Our Story
Veggies Stay Fresher Than Ever
Plastic bags and containers keep too much moisture in - sealed plastic does not allow vegetables to breathe. This sets up an environment where ethylene gas concentrates and that promotes rotting. We’ve all picked through slimy spinach or pulled plastic bags from the crisper drawer that are full of limp carrots or yellowed broccoli. It's always such a disappointment and leads to so much food waste! Vejibags not only prevent this type of rotting, but keep your produce fresh and vibrant for up to two weeks longer than conventional methods of storage.
OUR STORY
HOW IT STARTED
Vejibag sprouted from a simple idea and a desire for freshness. In 2013, Sally Erickson found herself in the midst of a vegetable conundrum. As the owner of a year-round greenhouse in Eastport, Maine, she needed to maintain the peak freshness of her produce from harvest to market without resorting to plastic or harmful chemicals.
Sally's solution emerged from both tradition and innovation. Drawing from age-old practices and modern ingenuity, she crafted the first Vejibags in her living room, blending the concept of preserving moisture-loving vegetables in a cool, damp environment with the elegance of organic cotton. Thus, the Vejibag was born.
Word spread quickly among local customers and soon, Vejibags became a staple at the Eastport market. Sally's vision expanded as she collaborated with a group of women in Eastport to hand-sew the bags using repurposed cotton textiles, championing sustainability and fair labor practices.
As demand grew, so did Vejibag's reach. Sally's journey led her to North Carolina, where she established Vejibag as a family-operated business. With a commitment to sourcing 100% certified organic cotton from the Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Coop and partnering with local worker-owned facilities like Spiritex and Opportunity Threads, Vejibags remained proudly "sewn and grown" in the USA.
HOW IT'S GOING
Today, Vejibag is in the capable hands of Stacy and Ann, the dynamic duo behind the scenes. Operating from their warehouse in rural Eli Whitney, North Carolina, Stacy and Ann embody the spirit of Vejibag's ethos: family, community, and conscious living.
Stacy, with her keen eye for detail honed from years in the pharmacy world, manages Vejibag's operations, ensuring every order is meticulously fulfilled. Ann, drawing from her background in social work, spearheads communications and steers Vejibag's development with a holistic perspective.
Their friendship, forged over a decade ago amidst the joys and challenges of motherhood, forms the bedrock of Vejibag's story. Rooted in shared values of sustainability and a deep respect for the Earth, Stacy and Ann's partnership embodies the essence of Vejibag—a business built on friendship, fresh produce, and a mindful approach to our shared planet.
Join us on this journey of preserving freshness, supporting local economies, and savoring the abundance of nature—one Vejibag at a time.
How Our Bags are Made
At Vejibag, we're committed to crafting our products with the highest quality USA-grown organic cotton, ensuring they are entirely free from plastic and harmful chemicals. Our journey begins with sourcing raw cotton from the Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Coop, one of the select few certified organic cotton farms in the United States.
The meticulous fabrication process unfolds in partnership with worker-owned businesses in North Carolina, overseen by Spiritex of Asheville and Opportunity Threads of Morganton. From spinning yarn to knitting and finishing our French Terry fabric, and finally cutting and sewing our bags, every step is executed with precision and care.
Transparency is at the core of our values. We strive to operate on a non-zero-sum philosophy, ensuring that everyone involved—customers, employees, contractors, and the planet—wins.
Our Innovative Circular Fabric
Did you know that in the United States alone, 17 million tons of textile waste end up in landfills annually? At Vejibag, we're dedicated to minimizing waste and reducing our carbon footprint. In 2020, we embarked on a mission with Material Return, a leader in sustainable textile solutions, to reclaim our textile waste and transform it into new fabrics.
During the fabrication of Vejibags, scraps of our US-grown organic terry cotton are generated. Instead of discarding these scraps, we collect them at Opportunity Threads, where they're processed by Material Return. The result? A 100% organic terry cotton cloth that looks, feels and performs just like the high quality fabric Vejibag has always used.
This innovative circular manufacturing process keeps the recycled cotton fibers within a 75-mile radius of their waste origins, significantly reducing environmental impact by diverting waste from landfills, reducing demand for virgin resources, and minimizing carbon emissions and water usage.
Vejibag is proud to be one of the first US brands to embrace this hyper-local circular production model, setting a new standard for sustainable manufacturing.