Rule Breaker Snacks was founded in 2015 by Nancy Kalish, a health coach and former health journalist with a serious sweet tooth. While sweet treats are supposed to be fun, for people with allergies or intolerances, it’s not.
Rule Breakers’ indulgent brownies and cake bites are made with clean ingredients that are free from the top 11 allergens, including gluten, dairy, eggs, sesame, soy, coconut and sesame, and no preservatives.
The plant-based soft-baked delicacies feature chickpeas as the first ingredient – meaning they are packed with protein and fibre – and contain less sugar than similar offerings on the market.
They are also certified vegan, gluten-free, kosher (KOF-K) and non-GMO Project Verified.
The first better-for-you brownies and blondies were baked at home by Kalish for family and friends, but she soon secured listings with small independent retailers for her four-strong portfolio, including Deep Chocolate Brownie, Chocolate Chunk Blondie, Birthday Cake Blondie and nut-free P’Nutter chocolate Chip Blondie. The company recently introduced its first limited edition seasonal flavour to the portfolio, Mint Chocolate Brownie Bites.
Today, the guilt free snacks are experiencing skyrocketing growth through online and speciality channels and are available in over 2,500 retail locations across the US and on Amazon, in both singles and Bite formats.
Driving innovation
The company created a Kickstarter campaign last year with a goal to raise $10,000 to continue driving innovation. According to Kalish, that figure was reached in under three hours, growing to over $28,000 from 403 backers by the end of the three-week period.
It participated on Shark Tank earlier this month, but left without a partnership deal. However, the company’s disruptive concept attracted the attention of Grupo Bimbo, the world’s largest bakery company, securing a minority investment from its ventures capital arm.
Bimbo Ventures was established in 2017 to drive innovation by identifying startups with pioneering technology or ideas, particularly in the areas of ingredients, manufacturing, commercial, distribution and new products. Last year, Bimbo Ventures made a minority investment in Jüsto, a Latin American e-grocery store.
“It has been an amazing journey for us over the past few years, and we have so many great things on the horizon,” said Kalish.
“We are thrilled to have Bimbo Ventures behind us to help drive future growth and opportunity for Rule Breaker Snacks.”