Love Grown Foods

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Love Grown Foods is a natural food company that manufactures a line of granola it advertises as all natural. The company was founded in January 2009 by Maddie D’Amato and Alex Hasulak after developing their product line in college. The company markets its products in grocery stores across Colorado and Wyoming

History

Love Grown Foods was founded in Aspen, Colorado by Maddy D’Amato and Alex Hasulak. They met at the University of Denver, where they founded the company in January 2009.[1] The two founders market Love Grown by spending time in stores that carry their products and educating customers on the benefits of their products.[2]

After one year, Love Grown granola was being sold in 80 super markets across Colorado and Wyoming. The couple cooks all of their products themselves in a commercial kitchen near their Stapleton neighborhood.[3] The company has been noted for contributing to the revitalization the moribund economy of the Aspen region by the local newspaper, The Aspen times.[4]

Founders

The two founders met as freshman at the University of Denver. They were friends for years, and became romantically involved soon after graduating. They were roommates during their final year, and graduated in three years. As seniors, D’Amato (’08) and Hasulak (’08) asked University of Denver students for help in perfecting their homemade granola recipe. They did so by bringing samples of their product to campus for their classmates and teachers.[1]

Advertising

Love Grown Foods’ slogan is, "It’s not just a company, it’s a lifestyle".[3]

To promote their products, D’Amato and Hasulak spend weekends in local supermarkets where they hand out samples of their product and espouse their company's corporate beliefs. Their stated corporate goal is for their company to provide an all-natural and healthy means of life for its customers.[3] Additionally the company promotes its products heavily using various social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin; it also maintains a corporate blog on Wordpress.

Products

Love Grown Foods only has varieties of granola now, but it plans to add a line of energy bars and gels, and trail mixes.[1] The products are promoted as gluten free, as they do not contain wheat or other related grains. The company has received favorable reviews for their products from the Examiner.com,[5] The Aspen Times,[6] The Denver Post and other media outlets.[7][8]

In November 2009, Website Chowhound named Love Grown’s "Sweet Cranberry Pecan" flavor number one in a granola taste test that included well-known brands such as Ola! and Bear Naked. The company's "Cinnamon Apple Walnut" came in at number six in the survey.[9]

Competition

Love Grown Foods faces competition from other natural granola companies. Bear Naked is by far the largest competitor because of the national availability of Bear Naked products. Ola! Granola is similar to Love Grown, but is currently only in the North Eastern United States.[10] Another Colorado based competitor is Udi’s granola. Udi’s Healthy Foods has a larger market share, spreading through parts of the Pacific States and Upper Midwest.[11]

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Oksenhorn, Stewart (26 July 2009). "Young Aspen entrepreneurs bring idealism to business". The Aspen Times. Retrieved 8 March 2011. 
  2. Greg, Glasgow (31 March 2010). "Alums take a bite of premium granola biz". Retrieved 8 March 2011. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Oksenhorn, Stewart (24 February 2010). "Aspen granola brand takes off for local couple". The Aspen Times. Retrieved 8 March 2011. 
  4. Andersen, Paul (2 November 2009). "Paul Andersen: Fair Game". The Aspen Times. Retrieved 8 March 2011. 
  5. Thomas, Nicole (7 March 2011). "Love Grown Foods' Oat Clusters & Love". Examiner.com. 
  6. "Out there: Killer cereal". The Denver Post. 21 February 2010. Retrieved 8 March 2011. 
  7. "Colorado granola makers hope to spread 'Love'" 9News.com, (NBC affiliate) Jan 27, 2011
  8. Leff, Jim (18 November 2009). "Gigunda Granola Tasting Results". Retrieved 8 March 2011. 
  9. Ola! Granola
  10. Udi's Granola

External links

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