Big Moves For Lil Bucks: New COO, Expanded Distribution
Lil Bucks is having a big year. The sprouted buckwheat brand landed national distribution at Whole Foods Market and Target, while expanding its foodservice business and building the country’s first certified regenerative organic supply chain for its superstar seed.
To support these efforts, Lil Bucks founder and CEO Emily Griffith has tapped fellow Chicago entrepreneur Kailey Donewald as the brand’s new chief operating officer.
Donewald previously founded and led plant-based frozen dessert brand Sacred Serve, which she shuttered this spring due to challenging market conditions. Griffith said Donewald’s expertise in finance and logistics complements her marketing and sales skills. Additionally, the pair share a passion for sustainability and regenerative agriculture.
“Emily has built an insane foundation,” Donewald said. “I really was blown away when I came in and started poking behind the scenes on all the spreadsheets and everything she has as a self-proclaimed ‘not ops’ person.”
Founded in 2018, Lil Bucks offers a line of crunchy snacks and toppings featuring buckwheat, a soil-healthy crop that is rich in protein, fiber and magnesium. The brand’s Clusterbucks line of grain-free granola clusters add organic ingredients like honey or maple syrup, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, coconut sugar, coconut oil and coconut shreds. Flavors include Blueberry Crisp, Birthday Cake, Bucks ‘n Honey, Snickerdoodle and Chocolate Sea Salt.
Griffith has single-handedly scaled the brand’s retail footprint to 2,300 doors; Clusterbucks rolled out nationwide with Whole Foods in March and Target in April – notably “without any venture funding, which is absurd,” Griffith said. The products also are sold at Fred Meyer, King Soopers, Harmons, H-E-B, Shaws and various independent and specialty grocers.
Foodservice represents a growing portion of revenue. Lil Bucks offers bulk sprouted buckwheat to restaurant operators and single-serve packets of Clusterbucks to coffee shops and corporate pantries. The company recently began supplying the offices of Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle brand goop as well as trendy Los Angeles hangout Alfred Coffee, both of which initiated their respective partnerships.
Buckwheat already had been cited by the likes of Whole Foods as a top trend this year, earning interest for its nutritional and environmental benefits, as well as its versatility in a variety of applications from pancake mixes to soba noodles to crackers. In recent months, Lil Bucks has led efforts to build a band of buckwheat brands with the goal of raising awareness among American consumers.
“Buckwheat is such a misunderstood ingredient in the United States,” Griffith said. “It’s a fruit seed, it’s not a grain, and has all these wonderful health benefits and soil benefits. It’s so delicious.”
Moreover, regeneratively grown buckwheat is even healthier, said Donewald, noting testing that showed Lil Bucks’ buckwheat yielding 74% more antioxidants compared to conventionally grown seeds.
In her new role, Donewald plans to continue cultivating direct relationships with buckwheat farmers and exploring more sustainable packaging options, building on her achievements at Sacred Serve having launched the first-of-its-kind compostable, plastic-free cartons in the ice cream set.
The duo may also explore additional products that highlight buckwheat’s “crunch factor,” Griffith said.
“We’re still looking at a lot of opportunities with the groats – the crunchy, sprouted buckwheat seed – because not only is it a wonderful ingredient that’s gluten-free and nutritious and sustainable and all these amazing things, but at the end of the day, what’s winning is what tastes good and what is addictive,” Griffith said.
