JadeYoga
JadeYoga’s Mission
Jade is committed to developing high-performing yoga products.
Jade is everything you want in a yoga mat – cool colors, incredible grip and great comfort. Jade mats are made with natural rubber, a renewable raw material obtained from rubber trees, and contain no PVC, EVA or synthetic rubber. JadeYoga mats are made in the United States.
And, through our partnership with Trees for the Future, one tree is funded for every mat sold. To date, this partnership has helped fund the planting of almost 3 million trees.
Jade Yoga’s History
The story of JadeYoga really starts over 100 years ago when Dean Jerrehian’s grandfather emigrated to the United States in 1904 and began an oriental rug business, Jerrehian Brothers, at the age of 16. He quickly turned this business into one of the most well-known and well respected rug dealers in the country by focusing on quality and service.
Dean’s father followed his father into the business in the 1960s and founded Jade Industries in 1974 to solve a problem for oriental rug buyers around the world – there were no high-quality rug pads to go under fine oriental rugs to provide cushion and prevent them from slipping. The solution to this problem was natural rubber and Jade began making natural rubber rug pads to go under area rugs.
In fact, the birth of JadeYoga really brought yoga mats full circle as one of the first known yoga mats was a rug pad. As the story goes, B.K.S. Iyengar was in the United States doing a demonstration on an oriental rug, but he was slipping - a student took away the rug - leaving the pad and the first yoga mat. Strangely, the yoga mat that became the norm from here was made with plastic or PVC. It was also noticeably slippery, making it challenging for many yoga practices.
JadeYoga began in earnest in 2000 after they’ve learned of the fundamental problem with most yoga mats on the market at that time - they were slippery. As they were already making natural rubber rug pads, they approached the problem from that angle and developed Jade Harmony, one of the first natural rubber yoga mats.
The Beginning
Jade sent out something like 500 samples and got nearly 300 phone calls - an incredible response. People had never seen anything like it and were thrilled to be able to get a yoga mat that actually gripped. In addition, natural rubber has better cushion and resilience, making it more comfortable.
Directly across from Dean Jerrehian’s desk today there is a drawing of the oriental rug store his grandfather built. On the wall, outside under the name is the business’s slogan “Rugs of Quality”. Just as his grandfather built the oriental rug business on quality and service, Dean and his team try every day to do the same at JadeYoga.
Jade is still a family business - in fact the initials J-A-D-E stand for Jackie (Dean’s mom), Amy (his sister), Dean, and Ellen (his other sister). And they are still devoted to quality and service.
What JadeYoga cares about
It is an embarrassingly long list.
Natural Rubber
First, run by a former lawyer for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, there is no question about making high-performing yoga products our number one priority. Natural rubber, when used appropriately, provides outstanding grip and comfort.
We Fund a Tree for Every Mat Sold
Our mats are made from natural rubber obtained from rubber trees. Since 2006, through our partnership with Trees for the Future, one tree is funded for every mat sold. To date, this partnership has helped fund the planting of almost 3 million trees.
U.S.-based Production
Third, we make our mats in the United States. “American made” still means a lot to us. Manufacturing in the United States allows us to work closely with our production processes and suppliers and maintain high quality standards. As a family owned company we do not have to answer to shareholders and can put our customers and our employees ahead of profits.
Share Yoga with Others
Fourth, through our “Community Partners” program we also try to help out many very special people and organizations trying to bring yoga to those who might benefit from it, but might not otherwise have a chance to try - from schools to prisons and from hospitals to shelters. To find out about some of our partners, click here. To apply for a grant for your organization – perhaps for a single mat for a raffle or auction or for a dozen mats to bring a class to a group in need, click here. JadeYoga encourages everyone to think about what more they might do.
Dedicated Causes
Fifth, we have some causes and organizations that are very close to us. For example, every Earth Day a portion of our sales goes to an environmental group our community helps select and on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we give a portion of our sales to help support abused children. From time to time, you see us release a special color mats to raise awareness and funds for other causes. For example, every fall we release pink and raise money for breast cancer awareness, education, research and support. We also have raised money for autism through our Saffron mats. By far our most popular special color has been teal. $5 from the sale of every Teal mat goes to ovarian cancer causes. In fact, thanks to the support of our customers, we have been able to donate over $100,000 to ovarian cancer research and support.
