Hidden Gems: Meet Maria Cebrian of Terraseed

Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Cebrian.

Hi Maria, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a third-time entrepreneur and a Forbes 1000 honoree. I have 14 years of experience in the digital and wellness industries, and my second company was acquired by Gaia, the world’s biggest conscious media platform. Now, I am set out to build companies that are good for the health of the people, the animals, and the planet. My current company Terraseed was the first vegan company to be selected by the prestigious accelerator Techstars and has already been recognized by the Natural Products Industry with a NEXTY award. I am a passionate vegan, a human-first leader, and a doer with strong determination and a love for life.

I have always loved nature and animals, and I knew the best way I could support the planet was to go vegan. I started my journey by going vegetarian and then when I tried to go fully vegan, I started feeling a bit tired or foggy. I am a long-distance mountain runner and I was worried I was not getting all the nutrients I needed. So I started taking 6 different supplements packaged in all this plastic and found out the pills and ingredients weren’t even vegan and were sourced from who knows where.

Then, I learned that every year, the US supplement industry kills billions of animals and creates billions of plastic pill bottles, damaging the most important ecosystems on our planet. It was appalling! It was then that I set out to simplify and complete vegans’ nutritional needs with sustainable and ethical supplements that have no impact on the planet.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Our journey has been extremely challenging. The supplement industry is archaic, obsolete, and very opaque. We are trying to bring sustainability to the forefront of this industry, which has not been easy at all.

We have innovated in a number of ways. First, we are the only supplement brand in the US that uses fully biodegradable pill bottles. We have come up with a completely new way of packing pills, and this means we could not find any co-packers who would be willing to assemble our packaging. We had to set up our own warehouse facilities to pack and fulfill our product, which is more costly and complex for a small startup like ours. Second, we scouted the world to find the most sustainably sourced vegan nutraceutical ingredients.

We knew we only wanted to work with the cleanest, purest, and most sustainable ingredients out there…but that came with huge challenges, for example, finding a co-manufacturer who was willing to invest R&D efforts in making our Nobel formula and mix of ingredients work. It took us 1.5 years to put together our first product, The Complete Multivitamin for Vegans.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
My company Terraseed is leading a sustainability revolution in the supplement industry by building ethical, vegan, zero-plastic nutritional products packaged in the first biodegradable pill bottle aimed to support the health of people and the health of the planet.

Every year, the US supplement industry kills 24 billion animals and creates 1.8 billion plastic pill bottles. We are here to change that! Terraseed creates the most sustainable and ethical supplements on earth. Our dietary supplement products swap animal ingredients for vegan and sustainably-sourced ones that are packaged in the first fully biodegradable pill bottle.

The supplement industry is a $60 billion market and several other vegan supplements have entered the market in the past years. However, none of these brands are bringing true innovation. They are stuck in plastic, like the rest of this industry, they don’t target the earth-conscious consumer specifically, and ethics and sustainability do not read at the core of their mission.

Terraseed stands out in the market as:

– The only supplement with minimal impact on the planet.
– The only brand using 100% biodegradable packaging.
– One of the only brands focusing on using ingredients that are ethically and sustainably sourced, without harming any animals or natural ecosystems to create our products.
– The most complete supplement for vegans.
– The most mission-driven company in the market. This has allowed us to engage our core vegan audience with a powerful brand that resonates with their values and lifestyle.

We are now working on new sustainable and vegan multivitamin supplement products with the goal of covering the nutritional needs of the whole family.

What are your plans for the future?
We want to lead a sustainability revolution in the supplement industry and bring more transparency to this industry. In fact, at Terraseed, we have conducted a report showing the impact of the US supplement industry on animals and the planet; the findings are shocking! The US supplement industry alone kills 24 billion animals every single year, and more than 50% of supplements contain at least one animal-derived ingredient.

This is why we have partnered with Animal Save Movement to build the Transparent Label Campaign and petition the FDA to include a section on the ‘Supplement Facts Label ’ which will clearly indicate if a product includes animal-derived ingredients or not. The goal of the campaign is to have more transparency about the use of animal ingredients in supplement products and raise awareness and empower consumers to make more informed purchase decisions.

Pricing:

• $35 per month

Contact Info:

• Website: terraseed.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terraseed_/?hl=en
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-cebrian-fernandez/

Image Credits
Terraseed