Croutons are an undeniably essential part of any salad. But when it comes to buying them at the store, you may not necessarily have a go-to brand. In fact, you might not be able to name a single crouton brand at all.
Chicago brothers Matt and Jon Wachsman want to change that. The duo has launched Kooshy, a new Chicago startup that aims to bring a premium, better-tasting crouton to your dinner table. The startup began selling in early 2022 and its Kooshy croutons are now in 500 stores across the Midwest, including Mariano's and Fresh Thyme.
Here's where Kooshy is different, Matt Wachsman explains. The startup makes its croutons from sourdough bread, rather than enriched white flour as the majority of croutons are made. It uses organic flour and clean ingredients, and is non GMO.
But its biggest differentiator is flavor. While nearly every crouton maker produces some version of a garlic crouton, Kooshy offers four different flavors: French Toast, a sweet crouton made with maple syrup; Poco Picante, a spicy crouton with chili and lime; Almost Naked, a simple crouton with sea salt and black pepper; and Mambo Italiano, its take on the traditional garlic crouton.
The goal Wachsman said, is to bring more options to the crouton category with a focus on flavor.
"The crouton category is pretty stale," Wachsman said, pun definitely intended. "We're a huge bread family. We grew up eating croutons. It's how our mom trained us to eat salad."
Matt Wachsman previously spent a decade at Kraft Heinz. Jon Wachsman's background is in finance at media and startup firms, and he spent two years as the VP of finance at BuzzFeed.
Now with Kooshy, the Wachsman brothers are working to liven up a food category that's seen little innovation. The brand has made its way across the Midwest, lining store shelves in Illinois, Michigan, Kansas City, St. Louis and elsewhere. It soon plans to begin selling in Central Market in Texas, Wachsman said.
The startup, which was built at The Hatchery, a food and beverage incubator in Chicago, has raised a small seed round of funding from friends and family.
