Category: Food + Beverage
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Meet USC alum Valerie Zweig, Co-Founder of Cookstix
Tell us about your company: Cookstix is an instant chicken stock in powder form, made with real ingredients to make every day cooking easier and less wasteful. Instead of heavy cartons or overly salty cubes, we offer clean-label cooking stock in small stick packets that deliver chef-quality flavor.Each stick lets you use exactly what you…
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Meet USC alum Malia Caskurlu, Co-Founder of Peppertux
Tell us about your company: Peppertux is a pistachio-obsessed food company giving pistachios the PR they deserve. From creamy spreads to drizzles and drinks, we turn premium Turkish pistachios into dangerously delicious things you’ll want to put on… pretty much everything. What inspired you to start your business? We started Peppertux because we genuinely love…
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Meet Penn State alum Iman McDonnaugh-Brown, Founder of WAWM
Tell us about your company: WAWM® (We Are Wonderfully Made, LLC) offers unique, high quality hot sauces that are delicious and healthy. We do this by bringing customers our Trinidadian recipes using only Non-GMO, Vegan, GF, and low sodium ingredients. What inspired you to start your business? My family. My family is everything to me…
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Meet UC Berkeley alum Roma Desai, Founder of GOBBi
Tell us about your company: GOBBi is a savory energy drink for busy professionals who need to energize and nourish— just add hot water for a satisfying energy boost! GOBBi was created to solve a simple problem: how to feel good and stay energized during a long day of work. Our founder, Roma, worked in…
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Meet USC alum Mari Fassett, Founder Marimix
Tell us about your company: Marimix reimagines a nostalgic comfort-food with 100% clean ingredients and a fresh focus on inclusive nutrition: plant-based, gluten free, whole-grain and no artificial sugars, flavors or colors. We believe that wholesome food and whole-hearted fun deserve to go hand-in-hand, so we’re committed to making healthful everyday choices more accessible for…
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Meet USC alum Juliet Kim Blake, Founder of ginsa
Tell us about your company: ginsa is a sparkling Korean red ginseng tonic with zero caffeine and only 20 calories from honey. We use a patented hydrolyzed Korean red ginseng extract that provides 15x the absorption at 4x the speed so you get all the benefits of the ginseng almost immediately with no bitter bite.…
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Meet Loyla Marymount University alum Ali Al-Faraj, Founder of Tru Cinnamon
Tell us about your company: Tru Cinnamon is the first cinnamon water brand—born from my own health journey. I was looking for a way to curb my caffeine intake, which was fueling anxiety, and to find a natural alternative to help support my high cholesterol. That search led me to Ceylon cinnamon, a plant long…
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Meet USC alum Mari Fassett, Founder Marimix
Tell us about your company: Marimix reimagines a nostalgic comfort-food with 100% clean ingredients and a fresh focus on inclusive nutrition: plant-based, gluten free, whole-grain and no artificial sugars, flavors or colors. We believe that wholesome food and whole-hearted fun deserve to go hand-in-hand, so we’re committed to making healthful everyday choices more accessible for…
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Meet UC Berkeley alum Rhonda Nassar, Co-Founder of Celia Chocolatier
Tell us about your company: Celia’s guiding principle is to create clean, premium, and natural chocolates — with a focus on both taste and ingredient integrity.Our chocolates are made with single-origin cacao beans from Ecuador (specifically Ecuadorian Nacional cacao), prized for naturally fruity and floral flavor notes.We avoid common “fillers” and additives. Our bars are…
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Meet USC alumni Winston Alfieri, Co-Founder Sauz
Tell us about your company: Sauz is a pasta sauce brand that offers unique and bold flavors designed to stand out from the traditional options available in the market. What inspired you to start your business? I’ve always had a passion for food, and my co-founder, Troy Bonde, and I saw an opportunity in the…
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