Yaw!, a sourdough bread chip debuting for online purchase next week, was the first brand to arrive. Yan Gleyzer and Gary Wenzel, two entrepreneurs based in Richmond, Va., wanted to create a “new type of snack that the market hasn’t seen yet.” Derived from a word meaning “wow” in Romanian, this snack time reinvention comes in five different flavors, including cheese, tomato and crab.
Next up was Smart Baking Co., a wellness-forward baked foods brand focused on creating accessible sweet snacks, including cookies, cakes and muffins.
"We’re making fun food for a healthy diet,” said Dave Heuvel, co-founder and vice president of sales at Smart Baking.
With a variety of products formulated from allulose and monk fruit, these no-added-sugar treats may be purchased on Amazon and select regional retailers such as Hyvee and Wegman’s.
Yolélé kept the innovative spirit going. Their line of gluten-free, regeneratively grown products bring the flavors of West Africa to American consumers. All Yolélé products begin with fonio, an ancient grain that bears similarities to quinoa, while the entire product line includes fonio, fonio chips and African spice mixes.
“We’re in business to support livelihoods from small scale, climate smart agriculture,” said Philip Teverow, co-founder and chief executive officer of Yolélé.
OMG! Pretzels took the center booth at the Startups Hub. Led by co-founder and owner Stephanie Kriebel, this family brand creates non-GMO, vegan sourdough pretzels that ship across the United States direct-to-consumer. The line of 10 flavors includes Buffalo, salty butterscotch and lemon pepper.
Pop’s Praiseworthy Popcorn proved to be a hit amongst samplers. The team, led by Nicole and Ken Brown, is based out of Washington with a production facility in northern Virginia. The popcorn, which comes in four different flavors, may be purchased at a variety of different local small market retailers. Customers outside of the Washington area may purchase any of the varieties — red hot rosemary, heavenly kettle, luscious lavender and a seasonal cherry blossom — for shipping across the United States.
Kishana Mills represented Tropical Harvest, the only beverage brand at the Startups Hub. The Queens, NY-based entrepreneur wants customers to “feel the escape” across her brand’s collection of four juice flavors: pineapple ginger, Jamaican ginger sorrel, beet root and lemon, and guava passion fruit.
Three Farmers Foods brought the legume innovation with its snack collection featuring products made from fava beans, chickpeas and lentils. On display were the brand’s crunchy roasted chickpeas in two flavors, ranch and barbecue, but Three Farmers also produces chocolate fava beans, lentil salad toppers and crunchy roasted fava beans.
From savory snacks to functional baked foods and everything in between, the SNAXPO 25 Startups Hub highlighted the limitless potential in the emerging snack and CPG spaces. SNAC International’s startup initiative will return next year with the SNAC Tank Competition at SNX 26 held in Dallas March 29 – 31.
