Julie Carter

Julie Carter

Aiming at Organic Food Buyers

Development of the Business

The first products of the Down East Sprouts Company were grown by Julie Carter in the basement of her house in Maine after her husband, Bob, lost his job at Illinois Bell and took a New England sales job in 1970. She initially sold her alfalfa sprouts to local health food shops, grocery stores and food co-ops. By 1980 the business had grown sufficiently for her husband to quit his job and join it. In 1990 when their son, Michael, bought 44 acres for expansion, built a home and set up a new sprouts production plant the business was moved out of the family basement.

Meanwhile, their daughter, Abby, had moved from Manhattan to Maine, where her husband, Doug, began driving a delivery truck for the business. On one delivery he tasted a bottle of fresh carrot juice and as a result persuaded the Carters to buy the company that produced it in 1992. Abby, who became a working artist at age 11 by starting a greeting card company with her grandmother and was now illustrating children's books, created a character named for her daughter, Samantha, for the logo of their new Fresh Samantha Juice Company.

By 1998 Fresh Samantha produced and sold nearly two dozen all-natural fruit and vegetable "super-premium" juices, "nutritionals" and "smoothies" to markets across New England and New York. Flavors included Desperately Seeking C, Spirulina Fruit Blend, Banana Strawberry, Mama Mango and Raspberry. All were completely free of any artificial sweeteners or preservatives and were bottled in recyclable plastic and packaged with recyclable materials. Processing residuals were sold to farmers for animal feed.

Market for Organic Foods

According to a 1997 survey by Hartman and New Hope the "organic market" had sales of $3.5 billion and had been doubling every 3.5 years since 1990. Among U.S. consumers 18 percent were characterized as "strongly interested" in buying organic products, while 26 percent...