Our Ancient Origins Partnership with Whole Foods

By Dr. Josh Axe

Our new Ancient Origins Multi-Sourced Grass-Fed Collagen products are sourced entirely from New Zealand (NZ), a country known for producing not only some of the best grass-fed beef in the world, but also for upholding some of the strictest animal welfare, environmental and sustainability practices.

Working together with Whole Foods Market, we are raising the bar for collagen products made with only clean, environment friendly ingredients.

Our products feature collagen peptides derived from 100 percent grass-fed animals, created via traditional processes, along with real New Zealand Manuka honey powder, known to support overall health in several unique ways.

The New Zealand Connection

Why were we willing to travel across the globe to source ingredients for our Ancient Origins collagen products? Because New Zealand produces some of the highest-quality collagen and honey in the world.

We believe that products sourced from New Zealand stand out against the competition for some of the following reasons:

1. Entirely grass-fed animals

Livestock raised in NZ are generally grass-fed and pasture raised 365 days a year. The vast majority of the animals’ diets, roughly 90 to 95 percent, are made up of pasture and grass along with clean water, leading to healthier animals and less need for interventions, such as antibiotics and hormones.

2. High animal welfare standards

New Zealand is one of only four countries in the world that received a grade of A on the Animal Protection Index for their animal welfare practices. The Animal Protection Index is a classification of 50 countries around the world in regards to the commitment to protecting and improving animal welfare in legislation and policy.

The country has an Animal Welfare Act that establishes a legal duty to care for animals, requiring farmers to meet the animals’ physical and behavioral needs.

3. Strict environmental and sustainability practices

Many regions in NZ are committed to regenerative agriculture, which describes holistic farming and grazing practices that are intended to rehabilitate and enhance the entire ecosystem.

Raising cattle on grass and pasture benefits the environment by decreasing greenhouse emissions and increasing biodiversity of pasture ecosystems. Grass-fed ruminant animals help to sequester carbon into the soil, protecting the quality of soil and supporting growth of healthy microbes.

Regional councils in NZ have also enacted programs to replant vegetation along waterways to reduce runoff and improve water cleanliness, while also repopulating threatened native plants.

Additionally, in response to concerns of climate change, NZ’s in-progress Climate Change Response Amendment Bill calls for a reduction of all greenhouse gases, except biogenic methane, to net-zero by the year 2050.

4. Home to the healthiest honey in the world

Manuka honey is produced only in New Zealand by bees that pollinate the native Manuka bush.

Manuka honey’s health benefits have been known in traditional Maori health practices since the early 1800s, when European honey bees were first introduced to NZ that populated the manuka bush.

Whole Foods Partnership

Why did Whole Foods choose to partner with us? Because we share the same values regarding product sourcing, transparency and quality. The animal welfare and environmental practices that New Zealand has put into place reflect the quality and care for land and creatures that both Whole Foods and Ancient Nutrition can stand behind.

As Whole Foods puts it, the company has “standards that aren’t standard everywhere else.” They take pride in what they sell and the fact that they are a company customers can trust.

For years, Whole Foods has set the bar for quality when it comes to meat and seafood; and now they are working on extending these standards to other offerings. With a renewed focus on only offering the highest quality supplements, Whole Foods now prohibits over 100 ingredients in all of the dietary supplements they sell — ensuring that customers receive nothing but the best and feel good about the products they use, both in regards to their personal health and environmental impact.

Whole Foods is now also considered an industry-leader when it comes to animal welfare, committed to only offering products that meet hundreds of animal welfare standards, including being made without antibiotics and growth hormones. The bottom line: They won’t carry products made via manufacturing, farming and ranching practices that don’t measure up.

At Ancient Nutrition, we’re very proud to say that we work hard to source some of the most nutrient-dense and cleanest ingredients in the world for our products. Whole Foods agrees and therefore has chosen to collaborate with us, giving us the opportunity to provide our customers with top-of-the-line, sustainable collagen supplements that can promote healthy nails, skin, hair and joints.

Ancient Origins Products

Our Ancient Origins Grass-Fed, Multi-Sourced Collagen formulas are exclusively sourced from grass-fed animals raised in New Zealand’s clean, green environment. The line also leverages traditional preparations of collagen, as well as real Manuka honey.

Here are some of the key features of our Ancient Origins collagen products:

• Made from NZ beef, lamb and venison bone extract. These animals have been grass-fed 365 days a year and raised in accordance with NZ’s high animal welfare and environmental standards.
• Sweetened with New Zealand-sourced Manuka honey, which has been used for its unique properties since the early 1800s. Manuka honey is combined with monk fruit, a natural, sugar-free sweetener, to enhance the product’s flavor while keeping sugar and carbohydrates in balance.
• Non-GMO, and contains no fillers or artificial flavors/sweeteners.
• Comes in three delicious flavors: Chocolate Brownie, Honey Vanilla, and Golden Milk.

All of our collagen products are natural sources of certain essential amino acids (which form proteins).

Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body and helps give structure to tissues such as joints and skin. Like our other collagen products, when used regularly, Ancient Origins Grass-Fed, Multi-Sourced Collagen can help to promote healthy nails, skin and joints, along with supporting gut health.