Phil Thyen
owner and founder/director

In the late 90's Phil started making organic salads in his mountain cabin in Evergreen, Colorado and delivering from the back of his Subaru. In November 1998, he opened the first Organic Orbit in Denver, a small pilot store for the concept which he owned and operated for 5 years. On March 10th, 2007 he opened Organic Orbit in Boulder, Colorado. He bases the philosophy on using organic ingredients and returning to an agricultural based society.

Phil grew up in rural southern Indiana surrounded by farms. It was ironic that in a small community the separation was greatest between fresh food from the farm and overly processed food in restaurants. Wendy's was on one end and McDonald's on the other and Dairy Queen in the middle, you know the layout.

Earning his undergraduate degree in Economics from DePauw University, he started paying attention to the cooks at his fraternity, what they were cooking and the name on the truck that supplied the food. At the same time he took a course named Plants Food and People with Dr. Preston Adams. An hour up the road a much bigger University was focusing on agribusiness and Dr Adams was warning of the pitfalls of industrialized farming practices.

After graduating, Phil earned his MBA in Marketing at the University of Denver where his favorite class was New Product Development. This class was taught by an adjunct professor from the Frito Lay Corporation. He was perplexed that major corporations could spend so much money "marketing" corn chips when the product they promoted was not that nourishing and also the largest crop produced using industrial farming practices.