Show Notes:

Michele Liddle, owner of Perfect Granola, is an entrepreneur who has a mission to end hunger and give people opportunities to get out of the cycle of poverty. Every year, her company is able to donate 5% of profits, and thousands of pounds of granola, to homeless shelters, outreach centers, and food banks nationwide. Today Michele speaks with Christine about her past volunteer experience, where she noticed a lack of healthy food pantry options, as well as allergy-free options, and how that inspired her to launch her company in 2016. Michele talks about using her own kitchen to develop recipes with her family, how she found nationwide distribution for her products, and her current top seller. 

Michele discusses the high poverty rates in Rochester, NY, and her mission to create systemic change in the fight against hunger. She tells Christine about her partnerships with the Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection in Rochester, as well as House of Mercy, Food Link, and Pepsico’s ‘Food For Good’ Initiative. She explains the importance of school nutrition, and shares the most touching story of someone she has helped. Michele encourages entrepreneurs to stay the course with their Give Back mission, and tells Christine what’s next for Perfect Granola as they continue to grow and raise awareness for food insecurity. To learn more about Perfect Granola and the important work they are doing, please visit them on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/PerfectGranola.

For more information, and other episodes on companies and entrepreneurs who give back, please visit www.TheGiveBackModel.com. That’s where you can also let Christine know about companies you’ve found that give back. Thanks for listening!

Episode Highlights:

• Michele’s volunteer experience and her mission to provide healthier, allergy-free options to food pantries
• Choosing granola as the first product to launch into the market
• Using her home kitchen to develop recipes, and being able to accommodate soy-free and gluten-free requirements
• Making recipes as a family and having her kids as taste testers
• Top seller is currently Maple Pecan Date
• Distribution as the largest hurdle in starting her business
• Finding retailers first to gauge interest before developing the product
• Rochester’s poverty rate of 32% (double the national average) and low graduation rates
• Michele’s work with the Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection to encourage at-risk youth to graduate high school
• Partnerships with House of Mercy and Food Link in Rochester
• Mission to create systemic change in the fight against poverty and hunger
• How to raise awareness, stay informed, and get involved
• Working with Pepsico ‘Food For Good’ Initiative to make sure children and families have access to food throughout the year
• Protocols to keep recipes completely allergen-free
• Her plans to continue growing Perfect Granola and giving back to homeless shelters, outreach centers, and food banks
• The importance of school nutrition
• Her advice for entrepreneurs whose heart is with the cause - never let your mission take a back seat

Quotes:

“We really wanted to make sure that healthy products were getting on the shelf of the food pantries. Because I was volunteering at our local food pantry, I noticed that there was a lack of healthy food and also a lack of allergy-friendly foods.”

“[Granola] was our first product to launch into the market with the whole expectation that this would become a staple on the food pantry shelf, and then we could hire the people walking into the food pantries, and give them a living wage, job, and medical benefits, so then they didn't have to continue going to the pantry. They would actually get a paycheck and be able to go shopping.”

“We do make it all in my home kitchen first. It’s my test kitchen with my two young daughters. And they're all made with food that you would find in a normal kitchen, so when we create recipes, they’re things that I cook with, like coconut oil, and avocado oil, and flax meal, and things that are very nutrient dense.”

“We're making the recipes first as a family, and making sure they're healthy.” 

“Having my kids be my taste testers, I know that it's a good product because my kids are brutally honest with me and what they like and what their friends like.”

“Our biggest hurdle was distribution and how we were actually going to get the product to the stores.”

“In the city of Rochester, about half the kids are not graduating high school. But the graduation rate of the kids that go through Hillside is about 98 to 99%.”

“We launched in 2016, so to be able to start making that kind of impact right away [12,000 pounds of food donated], it was huge for our company and those numbers have just consistently grown throughout the years.”

“Our whole mission is not to put a bandaid on hunger. We do donations and we help out monetarily, but we actually want to create systematic change, and give people opportunities to get off the system and create better lifestyles for themselves.”

“It's really difficult for children that are out of school, whether due to the pandemic or even summer vacation...where they don't have access to healthy food. So we want to make sure that in these food deserts, children and families have access to food continuously throughout the year.”

“Nothing ever touches an allergen. We create new recipes with new equipment that's never been touched by any nuts or soy or anything, and we keep it completely sterile in that facility, and make sure that no allergens enter that room.”

“As we grow, we’re able to grow our mission. This truly is a company that was built by the community, for the community. And the more support we have, the more support we can give.”

“Never let your mission take a back seat.”

“I truly believe that if entrepreneurs have a cause in mind and a mission in mind, just continue to work that focus, no matter how small your give is or when it happens, stay the course, stay focused on your mission.”

Links:

The Give Back Model website www.TheGiveBackModel.com

Follow The Give Back Model on Instagram @thegivebackmodel