Kevin’s Natural Foods Founders Start Anew With Wild Fox Foods

Having tackled meals, the founders of Kevin’s Natural Foods are preparing their second act: better-for-you snacks.

Wild Fox Foods, a new brand launched by Kevin McCray and Kelsie Costa, is taking a different approach to the roasted nut, trail mix and protein bar categories by leaning into the no-seed-oil trend and using a familiar strategy of the duo’s previous packaged food brand.

Wild Fox is launching roasted nuts and trail mixes in 5 oz. and 10 oz. bags. The roasted nuts are available as cashews or almonds with varieties like Honey Roasted, Sea Salt and Hickory Smoked. There are six trail mix options combining nuts with dried fruit and chocolate (Apple Cinnamon, Cherry Pie, Cran & Nut, Dark Chocolate Cherry, Dark Chocolate Raisin and Tropical).

Additionally, the brand will launch protein bars with 15 grams of protein and 11 grams of fiber in three varieties: Cinnamon Churro, Caramel Sea Salt and Dark Chocolate Sea Salt. Each 1.83 oz. bar will retail for $3.99.

The impetus for the new self-funded project came after Kevin’s Natural Foods was acquired by Mars, Inc. in July 2023. McCray and Costa stayed on for about a year to help integrate the brand into the multinational’s framework before taking a needed break.

“With Kevin’s, we started with this mission of empowering people to eat clean without sacrificing flavor,” McCray said. “But when we looked at what to do next, it’s not like that mission went away.”

The team turned its attention to snacks, and given their proximity to the heartland of almond production in Modesto, Calif., the founders saw roasted nuts as a good starting place. McCray and Costa found that many trail mixes and roasted nuts use refined sugar in the recipes and seed oils as part of the manufacturing process.

Not only are nuts usually fried, not roasted, but the oil is reused many times, further exacerbating the issue of oxidation that comes with the process.

Wild Fox is roasting its nuts in avocado oil only one time and is using coconut sugar and monk fruit as sweeteners. In the bar formulation, the brand is opting to use protein isolate crisps instead of powders to lighten the density and add a crunchy element.

Taking a lesson from building out Kevin’s Natural Foods, McCray and Costa have invested in controlling production by bringing their co-manufacturing partner on as part of the ownership team. McCray and Costa helped invest in the facility and outfit it with the specialized equipment used in their production process.

“Having some control over the pivotal manufacturing is really important,” McCray said. “We love to talk about how obsessed we are with healthy food and flavor, but behind the scenes, we are just as obsessed with manufacturing and getting the product right, making it on time and not shorting orders.”

While Wild Fox is wading into competitive categories like better-for-you snacking and protein bars, the founding team feels that there is still room to carve out opportunity as consumer demand skews more towards formulations free from seed oils, refined sugar and sugar alcohols.

There is still a “broader need” for healthier options in nuts and trail mixes, McCray said. “I would argue the category need is desperate for products like this.”

The brand has placed its attributes – gluten-free, seed oil-free, paleo-friendly, non-GMO and no added sugar – prominently on the top of the nut and trail mix packages, but is also relying on its name to draw consumers in. Foxes are known as clever animals, which the brand alludes to making smart food decisions. “Wild” is a nod to having a big personality while also fueling active lifestyles.

Besides these somewhat tenuous connections, the fox has become a real-life mascot for the brand ever since one of the animals decided to start hanging out behind the team’s office.

“We started feeding the little guy and giving him water,” Costa said laughing. “We were already pretty sold on the fox at that point, but it was pretty unbelievable. What are the chances?”