Tomorrow we're celebrating the kick off of National Farmers Market week (Aug. 2-8) by sharing the evolution of how your Original Apolis® Market Bag starts from a jute seed and transforms into a market bag — all within 40 seconds! Long before the travel ban, we have been fortunate enough to explore the jute harvest in Bangladesh and it sparked this idea to better document this process.

Apolis market bags are made of 100% golden jute fiber, which happens to be the number one oxygen producing crop in Bangladesh. The fiber we use for the Apolis bag comes from the stem and outer skin of jute plants. The fibers are extracted by bundling jute stems together and immersing them in running water. The raw fibers are then transported to the artisans who craft them into the bags you know and love. One of the best things about jute fiber is that it is strong and durable, yet is sustainably harvested in a way which doesn't negatively impact the local economy or environment. I guess what I'm saying is that the jute needs to be on your top ten list of plants (you have a top ten list of plants, right? I mean, doesn't everybody?).

Now, over 614,074 market bag owners later, we're so grateful — not simply for the public response, which has been tremendous but the fact that these bags also provide certified Fair Trade wages, annual profit dividends and a retirement fund for hundreds of mothers that make each bag.

We are so thankful for the friend & filmmaker Jenner Brown of Lumineux Films for helping us put together this fun piece of stop motion! With 2 days of preparation sourcing natural and organic materials and 12-hours of still shot on a Sony a7sll — we're so proud of the final outcome! Stay tuned! 

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