We’ve enjoyed every minute in our current space, but as you know if you’ve visited recently, elbow room has become increasingly difficult to find, so it’s time for a new home. In a few rapidly approaching weeks (we’ll be closed May 31 and June 1), MarketPlace will be moving from the corner of 17^th and Delmar to a new home nearby, just 1.3 miles west to the corner of Locust and Compton in the bustling Midtown Alley area. We’re hextupling (very cool word) our current square footage as we upgrade to a fantastic two-story building (with free, private, gated parking!!!) Here are a few reasons why we made the move:

(more…)

So, yeah, baby Dwayne is pretty darn cute. We love seeing him this way: happy, secure, and with a great opportunity to beat the systemic forces of homelessness among women and children in St. Louis. We love that Gateway180 entrusts us with the weighty work of helping to ensure that people know about, and respond generously to, the homelessness problem in St. Louis. (more…)

How do you brand a body of people? How do you market a symbol? How do you design a great user experience for a constantly changing demographic group? Those are but a few of the many, many worldview-heavy challenges we faced as we created a website for Memorial Presbyterian Church (PCA) in St. Louis. (more…)

There are probably only two places where you can find a DJ spinning tunes for a baby food brand, a grown man dressed as the Lorax, and a yogurt container the size of a condo. The first is New York’s hottest nightclub, where I’ve never been, and the second, from which I just returned, is Natural Products Expo West. (more…)

We recently began working with Martin Bauer Inc, an integrated division of the Martin Bauer Group, a German-based supplier of herbal and fruit infusions, teas, and tea extracts. Their customers include companies from the tea, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries, and we’re working with them to help them break into the US market. (more…)

We’re very excited to be working with Roquette, a world leader in the ingredients industry offering a wide range of products and solutions in human nutrition, pharmacy-cosmetology, paper/board, chemistry-bioindustry, and animal nutrition. Experts in polyols and the leading European producer of maltodextrins, pyrogen-free raw materials, and cationic starches, Roquette has factories in Europe, America, and Asia that process exclusively renewable raw materials: maize, wheat, potatoes, and peas, e.g. We’re especially excited about working alongside a leader in green chemistry, specifically integrated biorefining. Roquette transforms renewable resources (corn, wheat, potatoes, and peas) into an extensive line of high quality ingredients for a wide range of food and non-food industries throughout the world.

(more…)

Last year, my (former) physician sent me from his office with a prescription for “eat more bran.” Bran didn’t help. Bran, it turns out, was one of the reasons I had to see the doctor in the first place. As I would learn through self-diagnosis a few weeks later, I have (and have had for around ten years) an intolerance to gluten. That physician wasn’t necessarily unqualified or lazy; he, like many, didn’t have gluten on his radar. But he will. And the food, beverage, and ingredients industry will, too.

Curious about gluten? Here’s a very basic primer on why you need to have gluten on your radar if not in your plans for 2012.

(more…)

“Bring rubber boots”—that was my only advice for Elliott, our multimedia producer, the day before we visited a dairy farm for a video we’re producing. Elliott didn’t listen. Poor Elliott’s shoes. Rough start. But the cows sure were cute. Right, Elliott? (more…)

It has long been a tradition of MarketPlace to partner with organizations that give back to the community. One of our favorites is Gateway 180. (more…)

There are few things I’d rather do than photograph dogs. It’s the perfect mix of so many of the things I enjoy; not only do I get to spend time with dogs, I get to spend time behind the camera, and I get to see the dogs’ owners’ faces when I show them the results. (more…)