New Leaf World Markets, Inc. – In 2013

In keeping with the spirit of the Maya ‘dawning of a new era,’ New Leaf in 2013 will have evolved into a critical inflection point for its early implementation stage as of December 22, 2012. In this final chapter, I want to reflect back on our story and the pursuit of our global endeavor.

New Leaf World Markets’ ‘Values and Brand’:

New Leaf is a unique and dynamic business model designed to bring the power of private enterprise, social engineering, entrepreneurship, and technology to bear on the problems of rural indigenous poverty and environmental degradation in the world’s developing regions.

New Leaf is a ‘2040 Outlook Company’ starting many more ‘2040 Outlook Indigenous Companies’, that incorporate social and environmental goals into their business plans and consider them an integral part of their financial objectives.

The New Leaf World ‘Marketplace’ is an online and e-commerce community that interconnects, through mutual interest, collaborative New Leaf partners:

• You and other Founding Members (socially conscious consumers).
• Rural indigenous populations
•  Indigenous projects (i.e. 2013 – Maya Global 2012).
• Founding Corporate Sponsors
• Founding Academia co-development partners.

Healthy, natural products. From the Maya to your doorstep.

Attributes of New Leaf World Markets:

I.
New Leaf’s most innovative product is the ‘Marketplace’ itself

1. New Leaf is an online community connecting people, products and information.
2. New Leaf is an online store that sells natural, healthy, and beneficial consumable products.
3. The ‘Marketplace’ is built on a foundation of trust with its ‘Socially Conscious Member Customers’.
4. The products are made in underdeveloped regions of the world.
5. The products are well priced and the money is not going to middlemen.
6. 90% of every dollar spent goes directly to our producing indigenous companies.
7. Members can see the social and environmental benefits their purchases provide.
8. The trust is established as the members see each company being built.
9. Each company is built with member participation and knowledge.
10. The transparent ‘Marketplace’ gives every member full access to producers.
11. Members know the wholesome products are produced the right way.
12. Members connect with each other to assist the startup of more producers.
13. Members can easily access information about participating companies.
14. Members can meet the people who work at the companies on the website.
15. Customers can trace products from ‘the ground to the package’.

II.
Indigenous Companies developed by New Leaf, including New Leaf, has a mission that includes social, economic, and environmental goals.

1. Every company must meet New Leaf’s Standard of Operation.
2. Indigenous people own the companies that produce the products.
3. They are dedicated to poverty relief and improving the natural environment.
4. The companies embrace profit sharing and employee ownership.
5. New Leaf supports the companies with grants from the New Leaf Seed Foundation.
6. New Leaf Seed Foundation is supported by New Leaf’s operation, Corporate Sponsors and small donations by members and others.
7. The companies are agriculture based and utilize land-enriching techniques.
8. Local growers are enlisted to provide a broad base of economic participation.
9. The growers and the companies form a co-operative bond of mutual benefit.
10. The companies retain, in-house, all value added processes to create better jobs.
11. The companies support local community foundations with their profits.
12. The foundations create projects like health clinics, schools, and water systems.
13. The companies’ successes have a profound ripple effect on local economies.

Thank You for your continuing support as we enter into the year 2013…

To My Mayan Friends

A  Prosperous 2013 – ‘Dawning of a New Era’

We all know the importance of the 5,240-year ending of the Maya calendar on December 21, 2012. Doomsayers have been preaching that it is the ‘end of time’. As of today, December 22, I am sure many of these same doomsayers are now saying it is only the beginning of the ‘end of time’…they better get over it! The Maya believes December 22, 2012 is really the ‘dawning of a new era’ and 2013 is the start of humankind’s pursuit for a better existence for all, with the reversal of rural poverty and environmental degradation in the forefront.

New Leaf World Markets, Inc. believes people are beginning to understand the dire consequences of continuing deleterious agricultural practices around the world. There is now a renewed emphasis throughout the world on organic methods and green technology. Consumers seek out products produced by these new methods. The many benefits of thriving ecosystems that support sustainable agrarian economies are more fully understood. The combination of these trends has convinced New Leaf that it is possible to bring positive and lasting change to these areas while significantly raising the standard of living to eliminate poverty.

There are many worthy efforts that have already begun around the world to help people living in these areas. Most are on a very small scale and their progress is slow. NEW LEAF will identify the most promising efforts and assist them. NEW LEAF can provide realistic assessments, sound planning and business acumen. Fledgling businesses will be given the chance to create optimized expansion plans designed to multiply their impact on the local economies. NEW LEAF will bring those plans to fruition by infusing debt free capital and gaining access to wider markets. This will be done by utilizing our network community of socially conscious members. Network members will be afforded the opportunity to learn about selected businesses and their efforts to improve life in their regions. Interested members can elect to financially support the business by making micro-contributions to NEW LEAF’s incubation fund for that business. Products from that business will be made directly available to network members. Members can choose to support these efforts by contributing capital and purchasing products.

NEW LEAF envisions a series of independent indigenous businesses, scattered around the world, that are united through NEW LEAF’s unique global community with an ever growing group of individuals interested in supporting the businesses’ efforts to lift their regions out of economic and environmental poverty. This is a maintainable model that is not reliant on a few individuals. The network, with New Leaf’s Founding Corporate Sponsors, the New Leaf Seed Foundation, and academia partners, is capable of supporting many enterprises because it can grow and expand as interest and demand grow.

We are honored to share this revolutionary experience with the world and enter into the “dawning of a new era” with the hope that our world will become a better place for generations to come.  Please check back next week to learn what we have in store for 2013!

New Leaf Academia and Corporate Partnerships – Why?

As discussed in Chapters 8-11, New Leaf World Markets, Inc. is all about connecting individuals and entities, with shared values and goals, into a new world community centered around New Leaf’s Online ‘Marketplace.’

New Leaf’s partnerships with Academia and Corporate Founding Sponsors are very important. These partnerships are active by participating in long-term funding and building our indigenous projects around the world, starting with Maya Global 2012 in 2013. Our academic partners have strong existing graduate programs specializing in helping underdeveloped nations needing critical solutions to reverse serious social, economic, and environmental problems.  Our academic partners will participate, through New Leaf’s graduate student mentoring programs, in critical disciplines that are at the center of building the indigenous projects such as crop production and soil reclamation, products processing and manufacturing, marketing and communication, and technology. These academic internships will become globally recognized educational programs and fulfill New Leaf’s on-going need for younger developers and builders.

Mayan products made available through the power of education and private enterprise

No business or project is sustainable without the proper funding and hands-on support in communicating and marketing the message and brand. Our exclusive Founding Corporate Sponsors will fulfill this need. The New Leaf Seed Foundation is partially funded by our exclusive corporate sponsorships purchased by companies that want to establish their corporate responsibility and bonafides. These companies are working to integrate philanthropic strategy more fully with company-wide business objectives. Corporations today are equally prioritizing sponsorships that can show effective and sustainable philanthropic improvements and results, and create marketing benefits for their companies.

Our Founding Sponsors are companies that:

• Market to socially conscious consumers with the objective to expand their reach.
• Place a high value on worldwide positive brand image.
• Have a history of investing in non-profits focused on rural development in developing nations.
• Have a history of investing in sustainable development and environmental improvement.
• Place large mutual emphasis on reversing poverty and environmental degradation in one swoop.
• Have a history of charitable giving with a possible monetary return on investment.

Please stay tuned for Chapter 13 to be released on December 23^rd, as we enter into the ‘Dawning of a New Era’ with the Maya and the rest of the world.

New Leaf’s Indigenous Projects = Tangible Results

The New Leaf ‘Marketplace’, as graphically illustrated in Chapter 7, is sustainable and will produce positive and tangible social, environmental, and economic results through New Leaf’s rural indigenous projects.

The products made are the figurative fruits produced by each project. They are shipped directly to the New Leaf network of conscious consumers that purchase them from their place of origin and provide the economic fuel needed to sustain each product. Their success in the ‘Marketplace’ will produce tangible results.

• Tangible Social Improvements – The various social changes brought about by the economic success of New Leaf projects, such as increased standards of living, community projects like the development of clean water and sanitation systems, health advancements, and educational progress.
• Tangible Environmental Results – These are the environmental accomplishments that are achieved by the success of the various New Leaf projects in their regions. They will be restoring depleted soil nutrients without chemicals. They will be reversing deforestation from many years of clear cutting by building ‘New Useful Forests’ and other sustainable agricultural systems at the same time eliminating air pollution and poor water conditions.

Important Attributes: Each New Leaf project and their companies must meet New Leaf’s Standards of Operation.

• Products are made in rural underdeveloped regions of the world.
• Indigenous people own the companies that produce the products.
• They must embrace profit sharing and employee ownership.
• They are dedicated to poverty relief and improving the natural environment.
• The companies are agriculture based and utilize land-enriching techniques.
• Local growers are enlisted to provide a broad base of economic participation.
• The growers and the companies form a co-operative bond of mutual benefit.
• The companies retain all value-added processes to create better jobs.
• The companies support local community foundations with their profits.
• The companies’ successes have a profound ripple effect on local economies.
• Each company is built with New Leaf’s network of conscious customers’ participation and knowledge.
• New Leaf’s transparent ‘Marketplace’ gives every customer full access to producers.
• Customers know the wholesome products are produced the right way to create a natural and healthy product.
• Customers can see the social benefits that their purchases provide.
• Customers connect with each other to assist the start up of more producers every year.
• The products are well priced and the money is not going to middlemen.

Please stay tuned for Chapter 12 to learn more about New Leaf and how we intend to provide you, the conscious consumer, with healthy and natural products straight from our indigenous projects to your doorstep.

The Justification For New Leaf’s Existence

Rural indigenous projects like Maya Global 2012 are the center of New Leaf’s existence. There are numerous places throughout the world where generations of poor agricultural and Silva cultural practices have resulted in depleted soils that are unable to produce a crop, denuded hillsides in a constant state of erosion and overgrazed ranges that can no longer support livestock. Oftentimes, the ownership interests that reaped the benefits of production moved on after the devastation and left behind an indigenous population that was relegated to extreme poverty while trying to subsist off the spent earth. Many of these people are compelled to leave their homelands and migrate to cities where they live in even more deplorable conditions. This cycle can be reversed. Often times however, there is no one willing to make the required effort to turn things around and embark on an effort to change conditions. The indigenous peoples usually have no political clout and potential returns from investment are overlooked for safer returns elsewhere.

Jeff Remmel and Chorti Director Omar on a deforested mountainside east Guatemala

New Leaf World Markets will enter this void and provide the means needed to change the status quo. New Leaf sees an opportunity that has come about in recent years. New Leaf believes that the key to success in reversing these downward cycles is connectivity. A major aspect of the problem has been isolation. Not enough people are aware of conditions in devastated places of the world. People living in those regions are totally disconnected from those that might provide solutions. Efforts to provide solutions are often plagued by traditional obstacles such as lack of capital and access to markets. The internet has brought profound changes to modern society. Access to information is virtually instantaneous. Electronic communication unites people all across the globe. Yet, these neglected pockets of ruin are largely untouched by the online revolution. New Leaf wants to connect these pockets to the vast resources that already exist online. The dominant emergence of web-based social networks presents a unique opportunity to connect those that want to help with those that need help.

In Chapter 11, we will present more about how our indigenous projects and their products will be able to meet the criteria to be a part of New Leaf World Markets.

An Interconnected World Community

As mentioned in Chapter 8, there are five entity-partners that are interconnected parts of the New Leaf World ‘Marketplace.’ You and I, as members of the conscious consumer’s demographic group, make the existence of the ‘Marketplace’ possible.

Socially conscious consumers are a fast growing segment of the retail marketplace. These consumers share a number of concerns. They are worried that years of neglect and abuse have put the planet in a precarious position. Climate change is just the most tangible of the consequences. These consumers are also concerned with genetically altered seeds, the additives that are prevalent in packaged foods produced by large international conglomerates, the chemicals that are regularly injected into livestock and a host of other issues. They believe that changes in lifestyle are required to break out of a downward spiral towards an unsustainable future. They are willing to make that change.

Bringing unique markets to the consumer

These consumers actively seek out products and solutions that will help them lead renewed lives. They are becoming a genuine market force. It must be recognized that there is a political element to these consumers, as well. They are not just interested in their own health. They are concerned about the planet and their fellow man. There is a sense that western society has somehow failed the third world. They worry that many regions are being exploited and environmentally ravaged in order to provide goods and services to advanced nations. The huge disparities in wealth and widespread poverty in emerging regions are seen as immense problems requiring personal action. The highly publicized actions of Bono, Angelina Jolie, Madonna and many other celebrities find very receptive audiences. People care very much about these issues, and they have repeatedly demonstrated their willingness to do business with corporations that share their concerns and values.

In Chapter 10, we’ll explain further why New Leaf World Markets’ focus is on rural and impoverished indigenous populations and their projects…like Maya Global 2012.

The New Leaf On-line ‘Marketplace’

We will show in succeeding chapters, the significance of New Leaf’s partners and how they are interconnected, through mutual interest, by the New Leaf World on-line ‘Marketplace’. These partners are:

1. New Leaf’s socially conscious consumer members.
2. Rural indigenous populations.
3. New Leaf’s indigenous projects (i.e. Maya Global 2012).
4. Corporate Sponsor partners.
5. Academia co-development partners.

New Leaf World ‘Marketplace’ is an e-commerce company that will seize the attention of socially conscious consumers by giving them exactly what they want. This increasingly significant, retail demographic wants to buy products with true and verifiable social and environmental benefits—not just products hyped as “green” with no reliable authentication. The New Leaf World ‘Marketplace’ will showcase indigenous products from locally owned small businesses (i.e. Maya Global 2012) that meet the complex needs and requirements of fair trade and planetary sustainability. New Leaf selects, invests in and prepares each company for participation in the global economy.

The New Leaf World ‘Marketplace’ takes the metaphor of the “Global Village” to a new practical reality by integrating two temporarily distinct market structures: the ancient model where local people mingle with small traders to both buy goods and exchange information and the modern e-commerce site where goods are viewed and purchased by people using machines in their homes with no human interaction required. New Leaf will offer a seamless collaboration between conscious consumers, social entrepreneurs, and truly “Green” producers that will achieve a conglomerate society sharing a new public identity and manifest solidarity of cultural purpose that will go well beyond more narrowly defined Internet businesses such as Amazon, Facebook, or eBay.

New Leaf and its indigenous projects’ supporting members and other visitors are part of the very large, and growing, number of socially conscious consumers:

• 66%-79% of Americans agree it’s important to buy products with social and environmental benefits. (BBMG Conscious Consumer Report; & Cone Cause Evolution Study)
• 51%-61% of Americans are willing to pay more for such products. (BBMG Conscious Consumer Report; & Global Edelman Good Purpose Study)
• 90% of all people consider themselves conscious consumers. (Earth Advertising Report)
• 233,720,372 people over 18 live in the United States. (2010 U.S. Census)

Introducing New Leaf World Markets, Inc.

I spent most of 2009-2010 thinking about Maya Global 2012’s future. What sort of future is in store for the Maya people in rural areas who face the problems of dire poverty, environmental degradation, and geo-political imbalance? During this time period, I continued my correspondence with colleagues and collaborators in Honduras and Guatemala.

For years, as the business-type person I am, I wanted to be a part of the changing landscape in the 21st Century by looking at how private enterprise and social innovation will change, in tandem, to benefit more people in a sustainable way. My good friend and business associate, Gordon Cross, and I developed a new business model and formed New Leaf World Markets, Inc with the goal of accomplishing just that.

A Community of Shared Values & Goals: A Sphere of Interconnectivity

New Leaf World Markets, Inc. is a unique and dynamic business model designed to bring the power of private enterprise, technology, entrepreneurship, and social engineering to bear on the problems of rural poverty and environmental degradation in the world’s developing regions. New Leaf shows that it is not only possible, but highly sustainable, to combine social and business goals in a company’s mission. New Leaf’s core belief is that widespread poverty and environmental degradation in developing regions can best be fought by unleashing the power of capitalism through the launch of numerous businesses funded by New Leaf, but owned by indigenous entrepreneurs and communities. Maya Global 2012, with its indigenous enterprises, is our first such project.

New Leaf World Markets, Inc. is a ‘2040 Outlook Company’ that is starting many more ‘2040 Outlook companies’ that will operate with the goals, priorities and methods that all companies will use by 2040. They incorporate social and environmental goals into their business plans and consider them an integral part of their financial objectives. The achievement of these goals is the key to sustainability of the enterprise. Successful companies achieve their social goals while satisfying their stakeholders. They utilize their profits to benefit their stakeholders, society and the planet. ‘2040 Outlook Companies’ will set the trend, not struggle to keep up.

In Chapter 8, you will learn about the operating parts of New Leaf World Markets, Inc. and how they, in concert, form a global community of the demographic groups of socially conscious, the rural impoverished indigenous populations and other key economic entities.

2009 – Bad Market Timing

We were getting good, favorable reception to our business plan from key prospective equity-retailers up to and through the third quarter of 2008. At that point, discussions and further meetings were cancelled due to the financial implosion and market uncertainties. I always believed that timing is everything in business, and the timing of the crash couldn’t have been worse. Maya Global 2012, a start-up business requiring risk equity capital, was dead in the water. At that point, I made the decision to stop our pursuit of a major storefront retailer to join Maya Global 2012 as an equity-partner.

During the project’s early development and research from 2007 to 2008, I learned the importance of establishing a sustainable and effective socio-economic ‘value-chain’ when helping rural indigenous. It’s important to point out that when working with rural indigenous people, it’s never one or the other of poverty or environmental degradation you are fighting to reverse…but both. These challenges are best met by maximizing the return of the retail revenue and profit margin to the product source, or in this case the Maya enterprise or project, and not third party distributors and wholesalers.

A Bad Value Chain - Banana Split

Small agribusinesses, especially in less developed countries, typically produce only raw products. These products are sold to firms that enhance those products and then sell them to distributors. The distributors use a variety of established networks to present the finished products to retail customers. Each of these steps adds costs and the retail price paid is several times the amount paid to the original producer of the raw goods. Our business model seeks to break this cycle in two ways. First, MG2012 will enable growers to create local processing facilities so that the enhanced, market-ready products can be produced by the same entity. Second, MG2012 will establish a distribution system that directly links the producers with potential retail customers through online market networks.

This new model will achieve two objectives. First, the local growers and processors will receive a much larger percentage of the retail price, creating more skilled jobs in the developing region. Second, retail customers will be assured that the money paid for products purchased will go directly to the region that produced the product. They will also be assured that the product was produced in an environmentally beneficial manner and that the profits are being used to lift the standard of living in the region.

In Chapter 7, you will be introduced to New Leaf World Markets, Inc., a unique business model that shows how it and the companies it creates will enter the 21st Century.

Finding a Socially Conscious Retailing Partner

During the 2nd half of 2007 through 2008 I made many contacts with prospective retailing companies to offer them the opportunity to become MG2012’s exclusive retailing equity partner. Our retailing partner would have exclusive retailing rights in the U.S. and other countries with their store front outlets. Before continuing with my story about the retailing partner, I would like to share with you the reality of the obstacles one encounters when facing any new idea or endeavor.

In 2007, I read an article by the Dow Jones called The Perils of Being First. It basically pointed out that one cornerstone of entrepreneurship is to be at the forefront of trends, pushing the envelope to find and deliver the next big thing. But being ahead of the pack can also be a tough place to be, and being first can be even tougher. From educating consumers, or socially conscious consumers in the case of MG2012, to outmaneuvering rivals and the status quo, one will most likely face a raft of challenges. This is very true, which I had learned early on in my business career.

As mentioned in Chapter 4, one of the hardest tasks for any new venture being first and then competing against new rivals is honing the “brand” identity. If consumers don’t even know what the products are, how much can they really think about any social or economic benefits for impoverished indigenous growers and producers such as those in the MG2012 scenario? This is why it was so important to pitch and sell the MG2012 business model to a well-known and successful store-front retailer. I spent the last six months of 2007 and all of 2008 introducing MG2012 by knocking on doors and pitching the MG2012 business plan for an exclusive agreement for retailing. I made many extended trips to the east and west coasts to visit numerous retailers that had the market exposure and penetration I wanted, such as Starbucks, Peet’s Coffee, Wholefoods, and Barnes and Noble.

My whole presentation (sales pitch) was based upon what I felt were two virtues of conducting business and reaching the socially conscious consumer. First, the socio-economic ‘value-chain’; driving all, or as much as possible, of the ‘value-added’ in revenue and profit margins to our Maya project groups. This included all the jobs from the fields, processing of crops, and manufacturing of the products, up through the whole distribution channel to our exclusive retailing equity-partner.

Maya Global 2012 ‘Operational Structure’ (Value Added)

Second, the use of ‘advance market commitment’; where the indigenous projects of MG2012 can economically and relatively, risk-free, grow and produce as much product as the consumer demands. I first heard about ‘advance market commitment’ in an article where Bill Gates was talking about a principle to help speed the development and availability of a new vaccine to save the lives of 7 million children by 2030. The first thing that came to mind, since most of my background is in the technology sector (especially computers and processing), was that the same virtue could be used to fulfill MG2012 objectives to maximize the ‘value-chain’ (50-70% of retail price) back to our Maya agri-based projects. At the same time, we could guarantee exclusivity of our products to our retailing partner for a respectable retail mark-up, along with a powerful ‘branding model’ to make their own. The branding model would designate the retailing partner as having the virtue to reverse poverty and environmental degradation with rural indigenous groups around the world.

Be sure to check for Chapter 6 to learn more about how you, as a socially conscious consumer will be able to help reverse poverty by shopping at a convenient online marketplace.