). For the past 10 years Robert Ferguson has been a dedicated Customer Care Representative who is committed to providing excellent customer service and customer care. His exemplary work ethic, attention to detail, and his natural ability to catch potential errors or issues before they even happen are all major contributions to the department. He takes pride in his work and in assisting all the Sales Reps in order to better serve our customers. Always handy with a joke to make us laugh or a story that gets us wondering if it is at all true- he keeps us on our toes! Thank goodness for Rob and his patience working alongside 7 women! Well, at least we give him some good stories to go home with! Cheers to you Robert!
SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES
Royal Printers has become certified by Bullfrog Power as BC’s first Clean Energy Print Shop.
Businesses nowadays have to be more than just profitable. In order to thrive and emerge as a leader in the industry, a business has to provide value-added products and services to the consumers…having said that, it has become just as important for corporations to be socially responsible. In other words, how is your business making an impact on society as a whole? Corporate Social Responsibility is defined as an initiative undertaken by a company to operate in an economic, social, and environmentally sustainable manner. Salus-Haus is a prime example of exemplary corporate social responsibility in practice. “The Salus environment program defines the primary goals of an environmentally sound company policy, such as energy saving measures, waste reduction, increased use of more eco-friendly packaging materials, etc.” Salus holds environmental awards, implements continuous sustainability initiatives through the EU eco-audit since 1996, and in 2003, Mr. Otto Greither was voted “Eco-Manager” of the Year by the Worldwide Fund for Nature and the economy magazine “Capital.” Flora is also dedicated to preserving the environment
and implementing practices that are ecologically sound, including using vegetable capsules and amber glass bottles. In December 2014, a Sustainability Committee (made up of employees from both Canada and US Teams) was formed to gather information on our current energy “footprint” and identify ways to implement business practices to further reduce our environmental impact. In support of this renewed focus on sustainability, Flora (Burnaby) is partnering with a new print vendor, Royal Printers, for our printed marketing materials, such as info cards, brochures, booklets, and office stationary (non-windowed envelopes). Royal Printers has become certified by Bullfrog Power as BC’s first Clean Energy Print Shop. Royal Printers makes paper using excess waste from sugar cane and wheat straw rather than using trees. We plan to transition all of our printed stationary in Canada to sugar or wheat paper. For each print run, Flora receives an eco-audit report that explains the number of trees, water, and carbon emissions we save. florahealth.com
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Award For Excellence/ Facility Expansion
Winner of Award for Excellence in Inside Sales We are proud to share that Chantal Dagenais was awarded the Jack Gahler Memorial Award for Excellence in Inside Sales at the Canadian Health Food Association (CHFA) tradeshow held in Vancouver from April 11th to April 12th, 2015. Chantal has been in the customer service field since 1997. She started at the health food retail stores and joined Flora in 2013. Prior to 1997, Chantal was a personal fitness trainer. Chantal truly enjoys her job and strives to provide meaningful experiences for her customers. She achieves this by listening more than speaking, tuning into what her customers’ needs are, and recognizing their voices/names. Given that Chantal worked at retail stores, she understands how to provide that value service to her customers. Chantal’s philosophy is “no is never a no forever. It’s no today, but maybe yes tomorrow.” Chantal perseveres through obstacles because tomorrow is another day.
Congratulations Chantal!
Scheduled to be complete by early August. FLORA INC. FACILITY EXPANSION PROGRESS The Flora Inc. facility expansion is progressing nicely and on track for completion between late July and early August. The new space will total 10,800 sq. ft. with about 3,350 sq. ft. of refrigeration/freezer and the remainder warehouse space with standard racking. Another busy day, pictured here, you can see there is concrete being poured for a slab in the new warehouse and the crew is setting up to pour the top to the water reservoir for the fire suppression system for the same.
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Healthy Snacks/Mexican Distributor
Introducing Healthy Snacks As part of Flora’s wellness and healthy eating initiatives, the Burnaby Office has introduced a healthy snacks vending machine. The healthy snacks include: • Smoothies • Organic beverages • Grain/quinoa bars • Clif Bars • Baked chips • Harvest Snapea Crisps • And many more…
VISIT WITH MEXICAN DISTRIBUTOR From May 19th to May 22nd, we had a couple of visitors - Jessica Meza Lucio (Sales & Marketing) and Elena Ambriz Lopez (Quality/ Inside Sales/Product Training) - from Kokusai Naturista SA, our Mexican distributor. Kokusai, based in Mexico City, is owned by two brothers, Mr. Masao Tsuru and Mr. Yasuo Tsuru. Flora has partnered with Kokusai for the past 16 years and they were recently ranked among the top 3 international distributors. The key product we export to Mexico is Flor•Essence (both liquid and dry forms). Kokusai is a worldwide leader in sales of Flor•Essence. Average annual sales of Flor•Essence liquid reaches approximately 250,000 units. The sales are driven by strong TV advertising and POS activities. Flor•Essence is sold to a countrywide network of distributors as well as to end consumers. Pharmacies are the main distribution channel and there are approximately 5,000
pharmacies in Mexico. We launched Udo’s Oil last year and are working with Kokusai in building sales and distribution of this product. The call-center, made up of about 30 employees, is instrumental in supporting sales and providing top-notch customer care. Our visitors, Ms. Lucio and Ms. Lopez, toured both Burnaby and Lynden facilities and had a number of meetings with representatives of various departments. They also received product training provided by Robert Dadd (Product Information Specialist) and Dana Remedios (Product Information Assistant). Such visits are important for both Flora and our distributors as our partners have an opportunity to see our production facilities, observe how the products are made, and meet in person the people behind our business. This translates into stronger relationships with our distributors and allows us to provide them with more tools to support their activities in the local market. florahealth.com
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e want to hear from you!
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU‌.. Flora is committed to providing a rewarding and productive work environment for all of you. In order for us to better understand what’s important to you, we need your help.
Please go to the link to provide us with your feedback!
Canada - https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FloraCanadaEmployeeSurvey US - https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FloraUSEmployeeSurvey You have until June 30th, 2015 to complete this survey. Thank you in advance for taking the time to complete this important survey and for sharing your valuable experiences and insights.
We want to hear from you!
All of us take part in what makes Flora exceptional and your feedback is critical for us to recognize and continue to provide value to you. And your feedback will help us to identify areas of improvement. You have until June 30th, 2015 to complete this survey. Please go to the link below to provide us with your feedback!
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ake part in what makes Flora exceptional and your feedback is critical recognize and continue to provide value to you. And your feedback will
All of us take part in what makes Flora exceptional and your feedback is critical for us to recognize and continue to provide value to you. Your feedback will help us to identify areas of improvement.
want to hear from you!
take part in what makes Flora exceptional and your feedback is critical
Employee Survey
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FloraUSEmployeeSurvey
Otto Greither’s Birthday/Baby News
90
th
As you recall, March 29th, 2015 was Mr. Greither’s 90th birthday. To wish him a wonderful birthday and help celebrate this incredible milestone, we sent him birthday cards and a bouquet of flowers (pictured here) from all of us. Here are some pictures of the birthday party held at Salus-Haus in Germany.
BABY NEWS
It’s a Girl! We are pleased to announce that Jeff Madrid (Material Handler in Burnaby Office) and his partner, Sharmene-Diane, welcomed their first baby girl in to this world. Soleil Elizabeth was born a little earlier than expected on Friday, May 22nd weighing 7 lbs. 1 oz. The baby and the parents are all doing well and enjoying this wonderful family time!
Soleil Elizabeth • Friday, May 22 • 7 lbs. 1 oz .
Congratulations!! florahealth.com
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Recipes/Workout
Heart Healthy Red Beet “Sangria” Gather the following ingredients and mix together just before serving for our delicious and nutritious version of Sangria. Top with frozen fruit to keep your punch cold, or get fancy and freeze fruit and herbs in ice cube trays for an additional wow-factor. Serves 4; double or triple the recipe depending on your number of guests.
Ingredients: • 1 cup sparkling water • 1 cup Flora Heart Hawthorn Tea (made with 2 tea bags) • 1.5 cups organic or fresh-squeezed orange juice • 1-2 whole limes, juice only • 3-4 tbsp. Salus® Red Beet Beet Crystals (to taste) • Add fruit/ice cubes to garnish
Take Your Workout to the Outdoors √ Join an outdoor Boot Camp class – working out with others is more fun!
√ Go for a swim – if you don’t live near the ocean or a lake, the local outdoor pool is just as refreshing. Plus, some even offer Aqua Fit classes.
I
t’s especially hard to get motivated to go indoors to the gym for a workout when the weather is nice—so don’t! Take your workout outside for a daily dose of exercise PLUS vitamin D; here’s how:
√ Grab a friend and go for a hike – pack a picnic lunch to enjoy at the end.
√ T ry something new – if you bore easily, new sports are popping up all the time. Why not give Stand Up Paddleboarding a go!
√ Take a stroll around the park – simply getting outside for a breath of fresh air is better than sitting and watching any show on TV.
Flora’s Berrylicious Popsicles Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Divide the mixture evenly among your popsicle molds. Freeze until frozen, then enjoy. Makes 6 popsicles. 1 ¾ cups organic yogurt 1 ¼ cup berries 6 tbsp. Salus Red Beet Crystals
Vitamin D
2-3 tbsp. 7 Sources or Udo’s Oil
Exposing our skin to the sun enables it to make vitamin D; however, sitting inside your house or car, with the sun beaming through the window, doesn’t count. If your skin is covered in sun block, that doesn’t count either. In order to make vitamin D, your skin needs to be unprotected. That’s right—you need to go outside without sun block in order to benefit from the sun’s amazing healing powers. Sound backwards? It’s true, but it probably goes against everything you’ve been hearing, and teaching your children, for years. Short, unprotected sun exposure is all you need so please don’t spend the day cooking yourself to a lobster-red! Never stay out long enough to burn. Practice safe sun—10 minutes at a time. 10
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