JIM BREEN, founder, Way Better Snacks: ‘What really matters is nutrient density’
We kick off our gallery with Jim Breen, founder of sprouted seeds brand Way Better Snacks, which hit shelves in 2011 and is now on sale in more than 20,000 stores from Walmart to Whole Foods.
With revenues going from zero to “north of $20m” in three years, the brand been a huge hit in mainstream as well as natural channels, and proves that consumers are looking for more nutritional bang for their snacking bucks now, says Breen, who left his role as VP of sales at Hain Celestial in 2010 to start his own snacking empire.
He adds: “Companies have been pretty good at eliminating stuff. It’s like some of the gluten-free guys. OK you took gluten out. Good for you. But what are you left with? A product that has no nutrition.
“Consumers want to see what you are putting into the product as well as what isn’t in there. So we’re a better for you product using real ingredients such as sprouted black beans, flaxseed, broccoli seed, kale seed, chia seed, and quinoa.”
But did he have any idea when he started out just how successful the brand would be in such a short space of time?
Says Breen: “Every entrepreneur will sit on the couch at the beginning and visualize where they want to be in three years and they have this trajectory, this is where I’ll be in year one, year two and so on. But the reality is usually quite a bit different from that. But for us, what we were fantasizing about actually happened.”
Click HERE to read our recent interview with Jim Breen.
