88. Hälsa Founders, Helena & Mika on Revolutionizing the Common Oat

Who are the faces behind Hälsa Foods and how are they revolutionizing the way oats are used? Today we are joined by Mika and Helena from natural plant-based food company Hälsa. Mika and Helena’s goal is to change how plant-based food is grown and manufactured. Their technology revolutionizes the way plant-based foods are made: without a single artificial ingredient, drastically reducing cost and waste. Their farm initiative helps U.S. dairy farmers diversify to growing premium organic oats for Hälsa the Scandinavian way— with a zero water footprint. Hälsa has created a better, healthier way, a simple process that keeps all the beneficial nutrients of whole grain oats intact. Nothing is removed and nothing artificial is added. Join us today to hear all about how they do it!    You’ll hear: Who Mika and Helena are and what Hälsa is all about 1:04 Why Hälsa began importing oat milk into the US 4:14 About the hardest part of starting their business 5:15 Why oat milk requires more water than other milk products 7:41 Where they are sourcing their oats from and why they aim to change that 8:43 Who Mika and Helena’s mentors were in their farming journey 10:25 The background of Oatgurt 14:51 The process behind making Oatgurt 16:37 Why they chose the name Hälsa for their business 26:39 How Halsa’s product is different than other plant-based products 27:02 How Halsa is set up as a business 29:03 How Halsa goes about hiring good help 32:49 Where Helena and Mika focus their marketing efforts 39:19 What the oat growing process looks like 44:28 How organic oat varieties in Scandinavia are different from the ones in the US 47:26 What type of soil is most conducive to healthy oat crops 50:27 How much land is ideal to start growing oats 54:35 About Helena and Mika’s favorite farming/gardening tool 57:08 Where you can learn more about Mika, Helena, and Hälsa 1.02:10   About the Guests: Mika & Helena of Hälsa Foods, the first 100% clean plant-based platform have introduced their first product on the market, Organic Oatgurt, with more to be launched in the future. Clean label, clean ingredients, clean process, clean everything. Hälsa has also started a program to help struggling dairy farmers have a future in plant-based food by teaching them how to grow organic oats the Scandinavian way, with a zero water footprint.   Resources: Website - https://halsafoods.com Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/HalsaOrganicPlantBased Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/halsafoods/