Erewhon Market is a California luxury supermarket brand focused on simply processed, organicwhole foods. It was one of the first companies to market macrobiotic, organic whole foods in the United States. Its name is derived from the 1872 satirical novel Erewhon by Samuel Butler. In the novel, Erewhon is a utopia in which individuals are responsible for their own health. Still a small chain with just 5 stores, the brand has been compared to Whole Foods Market in its beginning years.
History
Since the early 1950s, Aveline Kushi and Michio Kushi had been introducing modern macrobiotics into the United States from Japan. They were both students of George Ohsawa, the founder of the modern macrobiotic movement, since after World War II. In the late 1960s, the Kushis began forming study groups in New York and later in Massachusetts in which they lectured on wide-ranging topics from philosophy and spiritualism, to healthy diet and disease prevention. Their following began to increase, and as word spread, they decided to open a store to meet the ever-growing demand for macrobiotic and whole foods products. On 9 April 1966, the Kushis founded Erewhon Natural Foods as a small macrobiotic and natural foods retail store at 303-B Newbury Street in Boston. Erewhon Market is considered among the first natural food stores. Kushi promoted the macrobiotic philosophy and diet, a Taoist-influenced spiritual practice emphasizing organic and seasonal foods. Aveline Kushi was the sole owner. Erewhon's first product line consisted of processed soy products, including miso and shoyu purchased from Howard Rower's Infinity Foods and Japan Foods Corp., both in New York. The Kushis soon realized that the quality of food needed was not available in the United States. When Michio Kushi discussed his difficulties with an old university friend, his friend remembered a former schoolmate who was now in the import and export business. He thought his business friend in Tokyo, Japan, might be able to help - Akiyoshi Kazama, the founder of Mitoku. In Japan, like other industrialized countries, many producers turned away from their traditional dietary roots in favor of mass-produced, highly processed foods with little of the integrity, flavor, or health promoting qualities of the original product. For example, just about all of Japan's important fermented foods, such as shoyu, tamari, miso, rice vinegar and mirin were being made by hurried, high temperature aging and contained highly processed ingredients. But Akiyoshi Kazama knew could find producers willing to meet Kushi's macrobiotic standards and was inspired by the idea of introducing Americans to the ancient culinary treasures of Japan. So Erewhon began importing food from Japan, as well as developing American organic farming. In August 1967, environmentalist and entrepreneur Paul Hawken took over the management of Erewhon, changed the name to Erewhon Trading Co., and began to expand the business. By the early 1970s, Erewhon began contracting with farmers to produce organically grown crops, by 1973 it had established and contracted with 57 farms in 35 states. It also became one of the first companies to establish a “Charter of Quality Standards for Natural Products” for their product line. According to Erewhon, “natural foods” must adhere to the following guidelines:
Only natural sweeteners such as honey, maple syrup and molasses.
Erewhon was growing so fast that it was soon stretched to the limits of its cash flow and financing capacity and, in 1979, began experiencing financial difficulties. The business expanded until it included 4,000 products, servicing 2,000 customers by February 1981. As these troubles worsened, many supplier companies stopped shipping to the Boston firm. Because of a deep personal commitment to the Kushis, Kazama continued to fill orders. When Erewhon finally filed for bankruptcy in November 1981, Mitoku was its largest creditor and took a three hundred thousand dollar loss. After a series of setbacks during the ensuing years, Erewhon celebrated its resurgence by acquiring U.S. Mills in 1986. U.S. Mills, which was founded in 1908, effectively merged with Erewhon as their line of whole grain cereals and simple manufacturing methods were consistent with Erewhon’s. In 2009, San Francisco based health foods company Attune Foods acquired U.S. Mills continuing the mission of promoting digestive health through pure ingredients and simple manufacturing processes. In 2013, Attune Foods was purchased by Post Foods. Today, the Erewhon brand features eight organic cereals including six gluten free cereals under the Attuneg Foods banner. Erewhon cereal is non-GMO verified. In 2011, Tony Antoci bought the company; he currently serves as CEO.
