• Part 1: The Early History of Spirulina Cultivation in the USA.
• Hope for the World and its Children.
• Our First Prototype Farm in the California Desert.
• Should we cultivate spirulina in algae farms or harvest blue-green algae from lakes?
• Building the Second Prototype Farm.
• Part 2: Introducing Spirulina and Building Earthrise Farms.
• Fortunately we were not alone.
  Many other algae bioneers emerged around the world.
• Introducing Algae to the Natural Food Market.
• The First U.S. Production: Earthrise Farms

A new planetary idea often incarnates through many messengers. This was true with spirulina. While Earthrise was underway in California, other companies began cultivation around the world. Hubert Durand-Chastel, now a Senator of France, encouraged a Mexican company to set up a farm in Lake Texcoco in the 1970s.

Israeli, Indian and European scientists began cultivation research. Others developed village scale and appropriate technology farms, notably Dr. Ripley D. Fox of France, and Dr. C.V. Sesahdri of India. Other bioneers emerged in their respective countries.

In Thailand in 1980, A Japanese company, Dainippon Ink & Chemicals (DIC), built one of the first farms. This global company with $10 billion in sales and a commitment to developing microalgae for food, biochemicals and pharmaceuticals, was led by visionaries who were fascinated with its potential. The former President, Shigekuni Kawamura and the current President, Takemitsu Takahashi, are long time spirulina sponsors, and funded development. Heading up the program was "Mr. Spirulina" in Japan, Hidenori Shimamatsu of DIC Bio Division.

In 1978, we chose the name Earthrise as our trademark and symbol. Apollo astronauts witnessed the first Rising of the Earth from the moon's surface in 1969. This powerful image represents our awakening to the miracle of our living planet. We rediscovered that blue-green algae, the original photosynthetic life form, 3.6 billion years old, offers remarkable health benefits to ourselves, our society and our planet today. We dedicated these gifts to a new awareness of our Earth Rising.

We established Earthrise as a spirulina sales and marketing company directed by Robert Bellows and Terry Cohen of Boulder, Colorado. Earthrise® began appearing in natural food stores in 1979. Around the same time, Light Force, a network marketing company, introduced spirulina through independent distributors.

Spirulina quickly gained popularity. In 1981, the National Enquirer pronounced it a "magic diet pill", and consumer demand exploded overnight. Many diet pill companies jumped on the bandwagon, and sold spirulina diet pills that didn't even contain spirulina. There wasn't much real spirulina yet being grown.

Earthrise people in 1981.

The diet boom faded by 1983, but the market began to grow again by 1987. More people continued to experience health benefits from spirulina. More published scientific research documented its therapautic effects. As President since 1981, I sold the Earthrise sales company to DIC in 1988, to begin a dynamic new growth phase. With an injection of financial resources, we rapidly expanded. Earthrise® trademark products are now sold in 40 countries, making it the world's best selling spirulina.

We built a relationship with people in DIC, as we imported from their new farm in Thailand for Earthrise products. This unusual partnership between California entrepreneurs and Japanese corporate intrapreneurs blossomed. We all shared a common vision of spirulina's coming impact on the world economy. Together we founded Earthrise Farms, the first US production farm, as a joint venture, and began production in 1982.

First ten ponds, 1985.

In following years, as funding was continually needed for expansion, Earthrise Farms became a subsidiary of DIC. Under the leadership of Yoshimichi Ota, President since 1984, Earthrise Farms continually expanded in size, capability and quality assurance.

Doubles in size, 1989.

Earthrise Farms, 1996.
Each pond is larger than a football field.

Dr. Amha Belay, from Ethiopia, land of Spirulina lakes, is the Senior Vice President, and is responsible for successful cultivation, research and technical operations.

Juan Chavez, V.P. and Production Manager, expanded production capacity to 500 tons a year by 1996. This world's largest spirulina farm is a model for farms around the world.