The Wheat Grass People

Pines International’s products are vehicle for owner’s idealism.

When the wheat grass emerges in fields around Lawrence every spring, the staff at Pines International go to work.

Although the 17-year-old natural foods and nutrition company also relies on other grains and herbs to make its products, wheat grass is the mainstay of the company’s line of deep green leafy vegetable products. At Pines’ facility at Midland Junction north of Lawrence, baby wheat is transformed into such products as food supplements in tablet and powdered form and pasta.Ron Seibold, the company’s president, finds it hard to talk about the production side of Pines International without discussing the philosophy behind it. He readily admits that Pines—named after the pine tree, which he says is a symbol of peace—has its roots in the idealism he shares with Steve Malone, the company’s chief executive officer.Today, Pines has 20 full-time employees and has logged $3 million in gross sales each of the past two years, a sign to Seibold that the company is meeting the objectives he and Malone have pursued for nearly 20 years.

"We are out to prove that you can be an environmentally based company and make a profit," Seibold said.

The company’s philosophy includes a commitment to protecting farmland and wildlife areas, which has led them to allocate nearly 12 percent of their total expenses in 1992 to buying farmland for conversion to organic farming methods and wildlife areas for preservation.

Seibold said Pines International directly farms about 950 acres. Not all of it has won certification from the Organic Crop Improvement Assn., but the company is working toward that goal. Certainly, however, no Pines products are grown using chemical fertilizer or poisons.

The vehicle for attaining that objective is Seibold’s and Malone’s belief that the deep green leafy vegetable, namely the grass of cereal grains, offers a nutrition source for the hungry and well-fed alike. Pines sponsors Ironman triathletes, and its wheat
grass is the Official Green Food of the Triathlon World Championship.They’ve also injected a belief in shared wealth into the mix. The company donates 10 percent of its U.S. revenues to charitable organizations. Pines matches the amount of wheat grass sold in the United States with a donation to the needy.

Seibold said that sense of sharing extends into the company’s organization."When we first started marketing Pines, our whole concept was to give the common man a chance in the free enterprise system," he said.

Seibold and Malone believe a multilevel sales approach, such as that used by Amway and other direct-selling programs, was the most effective way to explain and sell Pines products and involve others in the profits. However, Seibold said early attempts to establish those networks in the United States didn’t generate revenue quickly enough, and the company’s cash flow suffered.

So Seibold and Malone began marketing their products through natural food stores, which remain the primary distributors in the United States.

The multilevel sales approach has proved effective in foreign countries, however. Seibold noted that about half the company’s sales are derived from exports. About 75 percent of those exports go to Asian countries, where the marketplace readily accepts the sales strategy.

Seibold said the company is working to develop a similar program in Mexico.

"It’s one we’re hoping will expand us through all of Latin America," he said, noting that the company is exploring the possibilities of making tortillas from wheat grass.

Seibold says the company today has the "seed money" to undertake such projects. That wasn’t always the case.

He describes Pines meager beginnings in a business plan Malone used his last $50 to prepare and photocopy. Seibold and Malone issued 40,000 shares of stock in the company but were able to sell just 8,000 at their par value of $1. The remaining shares they gave to farmers, employees and suppliers in payment for goods and services.

The original stockholders have been rewarded for sticking it out, Seibold says. For the past three years, the company has paid a dividend that has averaged 60 cents a year.

The company’s product line also has expanded, although the main emphasis remains on cereal grasses.

The company also prepares a line of powdered herbs, such as thyme, basil, sage and cilantro.

"Basically what we’re trying to do is use our dehydrating equipment throughout the summer months," Seibold said.

Pines even makes a rhubarb juice powder. Its products, in addition to being derived from organic growing conditions, are certified kosher.

The company stepped up its pace of growth and profitability after 1986, when it purchased the former National Alfalfa dehydrating plant at Midland Junction. Seibold said the facilities there, which include a Union Pacific rail spur, present a number of possibilities for other endeavors.

One Seibold would like to see Pines embark on is the establishment of a depot for marketing organically grown grains at the Midland Junction facility. The nearest organic depot is 300 to 400 miles away, and Seibold said that having one at the Pines plant would increase the economic feasibility of organic farming in this area.

AS SEEN IN Lawrence Journal-World, Sunday, May 9, 1993 / Written by Gwyn Mellinger