We exhibited last weekend at the Connecticut Vegetarian Festival in Hartford, and had such an amazing time that I decided to write a post about it.  I had a hunch that we would get a warm reception from the vegetarian and vegan crowd.  After all, I’m vegetarian, and one reason I created this snack is because I am constantly looking for foods with protein and fiber that will actually fill me up.  But even I was blown by the amazing feedback we got at the festival.

Each day was like a marathon – complete with a pre-marathon regimen of eating the right foods and hydrating with lots of water, so we could make it through the day (the pic above was taken right before the doors opened on Saturday).  We had so many people coming by our booth that by 3pm on the first day we ran out of sampling cups, and had to make an emergency run early the next morning to buy more.  We also sold through most of the snacks I had brought for both days on day 1 of the event (!!).  Luckily – Mario was working with me in the booth – and between the two of us, we were able to just barely manage the booth and still talk to people about our brand.

Along the way, we also met some fantastic people – including several health food bloggers that wrote some great reviews of our snacks (thank you Cait Plus Ate and Sue Apito Likes!).  We’ve also been getting tons of requests from all the folks we met to bring our snacks to CT and New York.  Thanks to all those who have written, and we will def keep you posted when we get closer to you.

Finally – a big thanks to Ani and the team at Wholesome Creations Cares for putting together the first CT Veg Fest.  Clearly you put in a lot of heart, soul and hard work into this event – and it showed.  We are already looking forward to next year’s event!

We’ve been on a demo frenzy since we got on the first shelf at Whole Foods Hingham 4 weeks ago.  Since then, we’ve sampled with well over a thousand, maybe 1500 people. There are about a gazillion reasons why sampling is so critical for any new brand – but for me – #1 on that list is that you get real feedback from real people, for free.

Its the key moment of truth.  You try something new…and so what?  Did you like it?  Enough to put it in your basket?  Will you love it when you go home, and buy another one?

At the first few demos – I had no idea what to expect.  Many demos later – its gotten a lot easier…and dare i say it…actually kind of fun.  Fun because i get to see people discovering and experiencing a new snack food – for the first time.  It would be like trying your first potato chip.  Before then – you knew what a potato was, and maybe you even loved potatoes.  But potatoes as a snack?  I’ve never heard of that…what a great idea! (of course its not exactly like a potato chip because our snacks are waaaay better for you, but you get the point).

The pic above is from Whole Foods in Dedham – where I demo’d yesterday.  The sign says it all – we love Dedham.  I drew crowds in front of the table all afternoon, and there was a buzz in the store.  Lots of people lingered and wanted to know more about our brand and our mission.  Several cashiers came by later and said: I’ve gotta try this…I’ve been ringing these up all afternoon!  And halfway through the demo when we sold everything on the shelf – the Grocery person said: Wow, these really fly huh?

I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me, including getting more help, to keep moving this brand forward.  But all in all, a great first few weeks out in the market.

A lot has happened since our last post.  Our first batch of snacks arrived at our distribution warehouse – and before we knew it, orders were shipped, we started getting onto some store shelves, and even did our first sampling demo.

Biena Snacks hit the first Whole Foods shelves at the end of last week.  Seeing them on the shelf for the first time was incredible.  I knew where they would be generally – but still – seeing the packaging on the shelf set, next to other snack brands was an indescribable feeling.

Our first demo was on Sunday – at American Provisions in South Boston.  The team at Provisions is fantastic – they know their customers by first name, and perhaps most importantly – they really know food!  They gave me a gorgeous space up front to set up our demo.  I was a bit nervous – not knowing how the first demo would go.

The first few customers came in – I started chatting them up – sharing the story behind Biena snacks, the ingredients, the flavors – and of course, the nutrition profile.  Before I knew it – we started selling snacks – and that kept on going through the afternoon.

What was really awesome was seeing people taste the different flavors.  Provisions is a place where people like to linger – and they sometimes tried all three flavors.  I was amazed to see that Lime & Chili was the front runner for the first half of the demo, and then it switched to Cinnamon Maple.  Sea Salt was steady throughout.  People also really liked that you can put them on soups and salads instead of croutons – as a high-protein alternative.

All in all – a fantastic weekend, and a great first demo.  Btw – for those looking to buy Biena Snacks, we’ve started tracking a list of stores where you can find them on this page.

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I’m excited to report that our first full batch was produced this week!!  All of our time and energy over the last month has gone into getting this first batch off and running.  It was inevitable that along the way we would have some production setbacks – and we did.  We went to produce our first batch, and had trouble evenly roasting our chickpeas.  After lots of collaboration with the folks at our manufacturing facility – we were able to figure out why this was happening, and how to resolve it.

Producing this first batch was an incredible experience.  I loved being on the production floor and getting to know all the people that will be producing our snacks on an ongoing basis.  They’re an incredible group of people that understand what it takes to produce high quality, natural foods that taste amazing.

Btw – the picture above is of our first few packages coming off the production process.  It was amazing to see them officially filled and sealed.  We’ve also started meeting with buyers – and getting great feedback on our packaging, flavors, etc. (!!).  More on that later.  Until then – enjoy!

We’re getting ready to make Batch 1 (!!) -and things have been **extremely** busy over here.  It feels like each day is filled with a crazy jumble of activities – from calling ingredient suppliers, dealing with logistics, to re-testing final ingredients and prepping for initial calls with buyers.  To top it off – we just barely finalized the steps for roasting and flavoring our chickpeas.

Along the way – I knew that somehow, no matter how much I double and triple checked things – a mistake was bound to happen.  And it did happen – right after New Years.  I realized that I put the wrong bar codes on a set of labels that were just about to be printed.  After a mad dash and some frantic calls (where I tried to sound very calm) to our case box label printer – I was able to fix the almost-disaster, and labels are now on their way to our manufacturing facility.

Nevertheless – things are slowly starting to come together for this first batch – and hopefully, we’ll actually have some snacks soon!!

PS – the mysterious picture above is of our packaging! It has finally finished printing and has reached our manufacturing facility!!!  It was amazing to see the packaging in real life – take a look at this pic below.

With people around the world celebrating the holidays, I thought it was the perfect time to write a post about roasted chickpeas around the world.  Whether its North Africa, the Mediterranean or South Asia – roasted chickpeas are a snack that is enjoyed around the world.  They are a staple that is flavored or coated with everything from black pepper to cumin to a hard candy shell.

However – there is a major difference between those roasted chickpeas and Biena roasted chickpeas.  While those go through a process that creates a powdery or chalky texture on the inside – ours are actually crunchy.  After many hundreds of trial batches – we’ve developed an entirely different and very unique roasting process that lets us create a roasted chickpea that’s crunchy – like a cracker or a wasabi pea.

When I started down the journey of creating this snack – I did a number of blind taste tests with both types of roasted chickpeas – and what we discovered is that we Americans seem to overwhelmingly prefer the crunchy type.  So that is what led us down the path of creating something entirely new.

And precisely because we are doing something new, and doing it from scratch – it has made the journey that much harder in terms of finding partners.  (“You’re looking for what??!”)  But there is no question in my mind that its all definitely worth it if we can deliver the taste experience that we want.  Happy holidays everyone!

I couldn’t be more excited to share a first look at our packaging.  This was a true collaboration between myself and our designer, who has incredible packaging experience and has been a real “partner” on this project (thank you Gary!).

Packaging is really important for most any product in a retail environment – but this is particularly true for Biena.  Not only is the brand new – but the concept of a roasted chickpea snack is new as well.  In seconds – the packaging needs to catch your attention, stand out as something unique, and convey what the brand and product is all about.

We wanted the Biena packaging to have a natural and inviting feel to it – but at the same time, have a clean look.  We used the vine on the left as a key design element – it conveys a natural feel, while at the same time creating a unique, asymmetrical design.  The other fun element on here is the chickpea shaped “window” – there are 2 of them.  When the pkg is printed – those shapes will be clear so you can actually see the snacks inside the pouches.

Btw – the one thing you can’t easily tell from the images is that the packaging is in a standup pouch.  They’ll be small enough to carry in a handbag or work bag, but large enough for the shelf.  Enjoy!

After all the tasting and testing – we’ve finalized which flavors we’re launching with.  The final 3 are: Cinnamon Maple, Sea Salt and Lime & Chili.  Each one fills a different type of craving – and is truly delicious on its own.  (although the taste fusion is awesome if you put them all together in a bowl too).

For the Lime & Chili – it took us a while to get the right balance of lime and chili.  It leads with a tangy lime (it was originally called Chili & Lime – subtle difference, but its all about the taste expectation), and then gives you a medium kick that slowly builds over time. Personally, I can’t stop snacking on these – and the feedback on these from tasters over the last week has been excellent.

The Cinnamon Maple gives you real cinnamon taste with a touch of sweetness.  Its not too sweet -but enough to satisfy cravings.  These are my daughter’s favorites – and a long time favorite flavor for many of my friends.

Finally – the Sea Salt.  This is the staple flavor and it has only 3 ingredients: chickpeas, canola oil (expeller pressed, non-GMO), and sea salt.  The idea is to have a crunchy, tasty, healthy snack alternative for the traditional chips, nuts, etc.