15 Women-Owned Food Brands You Can Shop Right Now
15 Women-Owned Food Brands to Shop Beyond March
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Arguably the best part about celebrating any holiday is all the good food you get to enjoy throughout the season. There's pumpkin spice-flavoured everything during the fall, peppermint and gingerbread all December long, pastel-coloured sweets leading up to Easter, and the list goes on. As for Women's History Month in March with International Women's Day on the 8th, there's an equally delicious way to celebrate, and that's by supporting a female-owned-and-operated food brand.
There are plenty of tasty name brand options on the market, but Women's History Month is as good a time as any to instead buy from the many food businesses powered by female entrepreneurship. Whether it be gluten-free beer that actually tastes good, or sustainably-packaged snacks that are healthy too, each of these brands has managed to fill a niche in the food industry, to ultimately bring all kinds of unique high quality food products into your home. Here are 15 women-run food and beverage companies worthy of shopping all March long and beyond.
1 One Stripe Chai
If you've only ever had a chai latte from Starbucks or Dunkin', the truth is you're really missing out. That's why Farah Jesani started her Portland-based company One Stripe Chai. Leaving behind her job in consulting, Jesani was determined to craft a chai product worthy of its South Asian roots, by sourcing chai from small organic and biodynamic family-owned farms in India.
One Stripe Chai offers a variety of hand-crafted small batch masala chai concentrates and blends like It's Haldi, Doodh! ($22), an all-in-one organic latte mix that features freshly ground spices like single-origin heirloom turmeric, black pepper, and cinnamon. When combined with milk, It's Haldi, Doodh! makes for a slightly sweet and earthy beverage.
2 Beckon Ice Cream
Sure there are plenty of lactose-free ice creams out there, but finding ones that are just as rich and creamy as the real deal can be difficult. It's from this struggle where Katy Flannery and Gwen Burlingame's journey to create Beckon Ice Cream began. Though the notion of such an ice cream seemed too good to be true, the two worked their way up from tabling at their local farmer's market, to being placed in the ice cream aisle in major retailers.
Beck Ice Cream's Sea Salt Chocolate Chip ($10) combines lightly salted vanilla with dark chocolate chips to form a uniquely flavoured ice cream that's so decadent it's hard to believe it's lactose-free. With just the right balance of saltiness and sweetness, it's no surprise that Sea Salt Chocolate Chip is Beckon Ice Cream's most popular offering.
3 Three Wishes
Mom of two Margaret Wishingrad started her company Three Wishes when her first son Ellis was born, and she wanted to make sure her kitchen cupboard wasn't full of cereals that were just "dessert masquerading as breakfast." Wishingrad decided to create her own gluten-free, grain-free version of the staple. Packed with protein and made of nutrient-dense ingredients rather than fillers like rice and corn, Three Wishes is as healthy as it gets when it comes to breakfast cereal.
Try the highly rated Cinnamon Three Wishes Cereal ($10), and you'll understand why this product is a wish come true for many moms like Wishingrad. The cereal is made of chickpea, tapioca, and pea protein, and is sweetened only with organic cane sugar along with natural flavours including monk fruit and cinnamon. Talk about a deliciously balanced breakfast!
4 Holidaily Brewing Company
After surviving melanoma and thyroid cancer, Karen Hertz adapted a gluten-free diet, and in doing so, she could never find a certified GF beer that could live up to the kind she was used to drinking. But through years of research and taste testing, Hertz went on to successfully develop her own craft beer brewed with gluten-free millet and buckwheat. Thus, Holidaily Brewing Company, was born.
Those with Celiac, gluten sensitivity, and beer lovers alike are sure to be impressed by the flavour of Holidaily Riva Stout ($12), a 6.5 ABV full-bodied stout with notes of licorice, coffee, and chocolate. Made with dark and chocolate millet malts and buckwheat malt, the richness of this gluten-free beer is proof enough that gluten free beers don't have to be bland.
5 2Betties
Bridget Greaney and Nancy Becker's brand 2Betties is a mother-daughter business that specialises in mini donuts. 2Betties's donuts are made with naturally gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, and even sugar free ingredients, making them a solid alternative option for those with food allergies or dietary restrictions.
If you love chocolate donuts, you'll definitely want to try the brand's Chocolate Chunk Rounds ($14). These slightly sweet, slightly nutty on-the-go snacks allow you to get your chocolate fix with only two grams of fibre and three grams of protein per serving.
6 Daily Crunch Snacks
Daily Crunch Snacks isn't just a line of assorted nuts. Founders Diane and Laurel Orley created their product to benefit both mental and physical health. The nutrient-dense snacks are made entirely with sprouted almonds, and a portion of all proceeds goes directly to The Support Network, an organisation that advocates for mental health awareness on college campuses.
For a satisfying crunch and pop of flavour, try the brand's Nashville Hot Sprouted Almonds ($15). This variety of the product gets its spicy-sweet heat from cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, chili powder, monk fruit, and zero artificial flavours to ensure that the tasty treat is a healthy one too.
7 Westbourne
Through her work with the Independent Restaurant Coalition and ROAR (Restaurants Organising Advocating Rebuilding), Camilla Marcus' dedication to the Los Angeles community and food scene is evident as can be. But the full-time mom and chef hasn't stopped there. Marcus' line of zero-waste plant-based food products, Westbourne, is changing the sustainability game too.
Instead of plastic, Westbourne's pantry staples are packaged in carbon friendly glass, recycled boxes, and sustainably-sourced wood cellulose bags, making her products fully compostable and non-toxic. Westbourne's Chili Oil ($15) is just one of the brand's many sustainably-packaged spice mixes that use only simple ingredients and flavours uniquely "inspired by California," such as organic olive oil, espelette and aleppo peppers, ginger, and garlic.
8 Swoon
When Jennifer Ross was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 6, the search for a zero-sugar beverage that tasted good officially began. In 2015, Ross decided to take things into her own hands with the help of her best friend and Cuban-American mother of three, Cristina Ros Blankfein. Swoon was born when the two reimagined classic drinks like lemonade and iced tea with plant based ingredients, no artificial additives, and of course, zero sugar.
The clean ingredients, however, aren't the only reason Ross and Blankfein's drinks are so swoon-worthy. For every case of Swoon Lemonade ($30 for a 12-pack), the company also donates one can to the Boys and Girls Club of Madison Square to support healthy eating in their clubhouses and food pantries.
9 PREVAIL Jerky
As far as beef jerky brands go, ones that are women-owned and operated are far from common. Enter Ashley Kohn. As a health-conscious Celiac who grew up with food allergies, Kohn founded PREVAIL Jerky when she couldn't find any high protein snacks free from the top eight allergens. With the help of her foodie husband Glen, Kohn created PREVAIL's Original Beef Jerky along with a tasty variety of other flavours.
PREVAIL's Original Beef Jerky ($7) 100 percent, grass-fed, cherry wood-smoked beef. Not only is it soy and gluten-free, it's also paleo and keto-certified.
10 KEHO
Anyone who follows the keto diet knows that savory snack foods are usually the farthest thing from keto-friendly. Equipped with her 20+ year background working for major food brands like PepsiCo, KEHO founder Tekla Back made it her mission to change this. KEHO's meal bars allow you to treat yourself to a plant-powered, keto-certified snack made entirely with whole ingredients.
Keep those carb cravings at bay with Pizza to Go ($20), a KEHO bar packed with black olives, capers, pistachios, sun-dried tomatoes, and olive oil. It tastes as close to a slice of pizza as you can get from a snack bar, and it's only 5 carbs.
11 Willa's
If you thought you were getting the most out of your oat milk, just wait until you try the kind made by women-owned company, Willa's. Inspired by their Grandma Willa's recipe, sisters Christina Dorr Drake and Elena (Dorr) Zienda came up with what is currently the only plant milk on the market that uses the whole oat. That means each serving of the drink is packed with the most protein and prebiotic fibre possible in an oat milk. You can count on a single cartoon of Willa's Unsweetened Original ($5-7) oat milk to be delicious and nutritious.
12 Kosterina
Greek native Katerina Mountanos started her brand Kosterina after discovering that the extra virgin olive oils sold in the US don't compare to the kind from her family's olive trees in Southern Greece. Partnering with local farmers from the region, the entrepreneur-turned-sommelier developed Kosterina Extra Virgin Olive Oil ($30), a product that is authentically Mediterranean, pure and rich in flavour, and actually available stateside.
13 Moonshot
Ever heard of climate-friendly food? Well, if it isn't on your radar yet, seasoned restaurateur, climatarian, and mom Julia Collins is about to change that. With her snack brand Moonshot, Collins is paving the way for a better future for the planet and the food industry. From the ingredients used, to the shorter supply chain, Moonshot snacks are carbon-neutral, healthy, and wholly organic.
It doesn't get any better than Sourdough Sea Salt Crackers ($6 per box) that are good for both you and the environment. There are no surprises when it comes to the ingredients list, just organic and non-GMO wheat flour, sunflower oil, and sourdough seasoned with sea salt and an all natural blend of spices.
14 Dress It Up Dressing
Originally a humble home-run business, Dress It Up Dressing began when founder Sophia Maroon started selling jars of her salad dressing to her neighbours in recycled clementine boxes. Clearly the wholesome recipe and quality was too good to not be shared, and now Maroon's nutritious dressing is making its way to kitchen tables everywhere. Vegan, Kosher, paleo, keto, whatever your dietary need or preference may be, you can bet there's a Dress It Up Dressing flavour for it. For a paleo-friendly, keto option, try the bright and creamy Champagne Vinaigrette ($8) on your next salad.
15 SkinTe
After collectively experiencing health issues, divorce, and the loss of a child, the importance of a healthy wellbeing hit close to home for Bassima Mroue, Elizabeth Zieg, and Amy Bader — a business pro, a chef, and a doctor, respectively. Together, the powerhouse trio founded SkinTe, a sparkling beverage with a recipe packed with antioxidants, "beauty boosting" collagen peptides, and tasty brewed tea, all of which combine to promote wellness from the inside out.
With intriguing flavours like Hibiscus Vanilla ($36 for a 12-pack) — which contains a blend of organic hibiscus, rose petals, and vanilla — SkinTe is sure to take the beverage industry by storm.
