4 Valentine's Day candy options free of dyes and chemicals

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4 Valentine's Day candy options free of dyes and chemicals

BY FARM2ME EDITORS
2 MINUTE READ 

Rawmio's Chocolate covered sweet cherries / chocolate covered dried cherries are dark chocolate-covered cherries. Chocolate covered dried cherries / Chocolate covered dried sweet cherries are covered in a proprietary blend of rich dark chocolate. Made in our own candy kitchen with only the finest ingredients. How do you improve on organic goodness straight from nature

Madhu Chocolate Chocolate Covered Strawberries are thrilled to offer Chocolate-Covered Strawberries, made with Madhu’s rich, handcrafted chocolate for the first time ever! Each order includes 8 perfectly dipped strawberries.

Rotten Gummies and Sour Gummies made from good for you ingredients, trying to disrupt the candy aisle.

Better Sour sour gummies brand made from better for you ingredients, trying to disrupt the bandy aisle.

Pro Tip #1

Challenge: Try a side by side of store bought Seaweed Snacks and WOW Seaweed, or have your kids try. Secret of kids adoption!

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SEAFOOD

The Power of Standards and Consumer Choice

While many awards and ratings systems are pay-to-play and lack meaningful standards, like renting booths or paying with samples, the real power lies in setting transparent, values-driven benchmarks that allow consumers to make informed choices. Instead of arbitrary rankings, brands should be evaluated based on clear, ethical criteria that matter to the communities they serve.

Setting Meaningful Standards Matters

A true support system for emerging brands should prioritize:

  • Ingredient Transparency: Consumers deserve to know what goes into their products, how they're sourced, and whether they align with health, sustainability, and ethical labor practices.

  • Sustainability and Ethical Sourcing: Brands that prioritize environmental responsibility and fair labor should be elevated over those cutting corners for profit.

  • Community Impact: Supporting brands that reinvest in their communities fosters a stronger, more equitable food and consumer goods ecosystem.

Without real standards, the marketplace is dictated by who can spend the most on marketing, not by who is producing the best or most responsible products.

Let Consumers Vote With Their Dollars

Consumers have immense power to shape the industry by choosing where they spend their money. When brands and platforms prioritize transparency over advertising dollars, they empower consumers to make purchases that align with their values.

  • Direct-to-Consumer and Community Support: When consumers buy directly from brands that align with their values, they reinforce the importance of ethical business practices.

  • Avoiding Corporate-Influenced Rankings: Consumers should be skeptical of awards and lists that lack transparency about how selections are made. Instead, they should seek out businesses that are recommended by real communities and trusted platforms that disclose their selection process.

  • Shifting the Industry from Pay-to-Play to Value-Based Support: When consumers prioritize products based on quality, sustainability, and ethics rather than marketing budgets, they create demand for a more equitable marketplace.

Farm2Me’s Commitment to Consumer-Driven Change

Rather than awarding arbitrary scores or hosting expos designed to generate revenue, Farm2Me focuses on setting meaningful standards for supporting brands. By providing visibility to businesses that meet ethical and sustainable benchmarks, Farm2Me empowers consumers to vote with their dollars—ensuring that success is driven by quality and integrity, not just marketing budgets.

PARTNER

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 GROCERY

Buy Gifts at Local Tiny Grocers

Farm2Me Map of Independent Grocers is not just a map – it’s a vibrant, living community celebrating the hardworking shops and shopkeepers you pass by every day.

Get lost in the intricate stories of shop owners. Discover their journeys, the products they love, and the reasons behind what they do.

Take advantage of the map when you’re visiting a new neighborhood, when you’re traveling around the country / world, or just looking for something special in your neighborhood.

SEAWEED

Iodine Salt from Seaweed vs Lab Salt

A staggering 68% of the global population is iodine deficient. But there’s an easy, delicious way to get your daily dose of iodine with Spicewell! Spicewell Salt products are enriched with iodine sourced naturally from kelp (seaweed), along with over twenty essential vitamins and minerals.

Why use a kelp iodized salt vs a chemically iodized salt? Simple answer is ABSORPTION! Our bodies absorb 80% of the iodine from kelp and only 20% from a lab created iodine. Why? Because our human cells prefer natural compounds occurring in nature, over synthetic salt / iodine made in a lab. Think about Farm2Me’s mission: naturally occurring products are absorbed better by the cells of our body (organic sugar over synthetic sugar-free sweeteners) — and in this case 80% (Seaweed’s Iodine) to 20% (Lab Made Salt’s Iodine) absorption by cells.

Why is this important? Iodine is crucial to metabolism, turned into Thyroxine in your Thyroid, Iodine is an element used in Thyroxine and other hormones created by the Thyroid gland as part of metabolism (cell growth) and cellular digestion. Think about people with Hypothyroidism (under performing Thyroid gland), which means less Thyroxine produced (less Iodine) — these patients have a problem with their metabolism (low metabolism without Thyroxine means they gain weight, are groggy and tired, lower energy). Many of us don’t think about the difference between 1 ingredient from another, 1 tomato from another, 1 salt from another. But there is a difference! 80% absorption vs 20% absorption.

This has been our mission at Farm2Me — to help consumers understand that — to increase knowledge about this, improve access to more natural / transparent / organic products found locally rather than chemically grown or lab produced over processed (ultra processed products like snacks and drinks and baked goods plaguing the grocery stores).

Whether you’re adding a pinch of Spicewell’s superfood salt to your dish or seasoning with Spicewell’s turmeric-infused pepper, you’re supporting your health in every bite.

LOCAL FARMS

Farmers Markets to find Sustainable Gifts

Farm2Me Guide of Farmers Markets is not just a map – you can finally search by day, location, and see what’s open — it’s a vibrant, living community celebrating the hardworking farms and makers all over the country, every day.

Get lost in the intricate stories of the farms. Discover their journeys, the products they love, and the reasons behind what they do.

Take advantage of the map when you’re visiting a new neighborhood, when you’re traveling around the country / world, or just looking for something special in your neighborhood.

SPONSOR

Tovala

NON-ALCOHOLIC

600+ Non-Alcoholic Shops for Emerging Gifts

Farm2Me Map of Non-Alc Grocers is not just a map – it’s a vibrant, living community celebrating the hardworking shops and shopkeepers you pass by every day.

Get lost in the intricate stories of shop owners. Discover their journeys, the products they love, and the reasons behind what they do.

Take advantage of the map when you’re visiting a new neighborhood, when you’re traveling around the country / world, or just looking for something special in your neighborhood.

COFFEE ROASTERS

Coffee Roasters Near By with Local Gifts

Farm2Me Map of Independent Grocers is not just a map – it’s a vibrant, living community celebrating the hardworking shops and shopkeepers you pass by every day.

Get lost in the intricate stories of shop owners. Discover their journeys, the products they love, and the reasons behind what they do.

Take advantage of the map when you’re visiting a new neighborhood, when you’re traveling around the country / world, or just looking for something special in your neighborhood.

AI TOOLS

Tech tools powering the best DTC brands

Rebuy: AI-powered personalization for e-commerce (link)
Klaviyo: Email personalization with AI integrations (link)
Smartly.io: Personalize your Ads 100,000x with AI, per geography and customer use case (link)
Range.me: Meet 3 buyers free, and over 50,000+ emerging food buyers (link)
Okendo: Reviews & Loyalty based on paclaging, flavor, ingredients, CX, and more (link)
Fairing: Attribution Surveys to help make sense of customer intent blackholes (link)
Algolia: Personalized Search using AI for e-commerce (link)
Braze: Personalized Customer Profile Databases (CDP) (link)

THAT’S A WRAP

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Stay Cute,
Garry & The Farm2Me Team 🌈

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