It started with a simple question at a trade show.
A Whole Foods buyer stopped by our booth at Expo West in Anaheim and asked, "Have you ever thought about integrating regenerative agriculture into your business?"
Honestly? I didn't even know what that meant.
At the time, I thought we were already doing something pretty special. When I started Feelgoodz, one of the coolest things to me was that we were making premium, super comfortable flip-flops from a natural resource — the rubber tree. While most footwear brands rely on synthetic materials like EVA because it's cheaper and faster, we chose natural rubber. We built relationships with farmers. We sourced directly. We were proud of that.
For nearly a decade, that was our model.
But that question stuck with me.
When I got back from the show, I told the team. Our director of marketing, Kate Vessey, went down a research rabbit hole and found something called the Regenerative Rubber Initiative.
The timing couldn't have been better. I was already headed to Thailand on a supplier trip, so I reached out to the stakeholders involved and asked if I could visit the farms. Two weeks later, I was walking through something that completely changed how I saw rubber farming.
What I saw wasn't row after row of rubber trees.
It was a living ecosystem.
Rubber trees growing alongside fruit trees. Native plants. Herbs. Diverse vegetation. Healthy soil. Real biodiversity.
This approach is rooted in agroforestry. In Thailand, it's called wanaset farming, a Thai sustainable agriculture model focusing on self-reliance, biodiversity, and ecosystem harmony. Instead of monoculture — that consists of row crops of rubber trees — regenerative farms mimic natural, wild forests. Everything feeds everything else. The soil becomes richer. The trees become healthier. And healthier trees produce higher-quality rubber.
That's when it clicked.
This wasn't just better for the environment. It was better for the farmers. The trees live longer, happier lives. And it was better for our product.
In monoculture systems, farmers depend on one income stream: rubber. If the commodities market dips or disease hits, there's no safety net. Regenerative farms diversify income. Farmers grow dozens of crops alongside rubber. They hedge risk. They build resilience in their business and in their crop health.
Once I saw a better way, there was no going back.
I'm proud of what we did before. Choosing natural rubber over synthetic EVA was the right call at the time. But regenerative rubber felt like leveling up our entire supply chain — and living more fully into what this brand has always been about.
It took two years to make it real. We had to find a factory in southern Thailand capable of producing the specific 5L-grade rubber we use for our flip-flops. That meant building new supply chain connections between farms and processors. Testing. Retesting. Making final product samples.
By late spring 2025, we knew we could do it.
Starting in 2026, every Feelgoodz flip-flop is made with regenerative natural rubber — making us the world's first footwear brand to do so!