Innovation

Amborella has thought of a way to make use of what many consider to be a byproduct of a lollipop. Often you finish a lollipop and there is little to no use for the lollipop stick. Amborella Organics makes the entirety of the lollipop useful as the stick serves as a seed starter. The businesses recognized that the stick could contain the seeds until it was ready to use and could include rain capture technology enabling the germination process after planting. After being watered every day, water penetrates the stick made of recycled paper, and the plant sprouts once the germination process is completed, a time frame that may last up to 12 weeks.

The first thing that Brennan and Taylor did was that they patented their seed-bearing sticks using recycled paper. They found a way to imbed non-GMO seeds that are specific to the flavor you are consuming. In the early days of their business, they pursued the more cost-effective option of filing a provisional patent while they finalized a product version and ascertained the funds for a nonprovisional.

Innovation is also seen in their ability to create a lollipop that is non-GMO, Vegan, Gluten/Dairy/Nut/Soy/Artificial Dye-Free, Kosher, and Organic. They made these choices for healthier ingredients because they wanted to bring the best to the company, ensuring that the company mirrored the healthy and natural attributes of the plants they were effectively selling.

For example, Brennan and Taylor put their heads together to derive their Lemon and Thyme lollipop using ingredients: *Cane sugar, isomalt (sugar from beets), spring water, *lemon oil, *thyme flowers, Natural Colors (From Fruit & Vegetable Extracts).

Inspiration

Taylor Clarke and her husband Brennan Clarke were both working at their jobs back in 2016 when they had a conversation about what would become Amborella Organics. Taylor was a journalist and she wrote a lot about sustainability, farm-to-table initiatives, and sustainable beauty products. Brennan was working in medical sales, so the two of them traveled worldwide wherever the work was needed. On the road, Taylor would cover stories for different publications. She interviewed many founders, learning about why they were passionate about what they were doing in life.

One day Brennan asked Taylor if she knew about his idea for a lollipop that can grow. His grandmother had grown tomatoes and, when he eventually grew his tomatoes, he was taken back to those moments with his grandmother in the garden. As he was thinking of these moments he wondered how he could create a physical product that ushers people into the garden to have this similar experience with some they love. That is when he saw a flower and he felt the stem and bulb are reminiscent of a lollipop’s structure. “What if there was a way to have seeds be embedded in the lollipop stick?”, he thought. Since Taylor was subject to entrepreneurial talks at the dinner table, she encouraged Brennan and assisted him. But it slowly grew into Amborella Organics which they ended up building together.

The need for a more sustainable lollipop was a requirement for Brennan and Taylor given that they both grew up around a beach. They had experienced trash on the beach, in the ocean they were swimming in, and trash debris found within jellyfish on the shore. They both wanted to be sustainable, reduce waste, and be conscious of the ingredients used in the lollipop for a better planet.

Overall impact

Having the ability to plant a lollipop stick or purchasing compostable packaging for products has many long term and short-term benefits. Their seed-bearing lollipop stick is the first of its kind sparking curiosity among their customers resulting in engagement of their product and an increase in sales and social media interactions. This can be seen through their Instagram and placement in stores. Since their launch, Amborella Organics’ engagement has increased and has spread to many places like Erewhon, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Chicago Botanic Garden, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Macy's, UncommonGoods, Bloomingdales, and soon-to-be Target. Since their launch, they have had tremendous growth. On Instagram, they have 14,000 followers and are growing. With the increase in growth, there is also an increase in the spread of environmental concerns. Their product raises awareness of the importance of environmental sustainability and eco-friendly consumption. In the long term, their seed-bearing lollipop can contribute to reforestation, biodiversity conservation, and overall planet health. Their innovation can also spark change for other businesses resulting in a domino effect towards sustainability. Overall, Amborella Organic’s seed-bearing lollipops have the potential and have already created great positive change towards sustainable practices.

Business benefit

With hard work and a little bit of luck Amborella Organics was able to create an idea, “a lollipop that can grow” into a product that touched shelves of coffee shops and retailers such as Erewhon. In 2017, a year after launching their website, Taylor & Brennan Clarke witnessed their product go viral on social media, reaching 10 Million views on TikTok. Going viral boosted their brand name and recognition as Urban Outfitters and Macy's reached out quickly to buy their products.

Because Amborella Organics focused on sustainability and quality, Taylor & Brennan brought something different to the lollipop market. Competitors like Yum Earth also focused on healthier versions of candy. However, Yum Earth’s lollipops were machine-made and a lot cheaper. In comparison, Amborella Organics’ organic ingredients, unique seed-bearing lollipop stick design, and sustainable focus helped the business grow its product line from seed-bearing lollipops to garden gummies, which are vegan and have 0g of sugar. Garden Gummies also extended the sustainable theme with its 100% recyclable packaging gummy pouch, one of the first in the fast-growing market. In addition to its fruit and floral flavors, natural ingredients like Allulose and prebiotic fiber add nutritional value to this novel product.

In addition to founders Taylor & Brennan’s dedication to Amborella Organics, the team also has three full-time manufacturing employees. Although Amborella Organics is a micro-enterprise with 2-10 employees, the unique product, sustainable mission, and Taylor & Brennan’s dedication to their business truly helped Amborella Organics make environmental impacts not just within California, where the business started, but also around the country as big wholesalers like Target extended their offer to Amborella Organics.

Social and environmental benefit

At the core of its creation, Amborella Organics’ seed-bearing lollipops offer biodegradable sticks, a business choice to reduce the plastic waste created by the plastic sticks and packaging of lollipops. Once planted in soil and watered daily, the stick will allow herb or flower seeds to grow. Although Amborella Organics’ impact is not measurable yet due to limited data collection, it has succeeded in diverting people from purchasing plastic pouches to recycled packages. Taylor Clarke mentioned that Amborella Organics is looking into an incentive program to collect measurable data. Maybe…take a picture of you recycling the package and send it!

As Amborella Organics grows its product to include recyclable gummy pouches, it is apparent that Taylor and her team are furthering their work to create products that are as sustainable as possible. Taylor and her team are always looking for ways to improve their packaging and products to promote sustainability. However, with much personal and societal responsibility, Taylor has mentioned that with food safety and cost, there is an issue of balance in finding compostable products surrounding the candies.

As they grow, Amborella Organics can measure the environmental impact through its product packaging and innovation and measure the societal impact of bringing in natural flavors and vegan options for the candy industry.

For now, it is notable that in the local markets, Amborella Organics’ impact has been realized by personal stories and experiences. The story started like “a mother was skeptical about floral flavored candy and biodegradable stick” but quickly turned around to “her kid enjoyed the Marigold flavor and loved the lollipop”.

Interview

Taylor Clarke, Co-Owner