Kathryn Bernell loves smoothies but doesn’t love what they do to her kitchen.
“I was tired of my kitchen turning into a war zone every time I was making a smoothie,” she said with a laugh. “My freezer became a booby trap where bags of frozen fruits and veggies were falling all over the place.”
After years in the food industry, Bernell saw an opportunity to blaze her own trail.
In 2017, the former Clif Bar employee launched her first venture, reBLEND, an on-the-go smoothie company taking an innovative approach to combating food waste.
ReBLEND offers a series of smoothie shots, from a Frose’ pop to a Blueberry Matcha Buzz, as well as smoothie cubes. The cubes can be tossed into a blender with a liquid of your choice to make a quick and easy smoothie.
The company sources unnecessarily discarded produce from manufacturers and farmers to create its smoothies. In one example, reBLEND has partnered with a national vegetable processor that produces thousands of pounds of cauliflower where the stems are not being used. ReBlend takes the stems and purees them for use in its smoothies.
Bernell launched reBLEND while a master’s student at Northwestern University, raising over $140,000 from pitch competitions and grants. Following graduation, Bernell moved to Denver in an effort to tap into the state’s rich natural food startup scene.
“When I realized what the next couple of years looked like and who was part of my ecosystem, I realized Naturally Boulder and the community out here was going to be so important,” she said.
Since landing in Colorado, reBLEND has been a regular at area farmers’ markets, from Cherry Creek to Union Station and up to Boulder. Bernell said these have been important proving grounds for the validity of her product.
“I’ve had a family member or friend at every farmers’ market collecting qualitative feedback,” she said.
ReBLEND has picked up momentum since coming to the Colorado market, appearing in several local coffee shops and country clubs, and landing its first major funding round.
The company recently announced that it raised $550,000 in funding, led by female-focused True Wealth Ventures out of Texas.
Bernell said the funding will help grow the company’s product offerings and boost its production, something she has handled on her own to this point. Bernell is also looking to hire reBLEND’s second full-time employee, a director of operations.
As the company grows, Bernell said she remains focused on the mission of combatting food waste that led her to launching reBLEND.
“Before I even began, I created a personal commitment to the integrity and quality of the product,” she said.
With the recent influx of capital, Bernell is eyeing expansion into markets outside of Colorado, using the playbook that has led to local success.
“Year one has been all about proving out our blueprint in the Colorado market,” she said. “Year two is replicating what works in other markets.”
