This post is sponsored by FitFluential on behalf of NOW Foods. All opinions are always my own.
What do you get when you bring together a small group of bloggers from around the country to Chicago to visit one of the countries top organic food, supplement, and personal care companies? You get a whole lot of fun, excitement, and knowledge. And that is exactly what happened this past week.
When I found out that I was selected to be a part of the 2016 NOW Foods Blogger immersion event, I literally jumped out of my seat. You see, if you were to come over to my house and open my pantry, there would be a sea of Now Foods and supplements. If you then took a walk up to my bathroom, you would discover another slew of NOW personal care. I have always been a big fan of their products, so when I had the chance to visit their plant, I was thrilled.
All of the other bloggers and I came in on Thursday afternoon. We arrived at the hotel and were greeted by the wonderful marketing team from NOW Foods. They had snacks, water, and gave us the schedule for the next few days. When we checked into our rooms, we were surprised with two huge bags of products. I’ve been using NOW products for a while, but there were so many things that I hadn’t seen before. After ogling over my swag bag, I unpacked and had an hour of down time.
That night we headed to dinner where we were introduced to the CEO of NOW Foods, Jim Emme. He told us the story of NOW Foods humble beginnings and how it is still to this day a family owned and operated company. Many of the employees have been working there for years and they seemed truly happy to be there. It was clear that the higher ups care about their employees. I left dinner wanting to work there, too! I love that this large family owned company is not some big conglomerate where no one cares for each other and the employees are just a number. It felt real. It felt like home.
The next day we were up bright and early for a group fitness class at LifeTime. I didn’t sleep that well and was fighting a migraine, but I did the best I could and was happy to get my heart rate going for the day. Somehow a small miracle occurred and as the day went on my migraine stayed manageable and by lunch had all but disappeared.
After our fitness class we were given a Protein Smoothie and homemade energy balls made by NOW chef Suzy Singh. I was thinking they’d be just another smoothie and ball recipe, but I was wrong. They were amazing — especially this ball RECIPE. It had raw cacao nibs in it and I don’t know if it was because I was so hungry, but it tasted divine.
We returned to the hotel to shower and pack up. We went down to the lobby where a shuttle to the NOW Food headquarters. When we arrived, we were greeted by our tour guide who has been with the company since the 80’s. They showed us a short video explaining how their products are made. Then we suited up and made our way into the area where they manufacture the products. It was a lot of information. The products come in and then must be quality tested before they are packaged. The lab techs and scientists were hard at work. The amount of testing they put the products through to ensure that they are the highest quality was truly impressive.
You may be wondering if NOW foods products are all that great. If you have any doubt that these are not the highest quality, let me assure you they do everything they can to bring you organic, non GMO ingredients. Here are just a few reasons why NOW foods is such a great line of products:
- These products are put through strenuous testing procedures to ensure that your product is the highest quality.
- NOW Foods conduct their own quality and safety tests in house, never through 3rd party labs.
- They do on site audits of suppliers to check for integrity and quality.
- It’s a family owned private company with happy employees who are treated with respect and care.
- They invest in the latest high tech equipment to test for quality and safety.
- 88% of their products are non GMO and Organic and working toward increasing that percentage. They are committed to bringing you all natural products.
- NOW Foods provides a very large selection of items ranging from food to skin care. Product categories include, supplements, sports nutrition, foods, health and beauty, essential oils, and NOW® Pets.
- Reasonable pricing and extremely high quality. They are the largest independent manufacturers of natural products in the U.S.
- They care about bringing you products that are not harmful to you or the environment.
- Not just about the bottom line, this company reinvests in new product development, the latest technology, safety, and quality control.
NOW Foods is the real deal. I liked and used them before my visit, but after careful examination and several questions later, I am convinced that they are who they say they are.
We ended our tour of the factory and went into their main building with one of their nutrition PhDs, Dr. Wendy Bazilian. She went over some nutrition facts with us and then we did two DIY project with the Director of the Personal Care line. We made these lovely Soothing Bathtub Tea Bags.
What You’ll Need
6 fillable Tea Bags
3/4 Cup of Epsom Salt
1/4 of Sea Salt
1/4 Cup of Baking Soda
1/2 Cup of dried lavender, calendula, or chamomile flowers
10-15 drops of NOW Spike Lavender essential oil
5 drops of NOW Peppermint essential oil
How To Make It
Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Take a spoon and fill tea bags. Tie a knot to seal.
Then, we moved on to their kitchen.
NOW Foods chef Suzy Singh had us do an oil tasting of their newest line, Ellyndale® Foods, (There is method to this– similar to wine tasting). After that, we made our own salad in a jar to take home with us and visited their on site vegetable garden. I was blown away by NOW’s zeal for healthy eating. This powerhouse chef is so passionate about product development, recipe creation, and her garden.
I will say one more time… I want to work here! I loved all of the employees. They treated each of us with such respect and caring. The only thing that really sucked about this trip was leaving.
Now, for the icing on the cake, I am giving one lucky U.S reader the exact same swag bag we received at our event. That’s right two giant bags full of items from several of their product categories.
It was two days full of friendship, fun, information, and passion. I feel honored and grateful to have been a part of this. A huge thank you to FitFluential for being the liaison and making occasions like this possible. I am so motivated to go home and create my own recipes and DIY’s using NOW Foods products.
Get Social with NOW Foods by following them on these channels-
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
You Tube
Join myself and the other bloggers of the 2016 NOW Foods Blogger Immersion Event for a Twitter Party, Thursday June 16 at 9PM EST.
Join @NOWFoods & the 2016 @FitFluential Blogger #NOWGetFit Crew for a Twitter Party June 16 @ 9PM EST Click To TweetAndie Thueson
Erin Bahadur
Heather Gannoe
Jennifer Fisher
Jenny Grothe
Katie Gagliano
Laura Hall
Lauren Lester
Lindsey Hein
Megan Olson
Melanie Flinn
Rebeccah Wassner
Sarah Grace Spann
Susie Lemmer
Teresa Howes
Robin Runner
This post is sponsored by FitFluential on behalf of NOW Foods.
