Lionberry
REGENERATIVE
We had a wonderful time this week at the International Elderberry Symposium in Columbia, Mo.! Thanks to the amazing friends we made there, we will have some big announcements coming soon, so stay tuned! One of those big connections we made was with Elderglen, an Australian company producing elderberry products. We also got to hang […]
Pride Month is here and we are excited to announce that Lionberry will be at KC Pride, June 6-8. You can find us in the food truck section and try the first farmed sports drink, Lionberry Restorative Refresher! View this post on Instagram A post shared by KC PRIDE (@kcpride1) It’s also been fun to […]
We are thrilled to announce that Lionberry will have a booth at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson! This huge, 10-day event is held at the Kansas State Fairgrounds beginning Sept. 5. This will cap an exciting and busy summer of farmers markets, fairs, and festivals. You can find our full schedule here. In addition […]
Lionberry found a huge pride of LIONESSES to be drawn to! First off, I am here for the @thewomensfair! Those Lionesses are the epitome of women’s entrepreneurial spirit! AND Tonight before the show, I am at the Wichita Packaging and Labeling Workshop in Ala Carte Kitchen Incubator by Create Campaign learning from Jenny Doty of […]
Lionberry recently celebrated Ag Day at the Kansas State Capitol. We talked about planting Elderberry and our quest to get Kansas on the map as a top producer of Elderberry! We took samples of our Elderberry SIPS and Lionberry Restorative Refreshers! And, of course, we talked about our new home at the Olathe K-State Food […]
In December, we participated in Jingle! at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kan. Here is a preview of our booth. Stay tuned for more event announcements in the new year!
This week’s delusion is pretending our grocery stores don’t have a weak point.
This week’s re-illusion is remembering that strength comes from building on what already works, not acting like we’re starting from scratch.
Hy-Vee does a really good job bringing in local barbecue sauces, jams, honey, and other value-added foods from the Heartland.
We’re not starting from zero.
But we are starting from small.
So I handed Santa a LionBerry and gave him my Christmas list:
A fortified Hy-Vee — one that expands the Heartland section that already exists into a full, accessible, stocked-every-day aisle for local foods.
Not to replace the global or national imports like Florida oranges, California almonds, Mexico avocados, pineapple juice from Thailand, or coastal produce —
but to stand beside them, so the region isn’t left vulnerable the next time anything shakes the system:
Any one of these can break a supply chain.
A fortified regional shelf — built from the farms around Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska — keeps us fed.
The World Cup is coming to Kansas City.
Soccer tourists from Germany, Brazil, Japan, everywhere — living in Airbnbs for three to six weeks, shopping at Hy-Vee for everything from breakfast to body soap.
If we went to Germany, we’d want Wienerschnitzel.
If we went to Brazil, we’d want feijoada.
If we went to Japan, we’d want ramen or sushi that actually tastes like Japan.
So when they come to the Heartland, they don’t want a New York hot dog or a California cheeseburger.
They want us — the real Midwest.
What do we grow and make here?
And soccer tourists staying in AirBnB’s need actual essentials:
This is exactly why a stronger Heartland aisle matters — not just for crisis, but for culture, tourism, and everyday life.
This week’s delusion is pretending our grocery stores don’t have a weak point.
This week’s re-illusion is remembering that strength comes from building on what already works, not acting like we’re starting from scratch.
Hy-Vee does a really good job bringing in local barbecue sauces, jams, honey, and other value-added foods from the Heartland.
We’re not starting from zero.
But we are starting from small.
So I handed Santa a LionBerry and gave him my Christmas list:
A fortified Hy-Vee — one that expands the Heartland section that already exists into a full, accessible, stocked-every-day aisle for local foods.
Not to replace the global or national imports like Florida oranges, California almonds, Mexico avocados, pineapple juice from Thailand, or coastal produce —
but to stand beside them, so the region isn’t left vulnerable the next time anything shakes the system:
Any one of these can break a supply chain.
A fortified regional shelf — built from the farms around Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska — keeps us fed.
The World Cup is coming to Kansas City.
Soccer tourists from Germany, Brazil, Japan, everywhere — living in Airbnbs for three to six weeks, shopping at Hy-Vee for everything from breakfast to body soap.
If we went to Germany, we’d want Wienerschnitzel.
If we went to Brazil, we’d want feijoada.
If we went to Japan, we’d want ramen or sushi that actually tastes like Japan.
So when they come to the Heartland, they don’t want a New York hot dog or a California cheeseburger.
They want us — the real Midwest.
What do we grow and make here?
And soccer tourists staying in Airbnbs need actual essentials:
This is exactly why a stronger Heartland aisle matters — not just for crisis, but for culture, tourism, and everyday life.
A shared warehouse, a shared distributor, and a unified block of local makers would let regional foods move with the same efficiency as national brands — while staying rooted right here.
Tourists will buy it.
Locals will keep it.
And if anything ever shakes the world, a fortified Hy-Vee keeps the Heartland standing.
That’s what I told Santa.
That’s my wish this year.
And that’s exactly what LionBerry is built to help do — bottle by bottle, aisle by aisle.