Sprouted grains, organic produce, and farmer connectivity: the story and vision behind One Degree Organic Foods
On a mission to educate consumers about the stories behind the ingredients we eat every day, One Degree Organic Foods (One Degree) offers a range of organic, non-GMO products with full ingredient traceability. As a family-run Canadian company, One Degree has always taken a grounded, relationship-based approach to food, focusing on simple honesty rather than bold claims. Engaging in close relationships with farmers and growers around the globe to ensure the quality, sustainability, and ethical practices of every ingredient, One Degree creates a range of clean and nourishing essentials: bread, cereal, flour, granola, oatmeal, and seeds.
At the heart of One Degree is a belief in the connection between healthy soil, healthy plants, and healthy people, and the company works quietly and consistently to encourage greater transparency across the wider food industry. Giving customers the power to understand the growth journey behind the ingredients in the products they eat, the team at One Degree travel to farms and processing operations to ensure every farmer, farm co-op, and producer meets the company’s high standards of organic, plant-based, and sustainable farming practices. This concept is described as similar to an online farmer’s market for prepared foods, with customers able to use a QR code or enter a six-digit code on the product’s packaging to trace the origin of each ingredient.
“With a long history in the industry, we recognized that farmers had become a commodity and that people don’t often see where their food comes from,” opens Stan Smith, CEO. “We set out to provide food transparency and connect consumers with farmers, and we had a vision to communicate traceability through our packages. Over time, we’ve found simple, practical ways to bring that vision to life. Our software system uses QR codes that allow customers to scan them and track ingredients from the moment they arrive through to the production of the products.
“It’s a complicated process, as we must keep each ingredient from every farm entirely separate, but doing right by the farmers and the families who enjoy our food makes the effort worthwhile. By promoting the idea that food comes from farms, not factories, we share farmers’ stories and identities, ensuring they are appropriately honored for their work. For customers, this enables complete visibility, meaning they can trust the ingredients and processes involved in the products they consume.”
Ingredient traceability
Across all its products, One Degree uses sprouted grains to enhance both taste and nutritional value. Sprouted grains are grains at the beginning of the germination process. When a grain sprouts, enzymes in the seed activate and begin to turn stored protein, starches, and fats into more usable forms, while also breaking down antinutrients like phytic acid.
“Although One Degree was established in 2012, we’ve been involved in the food industry since 1989 with a sprouted grain bread baking business, Silver Hills Bakery, and we have a longstanding passion when it comes to sprouted grains,” Stan elaborates. “The sprouting process breaks down antinutrients in whole grains, making vitamins and minerals like zinc, iron, and magnesium easier to absorb both digestively and nutritionally.
“With connections to the bakery, we started by baking bread with sprouted grains that features complete traceability for every single ingredient, right down to the salt used. We then expanded into other products, firstly sprouted grain flours and then cereals, which have become a key product in today’s range. While we still produce flour and breads, we have a special emphasis on oats; they’re a healthy, nutritious product grown in abundance in Canada.” 
Family farms
With increased demand for One Degree’s oat products, the company recently expanded its network of oat farmers. “We work with several farms for different products, but our biggest group of farms is for our oats; we worked with around 50 farms for oats in 2024 but in 2025, we’ve worked with more than 70 so far,” Stan shares. “We’re constantly growing our farmer network across all our products, and we’re passionate about working with family farms – and local ones as much as possible – as they have generations of farming knowledge. As a family business ourselves, we personally visit farms to introduce ourselves, explain our mission, and learn about their stories. Just last week we spent the week visiting ten farms in Northern Alberta.
“We select farmers based on three factors: the ability to trace the ingredients, the level of certification we expect, and the proximity to our sites. The traceability element is crucial to our business model, and equally, we must ensure a high commitment from a quality assurance and compliance perspective. This often requires multiple certification bodies such as the USDA and Canada’s organic certification body, based on the location.”
Alongside the oat farmer network expansion, and to maintain its commitment to local operations, One Degree is currently developing a new manufacturing facility in Tennessee. “We’ve acquired an existing food production plant in Tennessee, which was particularly attractive to us due to its location, as it’s close to several key customers and distributors,” Stan explains. “This additional space will allow us to expand our product lines and enter new categories. We see it as a thoughtful, steady step that supports long-term needs while keeping our focus on ingredient integrity and close relationships. We have dedicated research and development teams focused on product development and separate teams focused on innovation. These teams have a high level of expertise in the ingredients we work with and focus on creating new and exciting products using readily available ingredients.
“We’re looking to expand our use of oat fiber, for instance,” he adds. “Oats have around 25-to-30 percent husks, which are removed from the oat grain. As a waste product, husks are sometimes used in animal products but mainly wasted. We’re doing a lot of research around extracting oat protein. It’s a great plant-based protein with a superior taste. And we’re also working to convert the oat husks into oat fibre, which is an excellent food ingredient and improves sustainability by reducing waste.”
Connecting consumers
From speaking with Stan, One Degree’s mission is clear: to provide clean, traceable food that connects consumers with farmers. “The goal for One Degree is to build an influence that will move the food supply chain towards greater transparency,” he confirms. “We still see consumers that don’t trust their food source, and our vision is to reinstate trust by helping people learn about the ingredients and farmers; we’re a storytelling company, on behalf of the farmers, that also makes products. If we can influence people to be healthier, we simultaneously create happier people, and we’re excited and enthusiastic about the impact this can have on the global food system.
“From a business perspective, 2026 is all about expanding capacity, with additional space available in our Tennessee facility, and adding new products to our portfolio,” Stan concludes. “We’re also exploring international growth in geographies like Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, approaching those opportunities with the same steady, values-led mindset that’s guided us so far.”