An organic company with organic roots
Big Foot Founder Zack Amaranthus and Vice President Dan Mecum started all this with a very simple and organic idea: provide the world’s most superior mycorrhizae products at an affordable cost, 100% made in Oregon. Most products on the market don’t utilize all of their potential, so Big Foot was created to be efficient. During the first stage of development, Zack and Dan experimented with the carriers in the product — the normally inactive ingredients that add no value to the product. They quickly discovered that they could utilize carriers as an additional powerful tool in the recipe. It was the lightbulb moment. They replaced most of the traditional inert carriers found in other products with carriers that stimulate and promote the mycorrhizae. It was a game-changer. By combining the world’s most powerful mycorrhizae and high-performing ingredients as the carrier, Big Foot has mycorrhizae colonization levels that are unrivaled.
The Origins of Big Foot
But they didn’t just stumble on mycorrhizae. They’ve lived it almost their entire lives. Zack and Dan have been friends since grade school in Grants Pass, Oregon. Zack’s father, Dr. Mike Amaranthus, is one of the world’s leading experts on mycorrhizae and often took the two on truffle hunting trips. Dr. Mike educated the boys from a young age on the amazing benefits of mycorrhizae and how it can change the world they live in, which cemented their fascination and love of the amazing natural symbiotic relationship that is already happening invisibly all around us.
In 2003, Zack and Dan teamed up on their senior project at Grants Pass High School and planted thousands of saplings in a nearby forest that had been destroyed by wildfire. Partnered with the U.S. Forest Service, they planted the saplings and applied mycorrhizae to ensure the saplings’ success. The results were, in a word, inspirational to the two.
“Seeing the effect our senior project had on the local environment changed me,” Dan says. “Today, the saplings and surrounding vegetation are thriving. Without chemicals, without heavy machinery, without adding anything harmful to an already vulnerable situation, we were able to reestablish something that was once majestic back to its former self, organically.”
Inventing the next generation of organic biostimulants
In 2016, Zack and Dan acquired a location and invested all their time and resources into research and development. Their expertise and experience were put to the test from Day 1, but they worked hard and were singularly focused on their goal. Through that initial process, they developed the recipe that became their flagship products today. Despite having the best product on the market, they’re never satisfied and are currently working on their next run of market-redefining mycorrhizal products.
With popularity and demand drastically increasing, we’re pumped to be able to provide beneficial, high-performing, organic products at an affordable price. We have kept overhead costs extremely low and are able to pass the savings onto our customers while keeping our core beliefs intact. From packaging with recyclable bags to sourcing ingredient manufacturers close in proximity we are able to lower costs and minimize our carbon footprint without sacrificing the quality of our product. The idea is simple.
