A round-up of the best pumpkin spice foods and drinks to hit stores and restaurants this fall
Problem
Better-for-you snacks
should be way better
Most so-called better-for-you snacks are full of sugar and devoid of nutritional value. Those that contain animal products have a negative impact on the environment. And when it comes to tasting great, many other better-for-you snacks simply don't. Bland flavors, weird aftertastes, and cardboard-y textures abound.
Consumers are actively searching for snacks that are lower in sugar, higher in nutritional value, and taste amazing.
Solution
A better-for-you snack that you actually enjoy eating
Rule Breaker to the rescue! Our soft-baked, chewy plant-based brownies and blondies are fun to eat. Rule Breaker is for health-conscious folks who refuse to settle for snacks that are anything less than absolutely delicious AND satisfy their dietary needs and values. That's what Rule Breaker Snacks is all about.
Chickpeas, the first ingredient in all Rule Breaker Snacks, are a super-nutritious, super-sustainable crop that has a positive environmental impact. All Rule Breaker Snacks are also vegan, certified gluten-free, top 11 allergen-free, lower in sugar than competitors, verified by the Non-GMO Project, kosher-certified, and contain no artificial ingredients or preservatives. So how can our snacks possibly taste like real treats?
We can’t reveal our secret formula. But we get rave reviews from the toughest critics on the planet—kids! Finally, a snack kids and grownups love and everyone can feel great about.
Product
We've got snack time solved
Rule Breaker Snacks has cracked the code for creating wholesome deliciousness. That’s why we won the NEXTY award for best new dessert (it’s like an Oscar for natural foods).
A delicious, vegan, sustainable snack
We start with a superstar ingredient: chickpeas.This mighty bean is packed with protein, fiber, healthy fats, and lots of manganese, folate, copper, zinc and other essential nutrients. Plus, chickpeas are a sustainable crop, actually returning nitrogen to the soil and eliminating the need for greenhouse gas-producing fertilizers. We sweeten Rule Breaker Snacks mostly with dates, contributing fiber, B6 and other vitamins and minerals. Of course, our cocoa and chocolate are fair trade-certified. All Rule Breaker Snacks are also verified by the Non-GMO Project and kosher-certified by KOF-K.
Food allergies? We have your back. All Rule Breaker Snacks are made and packaged in our two contract bakeries, both of which are certified gluten-free and dedicated top 11 allergen-free (see FAQ for the list), not to mention kosher-certified and SQF Level 2 certified. We're proud to be a partner brand of SnackSafely.org and Spokin.com.
Traction
In 3500+ stores across U.S. and featured on Shark Tank
Rule Breaker is on track to triple our 2020 sales, hitting $1.3M in 2021, and a projected $2.2M in 2022
Up until 2019, we were really still in our proof of concept stage, perfecting our formula to become shelf-stable and showing national retailers that they should take a chance on us. Well, the concept has definitely been proven. Rule Breaker has achieved true national distribution in 3500+ retailers and more than $1.1M in sales in the last 12 months.
Yes, you saw Rule Breaker Snacks on Shark Tank
The Sharks loved Rule Breaker Snacks—even Mr. Wonderful ("Wow, I mean, wow!").
Following the show in February 2021, Rule Breaker got an instant, immense boost with $120K+ in online sales alone. We didn't get a deal, however. When we filmed in August 2020, the Sharks felt that our founder Nancy Kalish had bootstrapped too much in comparison with then-current sales. Some people think putting your savings into your company is a great thing; others don't. We’re proud that Rule Breaker Snacks was bootstrapped and we were passionate enough to be fearless about it.
That passion has paid off. Our sales have since tripled. In January 2021, we received an investment from a major player in the global baked goods industry, Grupo Bimbo (Sara Lee, Thomas', Arnold, and more). It was immensely difficult to get on the show, but it was worth it. Our episode has already been rerun once. Shark Tank is the marketing gift that keeps on giving.
Rule Breaker Snacks also gets regular national media coverage. Our newest product, Pumpkin Spice Bites, was recently featured in People.
Customers
Our social media drives sticky consumer connections
Rule Breaker Snacks has a lot of fans out there. We have more than 33K followers across our social media channels, including customers, celebrities, and influencers.
We create colorful, sticky content that resonates with consumers looking for easy, healthy snack solutions.
- Health-conscious consumers
- Vegans and plant-curious consumers
- Allergy-concerned consumers
- Parents looking for snacks with less sugar and clean ingredients that their kids will love
Our branding has a playful rebel vibe that makes it fun to eat better, even if you have special dietary needs.
And our customers keep coming back for more. Our online repurchase rate is 29.4% and growing. Here's what some of our Amazon customers have to say...
Business model
Succeeding with an omnichannel approach
We utilize new and interesting ways to get into people's homes, their stomachs, and their hearts! Here are just a few of our current wholesale customers...
D2C/E-commerce = 42% of sales. This is our fastest growing/highest profit channel. Rule Breaker is frequently an Amazon's "Top Choice" in vegan and gluten-free cookies, and allergen-free cookies. Growth tactics: digital ads, free and paid social media, social commerce selling, email/sms marketing.
Grocery = 50% of sales. Rule Breaker is well-established in this channel with true national distribution. Current U.S. retail locations: 3500+, increasing to 4800 by end of 2022. Growth tactics: promotions, couponing, shared social media, digital ads.
Snack boxes and meal prep kits = 6% of sales. These provide in-home sampling experiences during the pandemic, boost brand awareness and drive additional sales.
Home delivery services = 2% of sales. We recently launched nationally with GoPuff and in select cities with UberEats, DoorDash, GrubHub and more. This fast-growing channel has allowed us to enter a new day part.
Market
US snack sales are more than $100 billion—and growing
The healthy snack market is projected to grow to $108 billion by 2027, and cookie consumption has increased by 25% during the pandemic (hey, we're not judging!). The #1 motivator driving consumers to try new brands is healthier ingredients, according to 2021 Mintel research. Low sugar and being free from allergens are not far behind.
The plant-based snack market is set to exceed $73 billion by 2028 with an 8.7 compound annual growth rate. Plant-based food retail sales increased by 27% in 2020 to $7 billion, growing nine times faster than total food sales in the last two years. Fifty-seven percent of U.S. households now purchase plant-based foods for health, animal welfare and environmental reasons. Rule Breaker satisfies all these needs.
Americans spend $19 billion annually on foods free of the top nine food allergens, and sales of these foods have increased by 27% annually for the last four years. Thirty-two million Americans have food allergies or sensitivities. Their needs drive purchases for much bigger groups: whole families, friends, schools (where nuts are banned), camps, parties and countless other occasions. The fact that Rule Breaker fits their needs AND tastes great makes these high repeat customers. All our products are made and packaged in two bakeries that are certified gluten-free and dedicated top 11 allergen-free. No wonder McKinsey research shows that 68% of allergy-concerned shoppers trust smaller brands over bigger ones.
Competition
How the other
cookies crumble
Sure, there are other gluten-free and/or plant-based snacks. But none of our competitors make a chewy, delicious brownie-style cookie that's free from all common allergens and also low in added sugar—and none of them use chickpeas.
A big Rule Breaker brownie is sweetened mostly with dates and contains just 4 grams of added sugar. Every single one of our direct competitors’ cookies contains at least 3 times as much added sugar for the same serving size (1.9oz/54g). And Rule Breaker Snacks are nut-free, making our products great for schools where nuts are not allowed.
Vision and strategy
Innovate, accelerate, and achieve a highly profitable acquisition
We have some exciting immediate plans...
- Launch several fun, new flavors in 2022, all chickpea-centric. We also have a wow-worthy, totally new, vegan, gluten-free product line in the works.
- Develop new multi-pack SKUs in order to increase average sales per customer.
- Grow D2C sales from 42 to 50% with increased digital ad spend and advanced email/sms marketing tactics, and increase our footprint with major online retailers.
- Expand current U.S. and global distribution. We're targeting strategic retail partners to fuel grocery growth. We plan to drive sales and increase velocity with advanced marketing tactics such as geotargeting.
- Achieve a majority acquisition within the next 4 years with a high ROI. We are on track to reach our revenue projections this year and beyond.
We're changing the world, one brownie at a time.
The plant-based, better-for-you snack market is growing, and it's pioneers like us who are paving the way. This is a great opportunity for you to team up with Rule Breaker Snacks as we move into our next phase of aggressive brand growth. Come join us on this delicious journey.
Funding
Our investors
In January 2021, Bimbo Ventures, the Venture Capital arm of Grupo Bimbo, made a minority investment in Rule Breaker Snacks—the first ever by its US venture hub.
Grupo Bimbo S.A.B de C.V. is the world's largest baking company with operations in 33 countries. It's known for its iconic, category leading brands including Sara Lee, Arnold, Thomas’, Boboli, Entenmann's, Freihofer's, and others. Rule Breaker Snacks also has an additional private investor with experience in the food business, providing valuable advice and contacts.
Rule Breaker Snacks is going through a period of great growth and needs capital to fuel it. We would use the additional funding for marketing to drive trial and conversion with potential loyal customers. We also need capital for marketing to boost sales at current retailers, and to pay for promotional programs at new retailers. The funds would also help launch an exciting new line extension in the works.
Founders
Nancy Kalish
Chief Rule Breaker
Nancy Kalish, Founder & CEO, is a certified health coach and former health journalist for major national publications, including Prevention, Health, O (The Oprah) Magazine, Real Simple, and The New York Times. After interviewing hundreds of doctors and nutritionists, she knew exactly what to eat to be healthy. But she's always had HUGE sweet tooth. She longed for a healthy treat she could feel good about eating but that didn't taste, well, healthy.
So she got busy in her Brooklyn kitchen and after a year, she'd created a crazy good brownie made from chickpeas (yes, beans!). In 2014, she commercialized that recipe and launched Rule Breaker Snacks.
As the outtake below proves, making Republic videos can be messy. But we're willing to do whatever it takes for Rule Breaker Snacks to succeed!