Featured VentureMom – Emily Griffith – Lil Bucks
Lil Bucks makes crunchy snacks and paleo cereal from sprouted buckwheat. It all began with a life-changing acai bowl by the beach in Australia. Blown away by the texture and nutrition of sprouted buckwheat in the bowl, the founder Emily Griffin became obsessed with this superfood and is on a mission to share the love of buckwheat with North America.
“This cafe used sprouted buckwheat as a grain-free granola replacement. Then I started seeing them everywhere in Australia, from the grocery stores to being used in Australian cafes on salads, toast, and in raw desserts. It became a part of my daily diet, so when I realized no brand in the U.S.A. was focused on this superfood, it was a no brainer to bring the love of buckwheat, along with a dose of Aussie vibes, back to America with me!”
Emily quit her ad agency job in Australia and began working on her new idea full time. She spent her days in the kitchen making Lil Bucks for the farmers markets. She started with the Lil Bucks line you still see today, although it’s been through a couple of packaging iterations.
Emily was able to sell out all the time at markets because she was there explaining the health benefits and how to enjoy these seeds, but on their own on the grocery shelf without her there, it became more difficult to get new customers.
This insight led her to create a product in a format everyone’s familiar with, clusters. “We launched Clusterbucks, adaptogenic buckwheat clusters and the reception has been incredible.” Once her customers were hooked on Clusterbucks, they started eating Lil Bucks all the time, too. Emily is now focused on releasing a couple of new flavors of Clusterbucks soon to round out the product family with Chocolate Reishi and Turmeric Lemon Myrtle.
Emily used her college minor in graphic design to develop her brand. “The Lil Bucks brand is really inspired from my time living in Australia – the bright, laid-back cheeky vibes, and outdoor beauty, and I wanted to bring that back to Chicago.”
“The whole experience of building a brand, starting with making the products in a shared commercial kitchen by myself (which was insane), to scaling up, to working with amazing sprouting manufacturing partners. It’s wild to look back on how much I’ve learned and figured out through the struggles. My latest learning experience has been learning to delegate.” Emily felt that she had been doing it all and finally brought on team members to handle various parts of the business for me. “I am so grateful that I finally took the time to build a team and train them, because it’s the key to growth! You can’t build an empire on your own!
Lil Bucks and Clusterbucks can be found in Whole Foods and other grocery stores throughout the midwest
VentureMom Tip
Build a team to help you grow.
