Everyone’s first question is, “Why Manna Tree and this focus on food from Vail, Colorado?”
I love this question and let me explain why. Even before the world started re-thinking how to socialize, travel, and work, there was a re-focusing on food and its role in our wellbeing. From regenerative sources to processing practices, additives in our food, and time spent eating together, consumers now search for a better way to eat. They are informing themselves about the impact food has on vitality and longevity, and how healthy eating is the gateway to a better life.
As we look at how this mindset and focus are changing the market, four magnetic forces are converging right now:
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Food & Agriculture advancements
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Shifting Retail & Consumer shopping patterns
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Healthcare Empowerment
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Previously Untapped Capital, that’s ready to begin investing in these new developments.
These trends are converging and offering our team a new opportunity to create a partnership-driven strategy with engaged investors, built on the Manna Tree mission and operating system focused on the well-being of people, first and always.
When we speak about wellbeing, we don’t want it confused with a “soft” thesis or conversely, one that is only for the Whole Foods and Gelson’s crowds. Our commitment to wellbeing not only spans the spectrum of food’s journey from farm to plate but the effect that nutrition has on consumers as a whole. We’ve built our firm by investing in nutritious ingredients for accessible food and snack brands, bringing smart technology and lifestyle indicators to the supply chain, supporting the adoption of healthier lifestyles and healthcare empowerment by everyone, and, most importantly, promoting food as medicine to keep our bodies healthy.
It is this commitment to a larger goal that has our marketing team calling us a lifestyle amplifier. When have you ever heard of an investment firm described that way before? We take human’s innately emotional relationship with food, the growing interest in participating in a healthier lifestyle, along with the Manna Tree team’s global view on opportunities in this space, and you have a unique, niche opportunity. That’s Manna Tree.
As we move forward with our investments, we’ve invited Next-Gen and globally aware investors to be participatory in what we do and how we do it. Our investors partner with us by suggesting interesting deal-flows we might not have heard of yet, as they help open doors for our portfolio company. We celebrate that 60% of our company and 30% of our investors are women, 20% of our investors are next-generation investors. In essence, we are co-creating Manna Tree by inviting new thinking and new faces into the game.
However, Manna Tree isn’t merely an investment firm with a newsletter and K-1s. We offer world-class health assessments, have podcast updates for our investors, webinars hosted by my father, David Rubenstein, and higher-education e-learning for building leadership skills of our team, partners, and portfolio companies. When we all get together, we talk, we cook, we laugh. We celebrate and support each other and look at opportunities from new angles — and we usually go for a walk or a hike, celebrating nature and the outdoors that is an integral part of our lives in Vail.
I can’t wait to share our continuing journey with you. Right now, we celebrate the closing of our Fund, while reaffirming our commitment to your best life through the power of food.
Post by: Gabrielle ‘Ellie’ Rubenstein
