Compensation CO2 Québec is formed of forestry and environmental professionals. The team ensures the implementation and the rigorous monitoring of many reforestation projects.

In 2020 and 2021, thanks to your new purchases of boxes of 25 Evive products, we were able to contribute to plant 2 new mixed forests in the Eastern Townships. These forests allow us to offset a portion of the greenhouse gas emissions generated by our operations.

Every tree has its place

The development of each forest requires several steps to ensure its success, starting with proper plant site location. This step helps guarantee the success and optimal growth of each plantation.

The survival rate of the plantations is then measured at least twice during the first 5 years following their reforestation. In the event of unhealthy trees, CO2 Compensation Québec will replace the latter to ensure that the carbon offset objectives are met.

In order to reduce our environmental footprint, the first action we have taken is the reforestation of the 8,375 trees making up the first Evive forests.

We will continue in 2022 with the reforestation of at least 4,000 additional trees.

Reforestation is a proven and effective method of carbon offsetting. It creates new forests while providing multiple ecological benefits. These mixed forests are beneficial for fauna, flora and they bring ecological diversity to the land. They also create a local economic contribution through reforestation work, the necessary technical monitoring and eventually provide labor for the teams of silvicultural workers during the forest development projects that will be carried out. Once the trees reach maturity, the harvested wood will be used for various purposes including construction and home renovation. The wood and the carbon it contains will be retained for a much longer period of time.

Evive is committed to minimizing its ecological and environmental footprint not only through carbon offsetting, but also through purchasing organic ingredients, reducing food waste and using recyclable and compostable packaging.

Evive forests are a source of life and we are proud to contribute to the implementation of these new mixed forests. The GHG sequestration associated with them supports our environmental action and our desire to have a positive impact on our community.

L’article The Evive Forest Continues to Grow est apparu en premier sur Evive Blog.

We would like to invite you to join us again to help support children & families with Breakfast Club of Canada. With every order, we’re giving breakfasts* to kids in need.

In the last year, the Club has seen a significant increase in attendance and need for additional breakfast programs. With increasing grocery costs, Canadians are changing their food buying habits, making the challenge of purchasing & consuming healthy food options that much harder. The Club needs to ensure it can continue to reach the considerable number of children that have benefitted from these programs over the past year.

Breakfast Club of Canada helps feed more than 500,000 children in over 3,000 programs in academic and community settings across the country.

Positive impacts of breakfast programs:

• Create a caring and inclusive school community
• Improve learning capacities
• Alleviate hunger-related stress
• Boost attendance and punctuality
• Foster a sense of engagement and belonging

We’re so humbled by YOU, our community, that never misses an opportunity to help support a good cause. Thank you!

*Evive will donate 1 smoothie to Breakfast Club of Canada for each box of 15 products, and 2 smoothies for each box of 25 products. Applicable from April 4th to 30th, 2022. 

L’article Evive Partners with Breakfast Club of Canada est apparu en premier sur Evive Blog.

Happy Thursday!
Just wanted to send you guys a message to thank you for your product. I just went through an incredibly difficult month of January, and your smoothies & meals helped me make it through by offering healthy options with minimal effort, or when efforts seemed impossible.
I have been a fan of Evive for a while, but just wanted to make the extra step to say thank you, and let you know of the positive impact of your product. 

I have a 4 year old autistic and I use these to hide in her yogurt and oatmeal. She has sensory issues and I’m very limited with her diet. These help me tremendously with getting some great nutrition into her. I have an order that comes every 4 weeks and we are cleared out by the end. Love this product, thank you Evive Smoothie for making a great product and providing me with an amazing tool for my little one’s health!!

My youngest son started losing massive weight because of the medication he was on and struggling with eating to the point of hospitalization so we started giving him your product and it has changed his life. Thank you

Evive tastes absolutely delicious and if I didn’t know the ingredients I would never guess my smoothie was full of healthy ingredients. 
As a new mom, it’s hard to find time for yourself to eat, let alone remember not to go for the family size bag of chips and make yourself a salad instead. The ease of popping the Evive cubes into a shaker cup along with liquid, letting it set while I feed my baby their bottle, and shaking and having a delicious nutritional smoothie ready to consume all by the time I put him down for his nap after feeding is such a game changer.

CONGRATULATIONS!! I just found your products a week ago in our local grocery store & I just wanted to stop by to leave a quick like! This is seriously some of the best ‘green’ smoothies I’ve had!! The YOGI is by far my fav! I also love the fact they’re cubed so I can choose how much vitamin powder I need. Honestly, thank you so much and I’m so happy for you both. The fact that your company started off with a family start, really convinced me to buy the product. Wishing so many more years of success & keeping the same quality in your hand-crafted product.

I hope you enjoyed reading these reviews from our incredible members as much as we did. I want you to know that your support, transparency, constructive feedback and enthusiasm for our new product innovations truly mean everything in the world to me, Dom and the whole Evive team.

We can’t tell you enough how grateful we are for all of you. Reading all your touching testimonials reminds us why we’re doing what we’re doing; elevating food to empower you to get more from life. 

Dom and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Disclaimer: The purpose of our blog is to inspire you, provide general wellness tips, and educate you on our products. We are not health professionals. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem without consulting with a qualified healthcare provider. Please consult your doctor with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your condition.

L’article 5 Evive Reviews That Touched Our Hearts est apparu en premier sur Evive Blog.

It’s crazy to think that now you can find our products in the frozen foods aisles of over 2,000 grocery stores across the country! Find us in Loblaws, Sobeys, Whole Foods, Healthy Planet, Safeway, Longo’s and much more, including many independent stores.

Use our store locator on our website to find your nearest grocery store. If you can’t find Evive products near you, simply let us know where you would like to find them, so we can send a request to the grocery store.

On your next grocery run, grab a bag of the following flavours: Viva, Asana, Saphir, Yogi, Pure, Touk-Touk, Samourai.

If you would like to have a wider flavour selection and receive smoothies directly to your doorstep on a bi-monthly or monthly basis, try out our online subscription!

L’article Where You Can Find Evive Smoothie Cubes est apparu en premier sur Evive Blog.

Why did we do it? For Claudia, it was the desire to have a positive impact on the well-being of her community through accessible, healthy and nutritious food. For me, it was the adventure of entrepreneurship. We knew that our strong partnership could bring Claudia’s mission to life.

At the beginning, we prepared our frozen cubes for ourselves and the people around us like our parents and our friends. Then, friends of friends started to use and enjoy Evive, and before we knew it, what was our little side project became not only a serious business, but our life as a whole. We did not see our customers as simply numbers, we felt like we were building a real community that shared our values for a more rich and healthy lifestyle. Our passion became an obsession; elevating food to improve our community’s well-being.

Though we know Evive is founded on honest and solid grounds, we recently recalled one of our new products; the Immunity smoothie. We never wanted our customers to go through this, and for that, we are sorry beyond what words can express.

While we can assure you that our products are safe, we will improve our innovation processes to ensure this doesn’t happen again. Our smoothies are produced in facilities respecting industry’s best practices. Persistently, an external lab has tested all our incoming ingredients and finished products before they’re shipped out.

We are Evive first’s consumers; Claudia and I have an Evive smoothie every morning. Our parents, our sisters, our friends and the people closest to us also have a smoothie almost every morning. The Evive brand and our smoothies have reached you, and we fully acknowledge this privilege as well as this responsibility. People invite us into their homes, trust us with their well-being, and make space for our products in their daily lives.  We must honour that, especially in our R&D process and how we bring new products to life.

Knowing that we have failed some of you will remain one of the hardest days of this journey. In the last 6 years, you believed in our mission and proved that Evive could make a difference in people’s lives. We have learned from this experience, and we believe more than ever that Evive can transform people’s freezers into a healthy destination with true, organic and nutritious food.

To accomplish this, we are putting in the work to regain your trust.

Thank you for your encouragement and kind words in the last few days. It helped us more than you know. Our strong community is what fuels us.

We look forward to seeing you on the other side.

Dominic & Claudia

For more information on the recall on the Immunity Smoothie, please click the link below:

To learn more about our factory’s certifications: HACCP, SQF certified. 

L’article January 2022: Reflections from Evive’s founders est apparu en premier sur Evive Blog.

It is with complete transparency that we announce the voluntary recall of our new Immunity smoothie for health & safety reasons due to the use of raw elderberry. This is a new ingredient that was included in this smoothie only, so please rest assured that no other Evive product is affected.

Firstly, we extend our deepest apologies to anyone who has had a negative experience or felt ill after consuming our Immunity Smoothie.

Our intention was to create for our community a new delicious and nutritious smoothie blend that would support the immune system. Elderberry is a superfood that is used in commercial food and beverages of all sorts and which use is permitted by food agencies. However, consuming raw elderberries may sometimes result in side effects that we had not foreseen, and for this reason, we have decided to voluntarily recall this flavour until further notice. Your health is, and will always be, our number one priority. 

We want to reaffirm that this recall is solely on the Immunity smoothie and that all of the other smoothie flavours and meals are safe to consume.

We understand and appreciate that as consumers, you may have questions as to how this voluntary recall came to be. We hope to answer all your questions to your satisfaction.

Dominic & Claudia 

Q & A

I have the Immunity smoothies in my freezer, what should I do?

Please DO NOT consume this product and dispose of it right away.

Why did we decide to recall the Immunity Smoothie?

The Immunity Smoothie is being recalled due to the use of raw elderberries in the formulation. 

Elderberry, due to its nutritional property, was chosen as a superfood ingredient in this particular smoothie recipe. 

Raw elderberries contain cyanogenic glycosides, a naturally occurring molecule, also found in apricot seeds and almonds, that release hydrogen cyanide when chewed or digested. In small quantities, the human body can eliminate small amounts of cyanide, which is why most people have no issue digesting such fruits and nuts. However, raw elderberries may contain a higher level of this molecule.

What symptoms have customers experienced?

Some of our customers expressed experiencing temporary negative side effects, such as digestive issues (indigestion, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea) after having consumed the Immunity smoothie. None of our customers have reported the severe effects of cyanide poisoning.

What has Evive done so far?

Our team acted on the consumer feedback immediately investigating and initiating a voluntary recall process with the CFIA and have worked closely with the department to elaborate our plan of action. The Immunity smoothie was only available through our website, which means we were able to notify all consumers who purchased the product and asked them to dispose of any Immunity smoothies and offered credit for their Immunity purchase.

What about the other Evive products?

All other Evive products are safe to consume. This situation is limited to the Immunity smoothie, as it was caused by raw elderberries, which are not found in any other product. 

The investigation being conducted by the CFIA on other Evive products is customary following a product recall, but Evive is confident that all of its other products are completely safe for consumption.

What is being done?

We have voluntarily recalled the product and are adding additional measures to our R&D and Q&A procedures. We are working closely with the CFIA and following the legal guidelines to ensure we address the situation correctly.

What are the quality and food safety processes we have in place?

• All of our current and new suppliers are vetted through an extensive process with a strict list of quality and safety criterias;
• We require certificates of analysis (COA) for all our ingredients;
• All new ingredients and new products are sent to external laboratories for microbiological analysis before being used in product formulation;
• We regularly send our finished products to an external laboratory for microbiological analysis;
• Our manufacturing sites are SQF/HACCP certified (Food Safety Programs).

What have we learned and what will we implement?

• We will increase the level of information we are asking from all new and existing suppliers;
• Every new ingredient will go through a research and risk assessment by an external certified health professional;
• We will review and improve our procedures for our quality trials, product commercialization evaluation and validation.

On behalf of everyone at Evive, we apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused. We thank you for your understanding and support as we work hard to continue rectifying the situation. 

Please do not hesitate to contact our devoted customer care team should you have any other questions or concerns. – [email protected]

Dominic & Claudia 

STATEMENT FROM THE QUEBEC POISON CONTROL CENTRE:

Last Updated: January 26, 2022

MEDIA CONTACT

L’article Recalling our Immunity smoothie est apparu en premier sur Evive Blog.

Throughout the whole nine months of pregnancy, Claudia was shining and glowing with radiant energy. I was amazed to see her belly grow—we had an app that showed us the stage at which the baby was, with 3D pictures and all. It made it more real for me, but even with that, I didn’t really have a clear picture of what my life would become (like most new parents, I guess).

So, I decided to mentally prepare for my life to change 180 degrees so that I would be as ready as one could get. Short on ideas on how to prepare, I set myself the goal of running a 100 km race before becoming a dad.

What does running have to do with becoming a dad? Not much. But still, it was meaningful for me.

Number one: it would require me to have the discipline to train for 5 months, and I believe endurance helps evoke resilience.

Number two: the race would push me to some new limits, mentally and physically, which could prepare me for the mental and physical challenge of the first few weeks everybody talks about after they have kids (lack of sleep, etc.). 

Number three: well, running long distances is something I enjoy, but I didn’t see it fitting into my life as a new dad, so I wanted to have that 100 km run checked off my bucket list.

I finished the race on June 18th, alive, proud, and well, and it was a milestone for me. I decided that I was ready and that no matter how my life would change, I would approach it in a courageous and positive way.

Six weeks later, our son Louam was born on August 4th.

Like most plans, the actual birth went quite differently than our original birth plan, but we all came out healthy and happy.

We spent the first 4 weeks in our little cocoon, at home, with no cellphone, no TV, just Clau, me and Louam. To describe Louam in a nutshell, well, he’s a happy little human with lots of hair. It was a precious time that I’ll never forget.

“I had prepared for my life to change 180 degrees, but the reality I experienced was that my life was the same, but elevated, with a deeper sense of purpose.“

Dominic Dubé, CEO Evive

Then came the time for me to cut my hair, trim my beard, and get back into my shoes at Evive. I was happy to come back. For the first few weeks, I had a renewed energy and good state of wellness, but then, some pretty big challenges started to come our way.

I slowly began to become obsessed 24/7 with our challenges at Evive, and although that was “OK” before, I felt that it wasn’t the right thing to do now that Louam was in my life. I wanted my mind to be light and joyful at home when I was with Clau and Louam. I had to learn how to detach from my work conundrums.

I’m lucky because Clau is an expert on the matter. As the brilliant yogi that she is, she has mastered the art of being present and switching her attention to what matters most. So, she’s coaching me now.

Firstly, I’m getting back into a healthy morning routine: moving my body, drinking a smoothie, taking supplements and drinking lots of water. Secondly, every day, I name 3-5 things I’m grateful for. And lastly, I log off in the evenings. Although it makes me a bit crazy to not finish work stuff at night, it’s what I want to become that’s more important: a present dad, not just physically, but mentally.

I’m now in the process of finding my balance, and full disclosure, I’m not yet following my plan consistently. However, with Clau’s help and support, I feel like I’m now training for the most significant goal; to become the dad I want to be.

L’article Evive’s CEO: My New Reality as a Father est apparu en premier sur Evive Blog.

There’s more to eating healthy than what lies on the surface—it’s become more common to take a closer look at the ingredients we’re using, and most importantly if they were conventionally or organically grown. It’s all part of knowing how, and with what, to nourish your body! For example, an American survey has determined that bananas, tomatoes, grapes, and apples are amongst the most consumed produce, year after year. However, not too many people will think twice about the number of pesticides covering their fruits, and how harmful these pesticides and the chemicals sprayed on crops are to the human body and the planet. Studies have shown that some pesticides could potentially be carcinogenic. Is that a good enough reason to forgo conventionally grown produce for organically grown altogether?  

To choose organic or not to, that is the question!

Firstly, understanding what “organic” means, barring the usual regarding steeper costs, is key. Picking organic produce instead of conventionally grown fruits and vegetables means choosing produce that was ethically grown, without dangerous pesticides or chemicals, thus promoting a healthier environment for animals and people, and ensuring a greener ecosystem.

Organic standards and certification are based on 4 core principles: 

1. Respect for living ecosystems and animal welfare 
2. Maintenance of a high degree of biodiversity and conservation of soil fertility
3. Ban the chemical synthetic pesticides and GMOs 
4. Responsible management of natural resources

So, healthier all around. And then there’s non-GMO. This is where it gets a bit tricky. Consuming truly healthy foods means being extra vigilant; organic foods are non-GMO, yet not all non-GMO foods are organic. At Evive, we’re proud to be certified non-GMO as well as offer a line of products that contain at least +70% organic ingredients. 

“We want to get as close as possible to the way nature was meant to grow things, with no synthetic pesticides, non-GMO, and overall, genuine care for the land and people’s well-being.” 

– Dominic Dube, CEO Evive

Back to the basics.

Life is complicated enough; food should be our comfort zone. That’s why, at Evive, our mission is to align our values with that of our crop producers to ensure that the ingredients we carefully select are truly healthy and harm-free. Although our ingredients aren’t 100% organic—to keep our products accessible and fairly priced—we focus on the fruits and veggies featured on the USDA’s Dirty Dozen (the fruits & veggies with the highest pesticide residue) to reduce our ecological footprint and to continue producing healthy, nutritious, and delicious products.

It’s no secret that organic food tends to be more expensive (about 15-30% more, depending on where you live), so it’s less accessible for many families. We believe that by making innovative frozen products that generate minimal food waste, we are able to offer organic products for the same if not cheaper price tag.

We genuinely care about the planet and people, and their overall well-being, so it’s a matter of understanding where our food comes from, where and how it’s grown, and how we can ensure optimal quality. As product creators and developers, we want to be knowledgeable when it comes to the ingredients we pick and their quality. To us, conventional agriculture is like a black box—one too many mysteries for comfort. We’re willingly transparent in our processes, as are the organic farmers we choose to collaborate with, to ensure appropriate measures were followed and crop audits were completed.

Overall, the most important thing is certainly to start by consuming enough fruits and vegetables. Conventional agriculture has been great at improving the efficiency of the production of food to make it wildly available and accessible. However, at Evive, with our concept allowing less than 5% food waste, we aim to make organic products accessible to more people.

L’article Why We Choose Organic Agriculture est apparu en premier sur Evive Blog.

Over the span of a single year, the average American family will waste a third of the food they purchase, and 63% of the food that is being thrown away could have been eaten. Since 1974, in North America alone, food waste has increased by 50%. So, what changed?

Over the last decade, food has become more than just something that fuels our bodies; it is a topic of conversation, a subject to dissect. Widely represented on social media, it consumes our daily feeds, yet we hardly think twice before throwing away an odd-looking carrot or a bruised apple, which eventually leads to bruised or imperfect fruit making up 40% of food waste.

Seeing the rise in food waste and its effect on the planet—food waste releases a greenhouse gas that is 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide and represents 8% of total emissions—has encouraged companies such as Loop Mission to develop alternative ways to reduce food waste and waste in general. Loop Mission is dedicated to repurposing foods deemed as “imperfect” into cold-pressed juices, thus reducing waste of perfectly viable produce. Other companies are promoting the benefits of freezing fruits and vegetables to elevate their sustainability and maintain their nutritional benefits.

Curiously enough, studies have shown that health-conscious households tend to waste more food since their diets are centred around fresh fruits, vegetables, and other perishable items. That is why, at Evive, sustainability starts even before the ingredients have made their way to the warehouses.

We use fresh fruits and vegetables, picked at their peak ripeness and blended, without accounting for the aesthetic aspect, therefore making Evive’s food waste less than 5%.

Since produce does not lose its nutritional benefits if bruised or imperfectly shaped, or even after freezing, we aim to reduce our carbon footprint by using these products as much as possible. Moreover, since our smoothies and lunches are portioned off and frozen into cubes, there is little chance of food waste on the consumer side of things as well.

To lend a helping hand and reduce food waste, follow the three R’s: reduce, reuse, and recycle, and try to:

What are some of the ways you and your family are reducing food waste in your household? We want to know!

L’article The Low-Hanging Fruit to Solving Food Waste est apparu en premier sur Evive Blog.

Our journey began two years ago when Dom first had the opportunity to speak to the frozen buyer. We were so excited and hopeful!

Unfortunately, at that time, they decided that although we had a great business in Quebec that they weren’t ready to list us in their stores.

This moment gave us direction and motivated us to prove that we could be a Canadian success. We believed in ourselves, and we had to figure out how to get the major retailers to believe in us too!

Fast forward to one year ago, we started working with a sales strategy partner who said that we had to build a story that was based on data and facts, something no buyer could ignore!

With that advice, we bought our first and critical piece of data from Neilsen Canada and it showed us just exactly how successful we were! It opened up doors to be able to speak to buyers in their own language of sales, points of distribution and our position within the category.

We built the presentation on New Years’ Eve 2019 so that our broker partners at BNQ Brand Management could present Evive to the category directors at Loblaws the first day back from holiday break, January 2020.

Within a few weeks, we had a YES from Loblaws Company Limited to list our products in their stores across Canada!!

It was through many ups and downs — like multiple launch date push backs to going from thinking we would be in 100 stores to actually confirming over 400 stores across Canada — that we learned so many lessons about patience, perseverance and never giving up!

We’re excited to be here sharing this wonderful success with all of you as we’ve officially opened up 400 Loblaws stores almost 2 years to the day we first started this journey.

You can find us in most Superstores, Loblaws, Zerhs, ValuMarts, Your independent, Dominion, Maxi’s and Provigo in the organic frozen aisles!

L’article Evive Wheels Roll Through Loblaws’ Freezers! est apparu en premier sur Evive Blog.