Chelsie Hodge, CEO of Blender Bites, began her firm after sensing the necessity for simple smoothie product choices available in the market. On this interview with Meals in Canada’s editor Nithya Caleb, Hodge takes us via the Blender Bites journey and future plans.
When was Blender Bites based and why?
CH: Blender Bites was based in 2016 when one morning I lastly bought bored with all of the mess, prep and waste it took to make a wholesome and nutritious smoothie. I felt responsible for throwing away kale that had gone dangerous within the fridge and grew more and more pissed off of getting a freezer stuffed with frozen fruits. In Canada as an entire, 2.2 million tonnes of edible meals are wasted every year, costing Canadians greater than $17 billion.
The surroundings is basically on the forefront of Blender Bites’ ethos. Blender Bites was created via my mission to create a product that might provide shoppers 100 per cent natural, nutritious and detoxifying components in an easy-to-use, pre-portioned “puck” with out using any pointless inside plastic packaging. Blender Bites is an answer that isn’t solely scrumptious, handy and wholesome, however can be tackling meals waste in our ecosystem.
Over the past 4 years, I’ve taken the corporate from being a product produced in my kitchen with the assistance of my household, to a nationally distributed family model and pioneer of a complete new beverage class – the “straightforward smoothie.” To this point, Blender Bites might be present in over 600 places throughout Canada.
Chelsie Hodge
What merchandise can be found underneath Blender Bites, and please briefly clarify the soon-to-be launched line with purposeful components?
CH: Blender Bites aspires to be the chief in plant-based, frozen purposeful meals. Lately, we reformulated Greens and Berries and Greens and Tropicals to turn out to be Power Berry and Green D-Tox respectively, becoming a member of our extremely widespread Vita-Smoothie flavour. With these latest reformulations, we wished to offer a one-step resolution for our prospects that eliminates the necessity for buying further dietary supplements that may drive up prices. Now, all three of our merchandise include 15 important plant-based nutritional vitamins and minerals derived from complete fruit and veggies. They’re additionally a excessive supply of fibre, Omega 3 polyunsaturated fat, antioxidants, energizing B nutritional vitamins and immune supporting vitamin A and D. Our merchandise are also GMO-, gluten-, soy- and dairy-free and include no further sweeteners.
Blender Bites can be actively engaged on ultra-functional wellness varieties.
When is that this going to be launched?
CH: Energy Berry and Inexperienced D-Tox might be out there nationwide in Loblaws in October, with extra main retail shops to hitch later this 12 months.
What’s Blender Bites’ USP?
CH: Blender Bites give shoppers the good thing about pre-portioned pucks, making certain they get the correct mix of fruits, greens and purposeful components in every smoothie.
Blender Bites is an modern first-to-market purposeful meals firm that’s targeted on the manufacturing of extremely nutritious and 100 per cent natural plant-based frozen merchandise that take all of the mess, prep and waste out of the smoothie routine.
Blender Bites was the primary smoothie firm in North America to make use of an optimum mixture of seven greens in its product line. With its operate and taste-forward recipes, Blender Bites supplies an assortment of fruity flavours to attraction to quite a lot of tastes whereas offering steadiness within the vital nutritional vitamins and minerals shoppers want.
We proceed to carry to market modern merchandise centred round offering shoppers with better-for-you smoothie choices that don’t sacrifice style for high quality, all whereas sustaining an reasonably priced worth level.
Blender Bites is among the many rising corporations within the CPG house with feminine founders.
What motivated this transfer into purposeful drinks?
CH: Full vitamin needs to be purposeful. There are too many choices on cabinets which might be unhealthy, stuffed with sugars and pointless components or empty energy that buyers merely simply don’t want of their each day food regimen. We wished to offer an all-in-one resolution to simplify our prospects’ lives by making all these components accessible and straightforward to include into our prospects’ routine. Vita-Smoothie was our first foray into the realm of purposeful drinks.
As COVID-19 hit simply after the product launched, Vita-Smoothie turned out to be widespread. At such an important time for us in right this moment’s society, the place well being and immunity are a precedence for a lot of households, performance simply made sense and we have been so happy with the optimistic suggestions in regard to the launch of the Vita-Smoothie that we knew we needed to develop extra merchandise related in nature.
How do you supply your components?
CH: We take a variety of delight within the high quality, thoroughness and sustainability of components that we use. On prime of the stringent meals security necessities Blender Bites has internally, we anticipate the identical from all of our suppliers. We make sure the supplies and uncooked components used are sourced in a accountable and sustainable approach; that the employees concerned in making them are handled pretty; and that environmental impacts are considered throughout sourcing course of. Our merchandise are additionally licensed natural, and we’ve got a prolonged onboarding course of when vetting new suppliers to make sure they meet our excessive requirements of ingredient {qualifications}.
Please briefly clarify the processing strategies adopted by Blender Bites?
CH: Whereas conventional frozen fruit merchandise lose their flavour or turn out to be watered down, Blender Bites’ processing implements a particular, instant-freeze pasteurization course of that packs probably the most flavour and maintains the fruit’s integrity for every puck. Blender Bites’ components are then blended in massive, commercial-sized blenders and distributed into custom-made moulds and storage racks earlier than being positioned in massive walk-in freezers to freeze in a single day. The following day, the pucks are popped out of the moulds by hand and positioned into pouches earlier than going via the ultimate levels of packaging.
What are your future plans?
CH: Over the past 4 years, we’ve got taken the corporate to better heights – from being a product handmade by me and my household in a rented popsicle kitchen in North Vancouver to a nationally distributed family model with a producing capability prepared to provide all the North American market. Our precedence is to broaden Blender Bites’ distribution and gross sales in Canada, and we’re presently within the works of constructing out our personal direct-to-consumer retailer.
Likewise, we’ll proceed to construct on our present collection of scrumptious, wholesome, plant-based and purposeful smoothie merchandise, specializing in areas comparable to clear power, plant-based proteins, intestine and pores and skin well being and purposeful mushrooms for apoptogenic assist. General, because the smoothie class continues to develop, we’ll purpose to be extra than simply one other participant within the house with not solely a great-tasting product, but in addition dedicated to creating the world a greater place!
How has COVID impacted your model?
CH: The rising consciousness surrounding well being and immune assist led to a rise in demand for Blender Bites’ merchandise. Prospects are searching for choices that include excessive ranges of nutritional vitamins. Our Vita-Smoothie is the primary vitamin-infused smoothie product in North America. COVID-19 additionally led to elevated consciousness about how we spend our cash. To offset the fee for purchasers, Blender Bites created new formulations that supplied extra worth, such because the addition of complete natural nutritional vitamins and minerals derived from fruit and veggies.
As a longtime participant within the CPG house, are you able to share recommendation for different entrepreneurs trying to enter the quickly rising meals and beverage house in Canada?
CH: One of many largest challenges I confronted was getting the required funds to gasoline my dream of being a pioneer within the smoothie house. I began with the assistance of my household and simply $50,000 to develop formulations, create packaging and buy uncooked supplies. From there, a further funding helped me to distribute my product nationally. For the primary two years of Blender Bites’ existence, I didn’t take a paycheck with the intention to put funds again within the enterprise. On the finish of the day, sheer grit and willpower (and an modern product), helped me to take my model to the subsequent degree. I encourage different CPG entrepreneurs to be reasonable and sensible at first years of their enterprise, and to not get disheartened at how aggressive the house could also be.
