Karuna becomes St. Louis Mosaic Project’s 44th Ambassador Company
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May 14th, 2021 Contact: Suzanne Sierra Senior Program Manager St. Louis Mosaic Project ssierra@worldtradecenter-stl.com |
Contact: Angela Zeng CEO Karuna angela@mykaruna.com |
Karuna becomes St. Louis Mosaic Project’s 44th Ambassador Company
St. Louis Mosaic Project is proud to announce that Karuna has joined us as the 44th Mosaic Ambassador Company at the Gold Level. Mosaic Ambassador Companies not only promote and foster diversity and inclusion, but they embrace it within their culture to make St. Louis a more internationally welcoming region. Mosaic Ambassador Companies at the Gold Level commit to sponsoring at least one employee toward an H1-B visa or similar visa sponsorship.
Karuna goes beyond selling healthy beverages, the beverage company protects the well-being of each person and the environment by raising and harvesting their own mung bean sprout ingredients. They focus on combining their passion for educating and resetting expectations around health.
Karuna’s CEO, Angela Zeng, came to the U.S. from China in 1996, and after struggling with finding plant-based diet options, she decided to create her own plant-based, healthy beverage line. As a foreign-born individual herself, Zeng has created a culture at Karuna that is inclusive and multiculturally welcoming. She participates in events to raise awareness about the positivity of immigrants and entrepreneurship. Karuna’s website offers language options as well as many photos to describe the products for people who speak English as a second language. Karuna’s website also highlights and celebrates multicultural events.
Moreover, Karuna keeps adapting to the ever-changing world, even through the pandemic. For example, they are collaborating with the University of Missouri’s International Trade Center in Columbia to analyze international markets for Karuna Beverages, which allows students, with an emphasis in international studies, to have a hands-on experience navigating global markets. Karuna also partners with non-profits such as Food Export Midwest to broaden the diversity of their consumer base and to better understand how to enter international markets such as Mexico, Japan, Panama and Hong Kong.
Karuna’s philosophy is that of inclusiveness and well-being. By focusing on the health and well-being of one person at a time, they support Mosaic’s goal of making St. Louis an internationally welcoming region.
About the St. Louis Mosaic Project
The St. Louis Mosaic Project was launched in 2012 in response to an economic impact report, outlining St. Louis to be lagging in immigrant growth as well as highlighting the economic benefits of increasing its foreign-born population. The Mosaic Project is a regional initiative that is professionally managed by St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, World Trade Center St. Louis and a 32-member committee. Its goal is to transform St. Louis into the fastest growing major metropolitan area for immigration by 2025, to add 25,000 more foreign born to the region from 2016-2025 and to promote regional prosperity through immigration and innovation. More: stlmosaicproject.org