Hello everyone. Thanks for reading! On this blog, I will tell you my story of meeting Tony Hornick.
(be sure to also check out TONY HORNICK- Our inspiration) on our website. sproutlover
So often we are told of the wisdom that our elders have. With the exception of my teenage years (where I thought I knew everything) senior citizens seemed to me a great resource for those important life lessons. I learned quite a bit from my grandparents and now my senior parents but I knew it was important to get a broader scope of living a full, great life.
Lately, much of my internet reading takes me down the rabbit hole towards “centenarians”. A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100 years. Living on Earth for a century is a story in itself! They folks hold a lot of wisdom and get interviewed all the time about their eating and lifestyle habits. Many of these interviews want them to share their secrets with the world.
They can be as specific as “I ate lots of vegetables every day” or counter-intuitive as “I enjoyed a glass of wine everyday”. Many of the interviews also reveal the trivial “I learned from an early age not to take everything so seriously and laugh a lot”.
One day, I did an internet search on the healthy food centenarians were consuming, and mung beans (aka: moong beans) showed up a few times.I’d already learned of the benefits of eating more plant-based foods, but this “sprouting” of beans seemed fascinating. Most research about vegetables include “organic”, “raw” and “freshest possible” when it comes to getting the most out of the vegetables.
A few pages in, my search brought me to Tony’s website about sprouting mung beans. I soon discovered that Tony lived very close to my city, so instead of doing a typical online order, I thought it would be neat to visit him in person if he was ok with it. He happily replied and I agreed to meet him on a Saturday late morning.
I arrived at our agreed time and rang his buzzer in his apartment lobby. Within a few minutes, a older but rather spunky gentleman came towards me, and I knew instantly it was Tony. After some typical pleasantries, we walked down the hall and then into his apartment.
The first thing I noticed was some big band, swing music playing.I said, “Tony, I like the music” He looked at me straight in the eyes, gently held my shoulder and said “I have music playing all day….have you heard of the study about the benefits of listening to music?” He continued on about how music helps us cognitively, lowers stress levels, balances our heart rates, and gives us a general well-being. I replied with “I couldn’t agree more, I love listening to music”
Tony’s modest apartment showed a man who lived alone, yet contently. A traditional 1980’s decor and curio cabinets lined with china and knick-knacks. Beside the living room sofa was several boxes of mung beans and also many boxes of his invention…sprout growers. We headed into his kitchen and he proudly showed me how to prepare the mung beans in a grower.
He held up and started crushing the plastic dome inwards claiming “this is food-grade plastic that is almost impossible to crack”. He scooped out mung beans from a bag and sprinked them loosely into the round mesh screen tray. “just a small handful is three days worth of beans”. “this is high-grade stainless steel that won’t ever rust”.
It is really enjoyable for me to meet an inventor since their passion of their invention is so apparent and inspiring.
Tony continued with his instructional “Now you simply rinse the beans and add some water to the bottom plastic tray until the beans are just touching, but not immersed in the water. Then 12 hours from now, you rinse them and change the water. 12 more hours and they are ready to eat” “You want to try some now? I have some already sprouted in the fridge”. “Sure” I responded. Tony opened up his fridge and handed me a spoon.
He then continued “I’ve been eating three spoons for decades now. I used to just eat them plain, but now I like to add cottage cheese for protein and a bit of maple syrup for flavour.” I took a spoon of them not knowing what to expect. I figured they would be pretty bland, but I was surprised. “Pretty good, eh?” Tony said with a smile.“Yes, actually, they taste a bit like green peas” I replied. “They are from the same family” Tony added.
I was not only happy with the product but also inspired by Tony’s safe sprouting contraption. Other sprouting devices which Tony had tried way back, include mason jars. But they can be labour intensive and can cause the beans to spoil and even develop salmonella. By design, Tony’s sprout grower is a very safe and effective method.
I asked him how his business is doing, and he pointed to the front door where there was 4 or 5 boxed up packages. He picked up a few and said “This one is going to Ohio, and this one is going to London, England.” “Wow, really” I replied. He also humbly mentioned he had a big order of 100 pieces early this morning.
After some more discussion about the product, Tony asked if I would like to help him sell the product. This was the turning point for me. For years now, I have been considering a side business that was health related and this seemed like a perfect fit! I mentioned my Marketing background and that I would love to help him sell his product.
With so many of us looking to improve our health, this product seems really great to get more into the market. Online shopping was increasing even more with the current COVID-19 pandemic too!
Tony’s story was inspiring to me to say the least, so it was an easy decision to partner with him. I’ve invested in this website and am exciting about helping others reach their optimum health and life longevity!
Thanks for reading and have a great day!