Economy & Economic Development  May 24, 2016

Naturally Boulder Pitch Slam winner Wild Zora buys space for expansion in Loveland

LOVELAND — With an expansion into REI on tap next month and large grocery chains increasing their orders, the owners of meat-snacks startup Wild Zora Foods LLC approached their landlord recently about leasing more space in their downtown Loveland location.

Turns out buying the building instead became the answer to expansion.

Zora and Josh Tabin cofounded Wild Zora in 2014 and launched the Loveland-based company's line of meat-based snacks last year. (Courtesy Wild Zora Foods LLC)
Zora and Josh Tabin cofounded Wild Zora in 2014 and launched the Loveland-based company’s line of meat-based snacks last year. (Courtesy Wild Zora Foods LLC)

Josh and Zora Tabin closed last week on the $1.4 million purchase of 325 and 333 E. Fourth St. from Gary and Christine Hausman. Wild Zora, which has been leasing about 1,400 square feet in the building, plans to move into space vacated by Colorado Heirloom last year as soon as the company can get approvals from the city and complete buildout of the space.

“It just seemed that it would be easier if we owned the building so we could be master of our own destiny,” Josh Tabin said Tuesday, noting that he expects to fill most of the 22,000-square-foot building over the next two years as current tenants move on.

“Q: The Live Escape Experience” escape room opened in the basement of 333 E. Fourth last fall. The building’s tenants also include Unique Recognition and a law firm.

“We’re not going to kick (the other tenants) out, but when they’re ready to go, we’ll certainly take the space,” Tabin said.

Wild Zora makes a line of meat-based snacks that each incorporates a full serving of certified organic fruits and vegetables. Flavors include chili beef with kale, apricot and cayenne pepper, as well as Mediterranean lamb with spinach and turmeric.

Founded in 2014 and launched early last year, Wild Zora gained a major visibility boost last fall from winning the Naturally Boulder Pitch Slam competition for new natural-foods startups. Within a few months, Wild Zora went from having shelf space in about 80 stores to nearly 400 today.

Wild Zora’s snacks are sold in 32 King Soopers stores in Colorado, with 118 more coming online next month. They’re also in all Rocky Mountain region stores for Whole Foods and Natural Grocers. And the expansion into REI next month will be national.

“That really helped us a great deal,” Tabin said of winning the Pitch Slam.

Tabin is a serial entrepreneur who has helped found some 20 companies, mostly in the tech world. When he and Zora decided to move their family from Europe back to the United States in 2012, they chose Fort Collins as the place they wanted to raise their kids. Josh Tabin served a short stint as chairman of the board of Boulder chocolatier Free2B Foods and is still involved with the company through his role as a managing partner of venture firm Galiuro Ventures LLC.

But he credits his wife for coming up with the idea for Wild Zora as the family became unsatisfied with the mix of energy bars and on-the-go snack options available for refueling while hiking or taking part in other outdoor activities. Once they had their formulas down for grain-free bars free of soy and added sugar, they bought out Ophilia’s Kitchen, a burrito maker that was going out of business but had been operating at 325 E. Fourth St. and already had a USDA-certified kitchen and packaging operation there.

Josh Tabin said revenue last year was “not very exciting” but said he expects to increase the figure tenfold this year. The company has nine full-time employees, plus 20 contract demo staff that serve as brand ambassadors. He said he expects to double the employee count over the next year.

The Tabins have mostly self-funded Wild Zora, other than some friends and family investment, and Josh said there are no plans at this point to take on equity investment.

“We like working,” he said. “We like building a company and making great food for people. We want to build a family business and run it. That’s our goal.”

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