Vegetables are getting a delicious makeover thanks to one Cincinnati startup.
Vegy Vida revolutionized the vegetable world in 2014 with a dip that used an ingredient in cucumber extract to soften the bitterness of vegetables. This year, founder Josh Young and his business partners Julie Lincoln and Adam Ralston of Brandcraft Strategy are scaling Vegy Vida further with a new strategy focused on the ever-growing healthy snack industry. The brand’s new product line — Vegy Vida Crunchers — launches this month.
“The dips focused on getting kids to eat vegetables in a healthier way, and while that’s something we still desire to do, it was tougher to get the traction,” Lincoln said. “We’re focusing our resources on Crunchers because this product is designed for anyone who needs to eat more vegetables per day.”
According to the CDC, only one in 10 adults get enough fruits and vegetables. With Crunchers, Vegy Vida hopes to change that. These flash-baked veggie snacks contain one full cup of spinach, tomatoes, celery, pumpkin, carrots and broccoli — which exceeds the USDA standard for a vegetable serving in school meals, according to Vegy Vida. The vegan, gluten-free Crunchers contain less fat and sodium than competitors like Sensible Portions’ Garden Veggie Straws; Crunchers also have more fiber, protein and vitamins.
As a longtime food scientist, Young knew Crunchers were far from an easy undertaking.
“Fruits are easy because they taste good, but vegetables … not so much,” he said. The team incorporated the original Vegy Vida bitter blockers into the Crunchers recipe to remove vegetable bitterness while retaining their competitive edge: nutrition. Even the pickiest veggie-avoiders give Crunchers a thumps up.
“This product really speaks to me because I have a 16-year-old son who’s been a picky eater his entire life,” Lincoln said. “Getting him to eat broccoli was like torture, and he still doesn’t love vegetables. He was my guinea pig through this process, and he’s been so excited with this product.”
Young’s 18 years of food, beverage, pharmaceutical, and nutraceutical product development experience helped him get Vegy Vida off the ground in 2014. He then joined forces with Brandcraft Strategy, including Partner and Brand Strategist Julie Lincoln and Director of Operations Adam Ralston, in late 2015. Young attributes Vegy Vida’s success —including its $1.8 million raised in seed funding in 2018 — to this strategic partnership.
The majority of this seed funding went to research and development for Crunchers, which took nearly one year, according to Young. Beyond this 2018 funding, Vegy Vida has focused on slow, steady and self-funded growth.
“We have a lean startup methodology where we’re focused on being as profitable as possible and growing slowly so we can build a great business,” Young said.
In terms of profit potential, Vegy Vida chose the right market. The global healthy snack market is expected to reach $32.88 billion by 2025, according to a report from Grand View Research Inc. Lincoln notes the puffed snack category — which includes Vegy Vida Crunchers — is already at $4 billion.
As Vegy Vida prepares to launch Crunchers on Amazon this month, the brand’s Oakley headquarters (based in the Brandcraft office) is buzzing with excitement.
“We’ve gotten used to things not going the way we think they’re going to go, and the experience of doing that for four years has taught us what really matters — and what doesn’t,” Lincoln said. “To be where we are now and see the future is exciting, but it’s also reassuring. We’re coming out of the darkness and into something like it’s really going to go.”
Editor's Note: To learn more about the availability of Vegy Vida Crunchers, follow the brand on Facebook.
