As much as we want to, most of us never have time to eat a healthy breakfast and get to class early in the morning. Sometimes we don’t even have time to drink a cup of coffee.
Northeastern University students Ali Kothari and Johnny Fayad, co-founders of New Grounds Food, came up with an idea after asking themselves, “Why can’t we eat our coffee?”
New Grounds Food’s purpose is “to provide individuals with healthier ways to stay energized throughout the day,” Kothari said. “We don’t want to sacrifice nutrition for energy.” And thus came the idea for CoffeeBar, a coffee-infused energy bar designed to get you going for the day.
According to their website, NewGroundsFood, Kothari and Fayad’s idea won “Audience Favorite” at Northeastern University’s Spring 2013 Husky Startup Challenge when the two were only freshmen business students. Upon receiving this award and the funding that came with it, they were able to begin the process of creating their first CoffeeBars.
While developing the actual product, Kothari and Fayad experimented with various ingredients and recipes. Finally, after making 14 batches of CoffeeBar prototypes while working with a food scientist, they were able to come up with a recipe comprised of 12 ingredients. Stressing the importance of nutrition, these ingredients include chia seeds, almonds, dates, cashews and, of course, coffee, among “other all-natural ingredients,” said Kothari.
As of now, Kothari and Fayad only have one flavor, Mocha Latte, which they’ve described on their website as, “artfully crafted with a full shot of espresso, vegan chocolate chips and cinnamon for that coffeehouse taste.”
Within 24 hours of their launch of the CoffeeBar on Sept. 23, Kothari and Fayad were able to reach their goal of raising $10,000 on Kickstarter to fund the product’s packaging, a goal that was meant to be reached by November.
When asked about what we can expect next from New Grounds Food, Kothari said, “Once we finish our Kickstarter Campaign, we will be launching our e-commerce platform. Individuals and companies can sign up for subscriptions and get CoffeeBars shipped right to their door every month.”
On moving forward with the product and the process of bringing it to the public, Kothari said, “After we fulfill the Kickstarter order, we plan to launch new CoffeeBar flavors and get into Whole Foods and other larger accounts.”
Kothari and Fayad also have plans to expand the team working in New Grounds Food on this product.
“To date, we have brought on two more members, Joshua Belinsky and Wendy Chu,” Kothari said.
New Grounds Food and CoffeeBar’s quick success may means that students can afford to hit the snooze button one more time, without having to sacrifice a good breakfast.
