Born in 1944 the son of an organic berry farmer, Arran was only 23 when he opened the first vegetarian restaurant on Canada’s west coast. He quickly followed this in 1971 with the region’s first natural supermarket, LifeStream®, founded with two partners. The LifeStream® store soon began repackaging bulk goods and creating products under its own brand name, spawning what would become a leading brand of packaged natural food products, sold throughout Canada and exported to the United States.
In 1981, the LifeStream® store and brand was sold. Arran’s experience in retailing, manufacturing, and distribution lead to the founding of Nature’s Path® in 1985. Over time, Nature’s Path has become the best-selling brand of certified organic cereal in North America, a leader in its category. The brand is now international, and is sold in New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
As an artist, author, environmentalist, and founder of America’s largest certified organic cereal company, Arran is a voice of experience in the alternative food industry. His values — sustainability, community, and spirituality — have fuelled a pioneering career in business. Arran has modeled both his personal and professional life after the words of farmer Rupert Stephens, his father — “Leave the earth better than you found it.” Arran’s book Journey to the Luminous, first published in 1999. The Moth and The Flame, his second book, published in 2006, is available in its online version at www.mothandtheflame.com
