Supplied<\/p>\n
Rebecca Brady is the owner of organic, gluten-free, vegan cracker brand Top Seedz.<\/p>\n
After ten years out of the workforce to look after her kids, a New Zealand woman took her home baking to her local farmers market hoping to create a source of income.<\/p>\n
Now Rebecca Bradys organic, vegan, and gluten-free seed crackers are in Americas biggest supermarkets, and shes just won US$1.4 million to help go global.<\/p>\n
[The business] its doing really well and our biggest problem is meeting demand, she said from her Buffalo, New York, home.<\/p>\n
Brady left New Zealand about 27 years ago, doing stints in Singapore and Japan before settling in Buffalo, New York in 2015.<\/p>\n
READ MORE:* Recipe: Vegan bird seed crackers from Chocolate Fish Cafe* My top 10 tips for business success<\/p>\n
The reality was I had a ten-year gap in my resume, so it was pretty hard to find a job.<\/p>\n
I thought what do I really want to do?, and I love good nutrition, the connection between what we eat is who we are and how we perform in life.<\/p>\n
Shed been making her own healthy snacks for her children for as long as she could remember, so thought shed give it a go by selling her crackers made of pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, chia, hemp and flax seeds, at a local farmers market.<\/p>\n
It was really quiet, the middle of winter, and we got about five people coming each Saturday, which was just fine because I really didnt know what I was doing, she laughed.<\/p>\n
Kaitahi As One Frozen Smoothy Drops use indigenious ingredients and are available in New World stores nationwide.<\/p>\n
It was there she came up with the name Top Seedz, invested $5000 into the brand, perfected the packaging and marketed the products.<\/p>\n
And now Im in four Whole Foods regions throughout the country.<\/p>\n
The company has experienced two times the growth year-on-year, and Brady's vision is to be a US$100 million (NZ$139.4m) company.<\/p>\n
Supplied<\/p>\n
Top Seedz crackers are made of pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, chia, hemp and flax seeds.<\/p>\n
The brand is currently in 350 stores across America, and is selling on average 50,000 boxes of crackers a month.<\/p>\n
Whole Foods has already approached Brady asking when she will be ready to go country-wide, but due to the manufacturing process being hands-on and manual, she cant.<\/p>\n
We need to spend money on equipment and automate those processes, so we can meet the pent-up demand.<\/p>\n
Brady runs the manufacturing herself, and 90 per cent of her employees are women and all are refugees.<\/p>\n
She beat more than 18 other businesses in a lengthy accelerator programme, North 43, to win US$1m as well as year-long mentorship.<\/p>\n
That will allow her to build an automated manufacturing system to boost demand and expand production including bringing the brand to New Zealand.<\/p>\n
I think my mother would kill me if I didn't.<\/p>\n
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See the original post here: <\/p>\n
Cracker brand owner from NZ wins $1.4 million in New York business competition - Stuff.co.nz<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Supplied Rebecca Brady is the owner of organic, gluten-free, vegan cracker brand Top Seedz. After ten years out of the workforce to look after her kids, a New Zealand woman took her home baking to her local farmers market hoping to create a source of income Continue reading