Innovation

Evan shared with me how their model has the goal of disrupting a $3 billion market by actually using 100% fruit in their fruit snacks. Their social-good business model considers the well-being of everyone involved in the production of their fruit snacks from the farmers in the Amazon Rainforest, to their employees (many of whom have developmental disabilities), to their end user who is receiving a full serving of fruit when they consume a fruit snack. By paying their farmers a full wage, they allow them to maintain ownership of their land therefore economically empowering them for generations and making their community more sustainable. Stateside, they provide decent work for the individuals they employ from the DD community through the Blick Center. Lastly, they promote health and well-being by providing healthy snack options for people.

Inspiration

Evan shared with me that he has always been intrigued by understanding how things work: “I’m fascinated by the way things can be more than the sum of their parts. Take a group of people and they can become a team." During his time in the Peace Corps working in the Amazon he saw how everyone was focusing on helping people with the solutions they assumed they would want rather than taking the time to actually listen. He wanted to understand how things worked and what would work for the people he was living among. He helped secure funding for a project (river landings) that allowed the village and farmers to become more sustainable.

Upon Evan's return to the U.S., he brought with him his passion to discover what people need and a desire to remain connected to the fruit farmers he met while in the Amazon. He also brought with him the question: "What will make it easy for people to do the right thing?" With that question in mind, he decided to begin a business that would "make social enterprise mainstream." While pursuing a vision to provide organic fruit ingredients to smoothie businesses and needing a workforce that wouldn't require a lot of capital, Evan discovered a hole in the market for premium, clean label fruit snacks. He also discovered a hidden work force right in his own community: the DD population whose supervisors were looking to provide them with meaningful employment opportunities.

Overall impact

In addition to all the exciting things shared above about the impact of the business, Evan shared with me that the primary impact of the innovation has been on the individuals he is able to employ from the Blick Center which provides work opportunities for individuals with developmental, behavioral, physical and mental health conditions.

During Peaceful Fruits pilot stage in 2016, they paid $40,000 in wages to people with DD. Evan said that there are 29 people with disabilities working during any given month. He described that "they feel so much ownership of the process and find meaning because they see the connection between their work and the farmers and the clients." Evan sees the connection too and he’s motivated to sell because he sees the excitement in them for getting to be a part of something exciting (ex. Being on TV for interviews about the business). He said that they consider it a privilege to work for Peaceful Fruits because they have to meet tough standards to work there.

Business benefit

Evan shared with me a high point story in his journey with Peaceful Fruits. He and some of his employees were able to appear on the TV show Shark Tank to pitch their idea. Although they did not ultimately secure funding, they saw an immediate boost in sales (over $75,000) shortly after appearing on the show. Evan told me that he had three goals going in to the opportunity to appear on the show: (1) Show the world that he belongs in the social entrepreneur space and on that stage; (2) Build the Peaceful Fruits brand; and (3) Show that social enterprise deserves a space on that stage – it’s an intelligent way to do business. He knew that Kevin O’Leary believes that social enterprise is a poor business model, so he had the opportunity to debate him about this. Finally, a highlight of the experience came when Mark Cuban chimed in to say that “social enterprise is the future of capitalism and those who don’t agree will be left behind.”

With now over 30+ full and part-time employees who are happy and working with a deep sense of purpose and meaning, Peaceful Fruits has been able to expand the number of fruit snack varieties they offer. They are also offering their snacks in a number of local grocery stores, and recently unveiled plans to relocate so that they can increase their production five-fold.

Social and environmental benefit

Evan shared with me about how this innovation is benefiting the people with disabilities that he employees. He works closely with occupational therapists at Blick Center to create integrated and mutually beneficial processes. For example, Peaceful Fruits needed to start taking and fulfilling online orders so they had an opportunity to learn and grow together. Evan admitted that sometimes it takes a little more planning up front because you can’t always ask people with disabilities to complete tasks immediately. However, as long as that is taken into consideration up front, they have always been able to find mutually beneficial solutions. Lastly, Evan shared that there’s a therapeutic component for the people with disabilities who work for Peaceful Fruits. They are able to have meaningful work and they get a lot of joy in doing it rather than some of the other jobs they are typically resigned to - such as sweeping the floor. They see how their works makes an impact.

Interview

Evan Delahanty, Founder and CEO