Meet Cal St. Denis and Treely Foods

Meet Cal St. Denis: husband and father, healthcare marketing leader, entrepreneur. Born in Ontario and currently a resident of Boston, he has NJ ties: he is a marketing and commercialization lead in the medical device division of J&J. NJ is also the distribution home for his entrepreneurial venture: Treely Foods, a producer of good-for-you, good-for-the-planet. tree-friendly nutritional bars. We spoke with Cal about his sustainability journey earlier this month.

Q: Cal, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you came by your love of nature?

A: I grew up in Southern Ontario, in the country surrounded by forest. My parents instilled in my sister and me a love of nature and the outdoors. We’d have adventures in the forest every day, we would come up with games and excuses to be outside all day long. We grew up thinking that the world is our playground. But as we get older, we realize that there is a finite means to explore and the more we read and the more we educate ourselves, we come to find that we can and must be better stewards of the planet. We can all have an impact. When someone says, “It is only 1 tree, it is only 1 compost,” I say, “what if 2 people did 2 things, then 3 people did 3 things.” We all have an obligation to do our part.

Q: How do you experience the environment today, living in the city of Boston?

A: My wife Remy and I both grew up loving the outdoors and everything this planet has to offer. The first summer we both lived in Boston, we took every weekend and explored every beach we could that was accessible to Boston. We loved skiing, hiking and I introduced Remy to cycling, a great way to take in all the history that Boston has to offer. Every city we visit, we hop on a bike to explore. And we made a pact that when we had children, we would get them out every day of their lives in all kinds of weather, that we would pass along our love of nature to our little ones. We subscribe to the Danish ethos, “There is no bad weather, only bad clothing.”

Even our little 12X12 plot of land here in the city affords us the opportunity to teach, to learn, to have fun: we plant vegetables, we compost.

Q: With a toddler (Esme, nearly 3), a newborn (Louie, 2 months), and a demanding corporate job, why start your own business?

A: That goes back a little into my history. First, there is a sense of purpose. I went to a mission-based liberal arts college that impressed upon me the importance of being a good steward of humanity, and the only corporate life I’ve known is at a company (J&J) that is itself a credo-based business. So, it was natural that any business I would create would lean mission-based.

Plus, I always knew I wanted to launch a business…and I love learning by charting my own path. If I see footsteps in the snow, I will always create my own.

1. Why nutritional bars?
2. I had no experience in manufacturing a grocery product, but I had a passion for nutritional bars. I really enjoyed making them on my own and I had a mission I wanted to leverage through business.

Q: Tell us about that mission.

1. First, I was convinced that there was room in the market for a nutritional bar that truly could be good for your body and good for the planet. That is the foundation. Also, I wanted to challenge major corporations that put profits before planet. I know that many companies now have corporate social responsibility programs and sustainable initiatives, but how robust are they? And finally, we have the power as consumers to choose what we put into our bodies…not just for nutritional purposes but for environmental purposes. We don’t always have to buy what’s cheapest, what’s most convenient, what’s most readily accessible. I would like to help change that mindset, to show people they can make a difference by choosing products other than what’s right in front of them on a daily basis.
2. What makes Treely different in a crowded category?
3. Treely bars check off all the major boxes—gluten-free, high protein, high fiber, and great-tasting with all-natural ingredients. But they are the only major nutritional bar that is also tree-free: Our packaging is made not from tree-sourced paper, but from a sugar cane by-product that conveys shelf stability, is biodegradable, BPA free, chlorine and dye-free, commercially compostable, and certified USDA bio-preferred. In addition, we partner with Eden Restoration Projects (edenproject.org), an organization that works with local communities to restore forests on a massive scale, thereby creating jobs, protecting ecosystems, and helping mitigate climate change. Every purchase of a Treely bar funds the planting of a new tree.
4. What are your hopes for Treely Foods in the next year or two?
5. I’d like to see it on more grocery shelves in New England, and eventually migrate further out into the US. I would like to see Treely as a success story of how to integrate sustainability into the day-to-day practices of any business; of how the grocery business, an otherwise wasteful industry, can be reimagined.
6. Why did you decide to partner with EarthShare New Jersey?
7. When I look to partner with a company or an organization, it’s important that they align with our mission and subscribe to our sustainability beliefs. ESNJ is a group of like-minded individuals and organizations who are coming together to raise awareness, money and create opportunities for others to get involved in protecting our environment. Like Treely Foods, they are a grassroots organization that asks the question “what better can we do for the society in which we live?”

Treely bars come in two flavors: chocolate peanut butter and blueberry almond. Samples will be available at EarthShare NJ Rocks taking place on Saturday, March 26^th at Martell’s Tiki Bar in Point Pleasant, NJ. Friends of EarthShare NJ can also order them using our special discount code EARTHSHARENJ for 25% off any size order at https://treelyfoods.com/collections/shop-bars.