Heard a really cool pitch this week from Maddy D'Amato and Alex Hasulak, the founders of Love Grown Foods located right here in Denver. The couple graduated from DU and started building their company in 2008. Their mission is simple - make really delicious food (mostly breakfast cereals today but their plans are bigger), that is made from healthy ingredients available to everyone affordably, while educating the kids on the importance of eating healthy. Sounds familiar and indeed this could be the mission statement for hundreds of health food start ups in this country. What sets them apart is the almost perfect blend of talents between the founders, their herculean commitment to their mission and culture, and boundless energy combined with passion beyond belief.
Like all successful health food products, they have good distribution through high end specialty chains like Whole Foods and Alfalfa's. What sets them apart is their commitment to affordable pricing and wide scale distribution through mass market stores such as Costco, Kroger's, King Soopers, Loblaws and Sobeys (in Canada). That creates tension with their specialty retailers which is challenging but shows their strong commitment toward making their product available to the masses which is a core part of their mission and that passion and commitment comes through loud and clear in talking with Maddy, who is their Chief Love Officer and infectious beyond belief.
Maddy D'Amato and Alex Hasulak
To add to the story, Maddy (who like all entrepreneurs perpetually has 100 things to accomplish and time for only 10) donates a large amount of time in the class room educating kids about their eating habits. That is commitment to building culture and brand from the bottom up.
My good friend, KC Gallagher, is one of their early angels and has been there for them from the beginning. He is iconic in Colorado, not only as an investor but also for his entrepreneurial talents and especially his incredible philanthropic efforts. He felt the love early on and his vision appears to be paying off in their success.
That is a good enough story in itself, but the real kicker could be their new product - Power O's. Building off the trend to replace wheat, corn and sodium in chips with healthier bean based alternatives, the Love Grown Power O's are "cheerios" made from navy beans, lentils and garbanzo beans that taste really good, are full of fiber and protein, low on sodium, are gluten free (without tasting that way) and are good for you. Unlike their other products which are tasty and made from healthy ingredients but are in a crowded space with limited competitive advantage, their Power O cereal could be truly disruptive. Time will tell, but either way I think they are well on their way to building a successful company and you definitely want to pull for them and for what they add to our community, state and especially the health of our youth!
