Before every issue of Wander comes to life, there is always a scramble: late nights spent proofreading, or hunting down missing photo credits, or discussing last-minute swaps by the design team.
Our team makes it happen with passion, sticky notes–and lots of coffee. So when introduced to a line of “superfood lattes,” without syrups, sugars, and (gasp!) caffeine we were admitedly skeptical.
But quickly fell in love.
In fact, Blume’s blends are so good, our coffee-die-hard Editor switched to Blume’s salted caramel lattes for her afternoon beverage of choice.
Blume’s organic, plant-based powder blends get mixed up with milk (dairy or non) to become a beautiful latte. Microground for versatility, you can also use them in (actual) coffee, smoothies, oatmeal, or even baked goods.
We connected with Karen Danudjaja, Co-Founder & CEO of Blume, to find out where Blume came from and where it’s going.
Wander: First, some background! We’d love to hear how you personally got into this space.
Karen: I actually came from a background in commercial realty. It’s a culture built around coffee meetings upon coffee meetings, like many are.
With drinks on cafe menus made entirely from espresso and syrups, these daily meetings began affecting my digestion, sleep, and hormone balance. It was a challenge to find an alternative that tasted great and actually did something good for your body, so I set out on a mission to create something that would fill this gap.
I’m really proud of how much the company has grown and love that people all over North America can fill their cups with Blume.
Love the name as well – what’s behind Blume?
When I think about the word Blume, I think about Blume-ing into the best version of yourself. We hope that our superfood lattes inspire others to take 5 minutes for themselves to relax and reset so they can take on whatever lies ahead of them that day.
What was Blume’s first product?
The Turmeric blend was the first Blume baby! As an anti-inflammatory powerhouse, turmeric was one of the first superfoods that really took the wellness community by storm.
With turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, and cardamom, this blend is perfectly spiced and gives you a caffeine-free boost that brightens up your day.
How do you decide on which superfood ingredients to include?
Our main goal is to recreate the latte flavours you know and love. Once we’ve decided on the flavour profile for a new blend, we start to think about which superfoods will be a good match based on taste and function.
For example, with Salted Caramel, we knew maca would be a great ingredient because of its rich, almost caramel-like flavour. Since maca is used for hormonal support, we decided to also add in Schisandra berry too to create a mood-boosting masterpiece.
It also definitely helps that one of our team’s favourite hobbies is researching what’s new in the world of superfoods! This year we brought on a Product Development Specialist who helps to make sure the list of ingredients we use is really diverse, so you can keep getting the most from our blends.
Did you have a lot of design iterations for packaging? We adore the relaxed colours and feel.
When coming up with our packaging, we wanted it to be reflective of our brand values and mission: keep it simple, uplifting and fun.
Every time we release a new blend, the packaging is a different colour so we can continue to grow our Blume rainbow. We also do our best to keep the copy on our packaging uplifting yet informative, because we recognize how tricky it can be to purchase a food and beverage product without getting to try it out first.
There’s definitely more that goes into packaging than meets the eye!
Is there a sustainability aspect to the brand/company?
At the beginning of 2022, we made the decision to partner up with Clean Hub as a way to hold ourselves accountable for the waste we are creating.
We think transparency is important and right now our packaging isn’t recyclable, so finding a way to take care of the Earth through a different avenue was at the top of our list, as compostable packaging alternatives don’t hit the marks we need them to right now.
Our collection partner at Clean Hub, called Green Worms, helps divert 2x the plastic we create from entering our oceans. So far this year, we’ve recovered 3,934lb of plastic from the ocean, with a goal of recovering 7,000lb of plastic from the ocean by the end of 2022.
What’s next for Blume?
More and more product innovation! First on the docket is reformulating some of our fan fave’s, so they are more enjoyable than ever and preparing for the whirlwind that is the holiday season.
