Category: Food + Beverage
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Meet USC alum: Zac Coughlin, Founder of Zac’s Sweet Shop
Tell us about your company: Zac’s Sweet Shop is a chocolate company making gourmet, innovative, and delicious bite-sized chocolate confections including truffles, cookies, pretzels, and chocolate bark. Zac is on the mission to reinvent the box of chocolates experience through purpose, passion, and innovative products. What inspired you to start your business? Ever since I…
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Meet USC alum: Chloe Choi, Co-Founder MIILS
Tell us about your company: MIILS is a next-generation cereal protein shake brand to bring taste, convenience, and fun back into the protein aisle. We’re the first in the U.S. to launch single-serve, resealable pouches with real crunchy cereal inclusions inside. Our mission is simple: help busy, passionate, and successful people stay fueled with clean,…
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Meet NYU alum: Tatyana Jones Founder of DEFI Snacks
Tell us about your company: DEFI Snacks is rewriting the rules of better-for-you snacking. Founded by NYU Stern MBA ’15 alumna Tatyana Jones, DEFI is a breakthrough snack brand built for people who refuse to compromise — bold flavor, clean ingredients, and a nutrition profile that actually delivers. We’re not another “healthy” snack hiding sugar…
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Meet USC alum: Ashley Whalen, Founder of Chara Greek Frozen Yogurt
Tell us about your company: Chara is a better-for-you Greek frozen yogurt brand reimagining indulgence with clean, high-protein, probiotic-rich pints made from real ingredients. What inspired you to start your business? During my senior year at USC, I noticed my roommates making Greek yogurt bowls for dessert and saw the frozen aisle wasn’t meeting the…
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Meet UC Berkeley alum Rosetta Wang, Founder Laurelate
Tell us about your company: Laurelate is a California-grown chocolate alternative made from the native bay laurel tree—an abundant, climate-resilient species that has nourished Indigenous communities for generations. We transform California bay nuts into a rich, aromatic chocolate-like food that requires no cacao and supports local ecosystems. Our mission is to restore native forests through…
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Meet UCLA alum: Kian Nikzad, Founder Ancient Sun
Tell us about your company: Ancient Sun sells balanced beverages called date shakes at natural food retailers. They are made with simple ingredients: dates, nuts, and spices. Each of the three flavors is inspired from a different region of the world. What inspired you to start your business? I’ve always had an interest in ‘going…
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Meet USC alum: Loren Castle, Founder Sweet Loren’s
Tell us about your company: Sweet Loren’s exists to challenge the status quo and transform the way people enjoy food, by crafting delicious, clean, and allergen-free treats that make everyone feel good inside and out. Infused with a trailblazing spirit, Sweet Loren’s transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary, blending time-honored techniques with daring new and…
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Meet UC Berkeley alum: Luiza Villela, Founder unClassic
Tell us about your company: unClassic makes whole-food, mushrooms that are craveable, nutrient-dense, and scalable — like oyster mushroom nuggets and fillets of lion’s mane. Think: tofu, but mushrooms instead of soy. What inspired you to start your business? I grew up in Brazil, where meat was a way of life but I also saw…
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Meet UCSB alum: Nicole Slone, Founder Above Board Liqueurs
Tell us about your company: Above Board Liqueurs is a plant based low to no sugar liqueur line created to redefine what is possible behind the bar and at home. Made with plant-based sweeteners Monk fruit and Allulose, our liqueurs deliver the flavor and experience of traditional favorites without the heavy sugar load, offering a…
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Meet USC alum Zac Coughlin, Founder of Zac’s Sweet Shop
Tell us about your company: Zac’s Sweet Shop is a chocolate company making gourmet, innovative, and delicious bite-sized chocolate confections including truffles, cookies, pretzels, and chocolate bark. Zac is on the mission to reinvent the box of chocolates experience through purpose, passion, and innovative products. What inspired you to start your business? Ever since I…
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