Boulder, Colorado-based Lily’s Sweets, known for its no added sugar products, has announced growth plans for 2019 that include a new logo and packaging, the addition of eight new products and a new marketing campaign. This follows a year of growth for the brand, including doubling the size of its business.
The new packaging and products will debut at Natural Products Expo West this March and begin to hit shelves this spring.
The American Heart Association recommends eating only 25-35g of sugar a day, but the average American currently consumes more than double that amount, increasing risks for a variety of health issues, from general weight gain to heart disease and certain cancers. As consumer awareness of the health issues related to sugar grows, so does the desire to reduce overall sugar intake.
“When I founded Lily’s Sweets, it was to answer my own need for delicious chocolate, my favorite food, I could eat daily, while also limiting my sugar intake,” said Cynthia Tice, co-founder of Lily’s Sweets. “While I always believed Lily’s would be successful, this expanding mainstream consumer awareness and desire for change created a groundswell for growth for Lily’s Sweets beyond what I could have ever imagined. Like me, people were showing a desire for an amazingly-delicious chocolate they can indulge in daily without the added sugar.”
Tice, a trailblazer in the natural products industry, opened and operated one of the first natural food stores in Philadelphia for two decades and then acted as a consultant to retailers launching natural sets and brands launching new products. Inspired through this work, she created the proprietary recipe for Lily’s Sweets using a combination of ingredients, including stevia, to create a chocolate with no added sugar. Since launching nationally in Whole Foods Market stores in 2012, the brand today is available in 10,000 stores spanning the natural channel and conventional retailers like Kroger and Publix.
Seeing how quickly the concept was taking off, Tice realized a need for an investor and larger team to help Lily’s reach its full potential.
“By 2017, I was aware that Lily’s had outgrown our team of four people, and my experience consulting other brands afforded me an appreciation of just how special Lily’s was. I wanted to give the brand the opportunity that it deserved and decided bringing on an investor and leadership that could grow a team would best set Lily’s up to meet its full potential,” said Tice. “I purposefully selected VMG based on our shared values, as well as their history of creating meaningful relationships between founders and the new management team. Since forming our partnership last spring, I’ve been delighted to see our CEO, Jane Miller, grow this team and best set us up for success, while I continue to have the opportunity to act as the daily conscious of the brand.”
Now headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, the team has expanded to nearly 25 people and is operated under the leadership of a variety of natural products industry veterans, including Miller, formerly of Rudi’s Organic Bakery, Heinz and PepsiCo; Phil Mason, SVP of operations, formerly of Thanasi, Evol and Nestle; Lonna Borden, CFO, formerly of Justin’s and Izze; Sarah Meis, VP of marketing and innovation, formerly of Purely Elizabeth, Van’s Natural Foods and Danone North America; and Seth Monette, SVP of sales, formerly of HannahMax Cookie Chips, Interbake and General Mills.
“The opportunity to join the Lily’s Sweets team is for many of us a dream job, including partnering with a visionary and passionate founder; building an all-star team built from scratch; working with a terrific investor and having a product that’s perfectly positioned to be the next big thing,” Miller said. “Often when an investor and leadership team come on board, it’s to fix a business. In this case it’s the exact opposite. We have the privilege of taking something that’s already amazingly successful to the next level.”
New products on the way
Lily’s Sweets products are botanically-sweetened with stevia because it comes from a plant and because it works well in chocolate recipes. Additionally, Lily’s Sweets products are made with non-GMO ingredients, demonstrating a commitment to source ingredients as they occur in nature, and are also gluten-free and fit into both keto and low-glycemic diets.
Lily’s Sweets products are Fairtrade certified, ensuring that the farmers and communities that provide Lily’s with their cocoa, cocoa butter and vanilla are fairly compensated.
The new items launching at Expo West include: Semi-Sweet Style Baking Chips and Milk Chocolate Style Baking Chips (MSRP $6.99/9-oz. bag); Chocolate Covered Almonds and Peanuts (MSRP $5.99/3.5-oz. ready-to-share bag), available in four varieties, including Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds, Milk Chocolate Covered Almonds, Milk Chocolate Covered Almonds and Milk Chocolate Coverage Peanuts; and Dark Chocolate and Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups (MSRP $5.99/3.2-oz. pouch).
“It’s a joy to see our innovation move into different categories while still delivering delicious, no-sugar options people can obsess over,” Tice said.
The new Lily’s Sweets packaging and products will debut at this year’s Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California, from March 6-9.
