Erie-based Ka-Pop! is looking to ingrain fun into healthy snacking

ERIE — Dustin Finkel was looking for a healthy but fun snacking option when he burned a bunch of ancient grains on his stovetop.

Finkel, whose background is in consumer packaged goods, wanted to see if he could take ancient grains — grains like quinoa and sorghum that haven’t been hybridized or modified — and pop them like popcorn.

“The result was these burnt shreds that tasted great and were super nutritious,” Finkel told BizWest. “The moms I knew loved them and kids loved them. I would go around with these Ziplock bags of burnt ancient grains.”

SPONSORED CONTENT

People Powered: Preparing Longmont Businesses for Economic Success

Longmont Chamber and FNBO present People Powered on April 24, 2024, aiming to inform business owners about workforce development, housing, and transportation issues.

His idea started in little baggies at the end of 2015, but has grown into Ka-Pop!, a brand of air fried sorghum chips. It has also developed into Finkel’s own startup, Ancient inGRAINed Snack Co., which is debuting its line of Ka-Pop! at Natural Products Expo West this week and was recently accepted into the Kraft Heinz food incubator.

To get to where he is now, Finkel actually took his little bags to Expo West in 2016. He didn’t have a booth, he just went around to anyone he could find and get input. The consensus was they tasted great but weren’t very consumption friendly.

“There was an issue with eatability,” Finkel said. “The popped ancient grains were really small, think of the crumbs at the bottom of a popcorn bag. People kept saying we were onto something but the format needed to be more substantial.”

So Finkel looked away from popcorn and more towards chips, where he went through an R&D process of converting sorghum into chips without fillers, frying or baking. The solution was to air-pop sorghum and sorghum flour in a high-pressure frier. The three ingredients to Ka-Pop! are sorghum, sunflower oil and seasoning, he said.

Now, Finkel is back at Expo West — he actually spoke to BizWest from Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., where he took his team for the today before the event started. Although Ka-Pop! launched in the spring of 2018, this marks its Expo West debut. The Erie-based company has four flavors it will be sharing: olive oil & sea salt, rosemary & garlic, dairy-free cheddar, and sea salt and vinegar. Finkel said the showcase will also be an opportunity to test out two potential new flavors.

“Expo West has become such a huge event, with 80,000 people and 4,000 booths,” he said. “We’ve got 80,000 consumers who are coming by the booth, and at worst we can just make them more aware of our product. But we have plans to launch sweet and spicy options, so we’ll have some samples at our booth and will do some unscientific focus groups to gauge interest in a sriracha flavor and sweet maple cinnamon flavor.”

Ka-Pop! is the first product from Finkel’s company, Ancient inGRAINed. Finkel formed the company after a background at companies like General Mills and WhiteWave (now DanoneWave.) Finkel said that under the Ancient inGRAINed umbrella there is the potential to launch other brands and formats beyond Ka-Pop!.

“We wanted to take ancient grains and put them in products that people know and love,” he said. “We wanted it to be fun, which is something that can be lost in the natural food space. It can be serious, with ‘no, no, no, not this, not that.’ And yes, we’re none of those things, but we are full of taste and fun flavors.”

As the company grows, it’s getting attention from big names in the food space. The company was one of five selected to join the second class of the Kraft Heinz Springboard incubator program. Springboard is meant to nurture and develop the next generation of disruptive food brands. The four other companies in the program are Blake’s Seed Based, BRAMI, Origin Almond and Tiny Giants. Finkel added that the company is also in talks with 7-Eleven for testing its products in stores as that company focuses on more healthy options.

Being part of Kraft’s incubator means access to resources Ancient inGRAINed wouldn’t otherwise have.

“The incredible Kraft enterprise, its sales, operations, all of that we can leverage and have at our disposal,” he said. “We’ll also get mentorship, resources and have the chance to work with the other brands while we’re in Chicago for 16 weeks and can leverage each other’s expertise. Worst case scenario, we have access to incredible resources, but best case the opportunities are unlimited.”

As a passionate natural products entrepreneur, Finkel said he doesn’t have a problem working with large corporate partners like Kraft. He said when he used to work at WhiteWave and its line of Horizon organic milk, they worked with Dean’s Dairy, a major CPG doing conventional milk.

“I used to talk at trade shows and people would ask how can you partner with Dean’s and I would say without Dean’s support and resources, there would be no Horizon and no organic industry. Without that support and those resources, we can’t grow this. All of these CPGs realize from a business standpoint we’re a growth engine. And from my standpoint, to be what I want to be and to disrupt the industry, I need those types of resources.”

He said because of the access he can get, he has no issue with corporate companies partnering with natural products startups.

“Partner with us and other brands, help craft this and see what’s possible while staying true to the mission,” he said. “Innovation can come without compromising on cost or quality.”