Forget drinking coffee. Why can’t we eat our coffee?
While pondering this question, a lightbulb suddenly went off for Northeastern University students, Johnny Fayad and Ali Kothari.
“We were constantly running late to our 8 a.m. financial accounting class without the time for our breakfast, and more importantly our coffee,” Fayad explains to BostInno. “I thought, ‘Why can't we just eat our coffee?’”
And with that – the two business students launched New Grounds Food with their first product, the CoffeeBar, an energy bar infused with a full cup of fair trade coffee. The bar, itself, was the Audience Favorite Winner at the 2013 Husky Startup Challenge, which awards more than $4,500 annually to students with innovative ideas.
“We entered the competition with our CoffeeBars,” Fayad told BostInno. “After winning some money and validation, we were accepted into IDEA, Northeastern University's Venture Accelerator, where we have been afforded mentors, advisors, resources, and $10,000 in grant funding to take our CoffeeBars to the next level.”
The New Grounds Food team has since launched a wildly successful kickstarter campaign promoting their CoffeeBar product. The local food company took to Kickstarter on Monday, September 22 for a 45-day campaign lasting through November 6, 2014. So far, the burgeoning startup has raised nearly $20K surpassing their initial goal of $10K.
The company is now close to reaching their second goal of $25K, which the founders claim will allow them to partner with Project Alianza to “source coffee directly from coffee-farming families in need of support,” as noted on their Kickstarter page.
According to Fayad, those interested in trying the CoffeeBar, can order them directly from the Kickstarter page. And, in case you’re curious, the New Ground Food product is made with all natural ingredients. “When you read the ingredients on a CoffeeBar, you should be able to recognize the names of the 12 whole ingredients,” Fayad adds. “We have spent the past year perfecting our recipe to ensure that it is healthy, made with all natural ingredients, is vegan & gluten free, and tastes great.”
Currently, the CoffeeBar is offered in a Mocha Latte Bar flavor, which includes Date Paste, Brown Rice Syrup, Gluten Free Oats, Vegan and Gluten Free Chocolate Chips, Almond Butter, Cashews, Crisp Rice, Agave Fiber, Espresso, Chia Seeds, Cinnamon and Sea Salt. And if everything runs smoothly, the company hopes to ship these CoffeeBars out to folks in time for the holidays this year.
But while the startup is certainly off to a great start, it’s still just the beginning for New Grounds Food, Fayad tells BostInno. “Our future plan for New Grounds Food is to continue building out more flavors of our CoffeeBars, and begin innovating more into the food industry to reach ‘new grounds.'” He notes, “We hope to bring a whole line of products to market that surrounds our mission of providing people with healthier ways to stay energized throughout the day.”
For more information about CoffeeBar, check out their Kickstarter campaign and website.
Images courtesy of New Grounds Food
