Health and flavor to grab and go!
by Kelli Wickard
What mom wants their child to eat an unhealthy breakfast? Not Sue Kakuk, founder of Kakookies!
When Sue found out that her daughter and her daughter’s friends were eating donuts before their collegiate cycling races, she took it upon herself to find a way to give nutritious breakfast on their big race days. Not only was it important to give her daughter a healthy breakfast, but also to provide something that was convenient, individually wrapped and would fit easily in the back pockets of her daughter’s cycling jerseys. Sue started baking cookies and Kakookies was born.
When she first started baking the cookies, Sue wanted to accommodate for needs of many people with dietary restrictions, so she began by substituting typical cookie ingredients for healthier alternatives, baking regular, gluten free, and vegan cookies. To her surprise, most people, vegan or not, chose to purchase the vegan cookie over any of the others. She took that information and ran with it. She said goodbye to the flour, dairy and eggs and added no other substitutes for these missing ingredients. Now, all of her cookies are completely vegan.
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O'Brien's Own Granola fueling athletes, students at U of I
by Kelli Boylen
University of Iowa athletes are now powering up with O’Brien’s Own Granola!
O’Brien’s Own Granola received a vendor contract from the University of Iowa Athletic Department to provide new, single serving 2-ounce bags of granola. In addition, their energy bars are now offered at the fueling stations across campus.
“What a treat that our granola is helping fuel our student athletes at the University of Iowa. We feel privileged that we are a part of their training routines!” said Rick O’Brien.
In 2010, Rick and Belinda O’Brien started making granola with an original recipe in their own kitchen for themselves. They were soon making it for family, friends and co-workers.
In early 2011, they decided to go retail but needed a commercial manufacturing kitchen so Rick converted their basement into what they needed. After only a year they outgrew that space and in October of 2012 moved production into a commercial facility.
“It’s amazing how far we have come by keeping things simple. We use only the finest ingredients with no preservatives and trade shows like Feast! and local farmer’s markets have been a huge blessing and a catalyst for our growth,” shared Rick and Belinda. All their oats and honey are locally sourced from Iowa.
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