Making Healthy Eats That Taste Like Treats with Stella Vanstone

Good afternoon, and welcome to Essential Ingredients. I'm your host, Justine Reichman. Today with me is Stella Vanstone who is the CEO and Co-Founder of Stellar Eats. Welcome, Stella.

Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here.

I am too. I'm excited to get to know you and learn a little bit about Stellar Eats. So first of all, Stellar, where are you? Where are you located?

I am in Toronto, Canada right now. It's pretty cold for spring, and I guess we don't really get spring here.

Well, it's balmy. It's actually quite warm here today. It's unusually warm. But I guess that's global warming.

I'm jealous, but not jealous.

I know. I know. So for those of us that are not familiar with what Stellar Eats is, tell us what is Stellar Eats?

Absolutely. So Stellar Eats is a line of healthy baking mixes all made with eight or less real food ingredients. All the mixes are grain free, gluten free, plant based and paleo friendly. We really make it easy for people to make delicious treats at home. We like to say that we make healthy foods that taste like treats.

That's fun. I like that. So when you say real food, because I hear people say that, what do you mean by real food? Was it just the list you just told me? Or does it mean something specifically?

So to me, I'm a holistic nutritionist. And to me, what it means is that when I turn over a product, and I look at their ingredient list, it's all food that I recognise. So when you turn over one of our packages, you're gonna see that it's based with almond flour sweetened with coconut sugar and has things like flax seeds in it. Those tangible whole foods that people can really identify with.

What would be an example of something that's not real food?

I guess when I say real food, I really like to steer towards more like Whole Foods. I guess there's not really any fake food as much as lab generated colors or xanthan gum.

That makes good sense to me. I don't like to eat food when it's food colored and all those kinds of things.

And I think, yeah, to me, I'm like, all foods have a place in our life. I think I just really wanted people to be able to feel like they can eat all their favorite foods and not feel like they have to restrict themselves when they're eating healthy. That was a big driving force behind the company for us.

And so how did you start this company? What inspired you to start this company?

So I grew up loving to cook, loving to bake. The kitchen was always my happy place. And unfortunately, when I was a teenager and into my early 20's, I struggled with disordered eating. So food actually became this really big stressor in my life when it once brought so much joy. And so in the midst of my disordered eating, I think I tried every diet out there. I think I just really felt this immense pressure from society that eating healthy was about the way you will look, it's about being skinny. I think that's perpetuated by these products that use words like, oh, this is a skinny tee or a skinny product and a guilt free product. And so I found myself pretty fed up with that. And by the time I hit my early 20's, I had come out the other side of my eating disorder. But I was still really frustrated with how the wellness world was just riddled with diet culture. And so the mission of Stellar Eats was really to create a product that people can feel really good eating, and it's really about how you feel and not how you look. I had this aha moment in my early 20's when I started eating less processed food, less low calorie snack packs and things like that, and just more vegetables and whole grains, and I just started to feel great and had all this energy. And it sounds so funny to look back on it now, but it was this aha moment of, oh, people eat healthy for reasons other than being skinny. It's actually, you have more energy, you just feel more alive. All those good things that I think people really miss out on.

Well, I think it's interesting that eating well affects how you feel. And if you eat poorly, which doesn't always mean eating things that are just what we see is bad, like the things that people tell us are bad, but things that actually are bad for you that you might not necessarily know. So there's all these things that people are allergic to or that you don't like, they can also make you feel bad. So it's so important too, as a nutritionist, listen to your body.

Yes. I'm such a believer that there's no one size fits all diet for anyone, I think it's really a case by case. It's about exactly what you're saying. Certain foods, how they make you feel. Some people might be allergic to something, or it might make someone else have amazing energy, great digestion and all these things you just never know.

Okay. So as a kid, you had issues around food, how they made you feel and all these different things. And you went from being a food lover to just having these challenges. So at what point after that aha moment Stellar Eats come into the picture? Was it before or after that becoming a nutritionist?

A little bit. So while I was in school for nutrition, I started a food blog called Stellar Health, and I was just cooking food.

I'm sorry, I just connected Stella, Stellar. Well, you're lucky, your parents really fed that to you. I like that they fed that to you.

Yes, exactly. So I started this food blog with a mission to really make delicious comfort foods with Whole Foods sources, and just try to make all those foods that we love with really healthy ingredients. So that was really what Stellar Health was about. And after I graduated from nutrition school, I really didn't know what I was going to do. I had some nutrition clients that I was working with at the time. And time and time again, I just kept getting the same question or request of, oh, I wish you would just cook for me. So I was like, okay, I'll just cook for them. So basically, I started just cooking in my home kitchen, which was kind of illegal. A little bit, and I was delivering meals around the city. I have zero business experience. My team jokes that I set our pricing based on a feeling like I truly didn't know what a margin was like. I had no idea. So I'm delivering these meals kind of drowning in the business side of things. Because I love to cook, I love to develop recipes, but I don't know anything about the financial line.

Were you in the black or the red, or you weren't sure what the black or the red was?

I didn't even know what those meant. So my cousin had just had a baby and she had just exited a company. So she was at home with her new baby and she started ordering meals from me. And eventually, she was kind of like, do you need some help? And I was like, oh, my gosh, I'm drowning. Yes, please. I would love your help. Her name is Michelle. So Michelle and I were running the Stellar Eats meal delivery business together. And one of my friends from high school was working in a marketing job and she was cruising indeed. She saw that we were hiring in our kitchen and she texted me like, is this real? Because she really wanted to leave her job and work in food. I was like, yes, it's real. Her name's Emma. So Emma quit her job and came to work in the Stellar Eats meal delivery kitchen, and the three of us were working on this for about six months. There were just some issues we were running into. A big one for me was that I really feel passionately that I want people to feel confident in the kitchen. And when it comes to healthy food, you can make it yourself. It's easy to make healthy food at home. It does not mean bland chicken and broccoli every day. It can be delicious, and it can be easy. And so I never felt right just delivering meals to people. I wanted them to get in the kitchen and feel inspired. So the three of us decided to really pivot the business from being meal delivery into these baking mixes. And this happened about March 2020. We were pivoting into these baking mixes, launching in stores and then obviously--

I'm just gonna say perfect timing, right?

Yeah. I mean, everyone was baking at home so it wasn't a bad time to be in the home baking business. We have a banana bread mix which was very popular during the panel.

Almond based?

Yes. They are almond based and sweetened with coconut sugar. But yeah, so the three of us pivoted the business and then we launched in the US. So we're from Canada, obviously, we launched in the US in June 2021 after Erewhon Market, actually, they reached out to us. We were Beyond, we got the email and we thought it was a prank. We were like, this is the best thing ever. And so yeah, I went to the US. And since then, I've just been trying to expand.

Ever heard of Pod Foods?

Yes, we are actually with Pod Foods. That's our distributor.

Work with Pod Foods to get into a variety of places around the US. Yep, pod foods would be a great place for you guys to connect with. I mean, obviously, you guys already are.

Yeah. I've met Fiona. I don't think I've met Larissa, but they're amazing. They've been so great to work with as a distributor. They actually just helped us get into the Central Market. So we just launched in Texas in February at 10 locations.

Are you in New York yet?

We're at Fairway Markets and Union Markets in New York.

I love New York. Are you with the other one that I love? Oh, my god, they used to deliver to me. It hasn't been that long. I was born and raised in New York, and now I can't remember who I got delivery from. How about D'Agostino's? I was a big fan of D'Agostino's.

No, we're not there yet. We're really just starting. Were just kind of hammering--

The other one that does delivery that everyone gets delivery from? Okay, well, I'm gonna have to remember and get back to you.

I want to get in there.

Senior moment, I'm showing my age. They can't see me apparently, I'm showing my age. But there's one that everyone gets delivery from, and I think they don't have a shop, I mean, I used to get delivery from them every week. I've been out in New York for like seven and a half years. And all of a sudden, I can't remember. If he was looking at an old credit card statement.

I'm gonna get back to me because we need to get in there clearly.

I will, I definitely will. I even know one of the guys founded it. His name is David, if only I could remember what David. I have to remember that. In any case, wow. So that is a great story. So COVID did not even have a negative effect in reality. I mean, he went to consumer products. It was a baking thing. People are at home, you're bringing people together, they're making your product.

The best thing to see, I think over the pandemic. I think Instagram gives us such a cool insight now. It used to be, if you had a food product, you get it on the shelf. And then it's like goodbye kind of into the ether, like you don't know what's happening. And during the pandemic, especially being able to see everyone at home baking, like mom's baking with their kids and even kids making our mixes, that was just like the best thing to see. And when we feel like when I see things like that, I'm like, oh, this is why we're doing this. It's the best feeling.

And now, are you still a nutritionist? Are you still a practicing nutritionist?

I don't see clients anymore. I really, really mainly focus on salaries for sure. While I loved seeing clients and connecting with people over food, I think that there's just something so unifying about food, and it's a great practice. I hope to get back to it someday, for sure.

Yeah, I would imagine. They're both so gratifying. You're making an impact either way. I mean, really, you're putting healthy food out there, you're making it accessible, and you're giving people an opportunity to have access to something that they might not otherwise have. Yeah, I think that option.

Exactly. And I think for me too, such an important piece in creating this brand was that it's kind of the brand that I needed when I was in high school and struggling where we don't use words like skinny and guilt free. We're really careful and intentional about the language we use. So we say, made with real ingredients that are going to make you feel amazing. And that's really the message that we're trying to push forward that wellness is not just about how you look, it's really about how you feel, and it should make you confident, not more insecure.

So you've built this brand from the ground up, you started as a nutritionist, it came from your personal struggles, your personal challenges, I want to say, and you taught yourself how to be an entrepreneur. I mean, through the whole process.

I did. I feel like I've gotten a crash course MBA from not knowing what a margin was to, yeah. Today, I did a couple, I'm actually in the food foundry accelerator program. I know you interviewed Betty from Confetti. So we're in the same program together right now. And part of the program was, we had to do some VC presentations today. One of those moments where you can feel like, okay, wow, from not knowing what a margin was to hear, I can say that I've come a pretty far way.

That's amazing. So since you came from this place where you didn't know what a margin was, and you didn't know what the black or the red was, or how to make that happen. What do you say to other entrepreneurs that are out there that want to go out and create this, but maybe might be afraid, or scared, or feel like they don't know how to put one foot in front of the other?

I think that is such a good question. It's like the ultimate struggle as someone who might have the entrepreneurial bug but doesn't know how to take that first step. I often say, if anyone's listening to this story and feeling that way, if I can do this, literally anyone could do this. And I think it's really about just letting go of your ego and not being scared to ask maybe stupid questions, but that's the only way you're going to learn. And even if you go in knowing everything, you're gonna make a million mistakes either way. So I guess it's that classic advice of just start because there's going to be mistakes, missteps and everything in between on your journey.

Is there anything that you would have done differently you think if you would have been more knowledgeable?

That's a great question. I don't think so. Because I feel like even our most quote dark moments, now we look back and we laugh so hard. The way we produce our products now is we have co-packers that we outsource to this production facility, and they make our product. But before that, it was me and Emma in the kitchen hand mixing everything. And when you're just doing something, it's so inefficient like hand mixing pounds and pounds of dry powder, pouring it into the individual pouches. We had so many hilarious moments like I accidentally had the mixer on too high, and we had this powder explosion everywhere. Those moments, you want to tear your hair out and cry. But looking back, we laughed so hard at them. So I don't think, oh, change a thing.

How many skews do you have now?

We have eight permanent skews, and then we have a gingerbread cookie mix which we bring in seasonally. In December, it's like one of those kind of chewy, delicious ginger molasses type cookies.

And what are you looking to, or how are you looking to scale going forward?

Yeah. I think we love our product line. We have a lot of products so I think we have no shortage of new product ideas. We're always dreaming up. We love the idea of making everything like a bagel mix, or some kind of vanilla cake or muffin mix. We have so many ideas. I think probably for the next few months, we're really just gonna focus on trying to get our distribution worked out with the current skews we have. But I'm hopeful in what we have in the pipeline as well.

So I look at you and I look at this as somebody that's creating a business that's better for you and better for the people. And it has better messaging, and it's to support a better lifestyle and a healthier you. Would you say that?

Thank you. I appreciate that. I hope so, that's the dream. That's the dream.

As you look forward, and you look at the food space, what do you see that's new and next for that space?

For the kind of better for you space? I think a lot of people are really rejecting that old school greenwashing that happened where brands will just put natural on their products and people are coming to terms with that doesn't actually mean anything. So really, being smarter about what these brands are claiming, what are their actual values. And I think that people are really waking up to wanting to support brands that share values with them. So I think that that is really cool. And I think we're seeing more and more of that. I am seeing a lot more of health and wellness companies that are using really positive language instead of that, oh, this is a skinny product or whatever they say. And I always appreciate that. I think the teenager in me who's struggling just feels really happy that we're in a moment like this.

Thank you so much, Stella, I really appreciate you joining us and sharing your insight on building a business from A to Z, and with lack of business experience. Because I think that there's a lot of other entrepreneurs out there that are scared to do it. Have great ideas, are visionaries, and it's just a little too scary. So seeing somebody go out there and do it and just start is so inspiring.

Thank you so much. That's so nice to hear. Well, thank you for having me. This has been lovely, so nice to connect.

Wonderful.