How This American Entrepreneur is Changing the Way People Eat in China, One Smoothie at a Time
Lizzy’s All Natural is Shanghai’s first superfood smoothie company founded by an American entrepreneur and health coach. Lizzy’s is on a mission to bring healthy food options and nutrition education to China. With two weeks left to reach their goal, the company is working to raise funds for their flagship shop using Kickstarter, an innovative crowd-funding approach.
New York, NY, April 29, 2015 --(PR.com)-- When Elizabeth Schieffelin, an American entrepreneur and holistic health coach, moved to Shanghai in 2013 she immediately saw a huge need for traceable, healthy foods. “Many of my local friends and colleagues only ate foods that came from a package, often with a longer shelf life than them. The concept of food as preventative medicine doesn’t yet exist.”
Adding to the challenge of eating raw, fresh, living foods, in China, the toxic levels of chemicals means the quality of what does exist is low. Ms. Schieffelin explains, “I’ve been a vegetarian for over ten years and found myself at wet markets buying vegetables with more pesticides on them then nutrients inside.”
Ms. Schieffelin set out to address the challenge by blending superfood smoothies and green detoxifying drinks to give to her health coaching clients and friends. As demand grew for her “Green Elixir” (celery, romaine, kale, apple, banana, pear, spirulina, lemon) and “Youth & Beauty” (kale, avocado, banana, pineapple, mint, coconut water), and addictive “Pot of Gold” (coconut water, hemp protein, blueberries, strawberries, banana, mango, agave) she began bottling the drinks and selling at Farmers Markets around Shanghai.
Ms. Schieffelin’s 2015 goal is to open a flagship shop. “Empowering education and access to healthy foods are two sides to the same coin. I am opening a community space so that we can encourage learning through seminars, cooking classes, and in the same area offer convenient options for our on-the-go lifestyles.” In addition to the shop’s food and class offerings, there will also be a library of Ms. Schieffelin’s health and personal development books for all to enjoy.
As a foreigner in China, opening a shop is far from easy though. “The hurdles we have had to jump through to get the proper licensing and find the right space has been both challenging and expensive.” Instead of traditional investment to fund the shop, Ms. Schieffelin has turned to an innovative crowd-funding platform, Kickstarter.com. In line with the website’s guidelines, entrepreneurs have a limited number of days to raise the entire fundraising goal (Ms. Schieffelin is raising $15,000 USD).
If the entire project is not funded by May 15, 2015 she will not receive any of the funding. In exchange for contributions, Ms. Schieffelin offers rewards ranging from gift certificates to one-on-one health coaching and even the option to have a smoothie crafted and named specifically the backer. Why go with this high-risk route? Ms. Schieffelin notes, “The Lizzy’s project has been community-based from the start. Kickstarter is a great way to spread the word and engage current and potential customers.”
The smoothie company, Lizzy’s All Natural, has grown over the past year to the point where she now offers over 35 different blends of detoxifying green smoothies, fruit smoothies and nut milks. Lizzy’s drinks are blended at a production kitchen and are available at several fitness studios and a popular community-based online grocery store called Kate & Kimi (www.kateandkimi.com). Xtend Barre instructor Lindsay Jernigan says, “the fitness culture is still relatively new and our clients struggle to find truly healthy post-workout drinks. We’re so glad to have Lizzy’s cleanses and smoothies available for after classes.”
It is not often that a young entrepreneur finds herself with such a positive response to a product like a smoothie, which is, in many ways, as simple and old as time. “It is not about reinventing the wheel but rather providing access to what doesn’t yet exist here in the mainstream: clean honest food made with traceable, safe ingredients.” Once the shop is open, Ms. Schieffelin plans to expand her line of food offerings, increase bi-lingual course and event offerings and expand to new parts of the city and region.
To learn more about Lizzy’s, visit the project’s pitch page here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/410012095/lizzys-all-natural-shanghais-superfood-smoothie-sh
Lizzy’s All Natural website:
http://lizzysallnatural.com/
About Elizabeth Schieffelin:
Elizabeth is the founder of Lizzy’s All Natural, a superfood smoothie company based in Shanghai. She is also a Holistic Health Coach, certified by the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Since 2013, Elizabeth has served as the Marketing Director for a farm-to-table online grocery delivery service, Kate & Kimi. Previously, she co-founded and served as VP of Sales for SafeSource Trading, a firm focused on importing safe American foods to China. Elizabeth graduated from the Georgetown University Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service in 2013 with a B.S. in East Asian Studies. Originally from Connecticut, she has been living in Shanghai since 2013 and is on a mission to empower her generation in China to eat and live well.
Elizabeth@lizzysallnatural.com
lizzysallnatural@gmail.com
+86 185-1617-5274
Adding to the challenge of eating raw, fresh, living foods, in China, the toxic levels of chemicals means the quality of what does exist is low. Ms. Schieffelin explains, “I’ve been a vegetarian for over ten years and found myself at wet markets buying vegetables with more pesticides on them then nutrients inside.”
Ms. Schieffelin set out to address the challenge by blending superfood smoothies and green detoxifying drinks to give to her health coaching clients and friends. As demand grew for her “Green Elixir” (celery, romaine, kale, apple, banana, pear, spirulina, lemon) and “Youth & Beauty” (kale, avocado, banana, pineapple, mint, coconut water), and addictive “Pot of Gold” (coconut water, hemp protein, blueberries, strawberries, banana, mango, agave) she began bottling the drinks and selling at Farmers Markets around Shanghai.
Ms. Schieffelin’s 2015 goal is to open a flagship shop. “Empowering education and access to healthy foods are two sides to the same coin. I am opening a community space so that we can encourage learning through seminars, cooking classes, and in the same area offer convenient options for our on-the-go lifestyles.” In addition to the shop’s food and class offerings, there will also be a library of Ms. Schieffelin’s health and personal development books for all to enjoy.
As a foreigner in China, opening a shop is far from easy though. “The hurdles we have had to jump through to get the proper licensing and find the right space has been both challenging and expensive.” Instead of traditional investment to fund the shop, Ms. Schieffelin has turned to an innovative crowd-funding platform, Kickstarter.com. In line with the website’s guidelines, entrepreneurs have a limited number of days to raise the entire fundraising goal (Ms. Schieffelin is raising $15,000 USD).
If the entire project is not funded by May 15, 2015 she will not receive any of the funding. In exchange for contributions, Ms. Schieffelin offers rewards ranging from gift certificates to one-on-one health coaching and even the option to have a smoothie crafted and named specifically the backer. Why go with this high-risk route? Ms. Schieffelin notes, “The Lizzy’s project has been community-based from the start. Kickstarter is a great way to spread the word and engage current and potential customers.”
The smoothie company, Lizzy’s All Natural, has grown over the past year to the point where she now offers over 35 different blends of detoxifying green smoothies, fruit smoothies and nut milks. Lizzy’s drinks are blended at a production kitchen and are available at several fitness studios and a popular community-based online grocery store called Kate & Kimi (www.kateandkimi.com). Xtend Barre instructor Lindsay Jernigan says, “the fitness culture is still relatively new and our clients struggle to find truly healthy post-workout drinks. We’re so glad to have Lizzy’s cleanses and smoothies available for after classes.”
It is not often that a young entrepreneur finds herself with such a positive response to a product like a smoothie, which is, in many ways, as simple and old as time. “It is not about reinventing the wheel but rather providing access to what doesn’t yet exist here in the mainstream: clean honest food made with traceable, safe ingredients.” Once the shop is open, Ms. Schieffelin plans to expand her line of food offerings, increase bi-lingual course and event offerings and expand to new parts of the city and region.
To learn more about Lizzy’s, visit the project’s pitch page here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/410012095/lizzys-all-natural-shanghais-superfood-smoothie-sh
Lizzy’s All Natural website:
http://lizzysallnatural.com/
About Elizabeth Schieffelin:
Elizabeth is the founder of Lizzy’s All Natural, a superfood smoothie company based in Shanghai. She is also a Holistic Health Coach, certified by the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Since 2013, Elizabeth has served as the Marketing Director for a farm-to-table online grocery delivery service, Kate & Kimi. Previously, she co-founded and served as VP of Sales for SafeSource Trading, a firm focused on importing safe American foods to China. Elizabeth graduated from the Georgetown University Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service in 2013 with a B.S. in East Asian Studies. Originally from Connecticut, she has been living in Shanghai since 2013 and is on a mission to empower her generation in China to eat and live well.
Elizabeth@lizzysallnatural.com
lizzysallnatural@gmail.com
+86 185-1617-5274
Contact
Lizzy's All Natural
Elizabeth Schieffelin
+8618516175274
www.lizzysallnatural.com
Elizabeth Schieffelin
+8618516175274
www.lizzysallnatural.com
Contact
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