In this exclusive podcast, Solely Inc. CEO Simon Sacal, CEO, tells Prepared Foods about his start in 2000 as an industrial engineer with a patented technology to create fat-free potato chips. Later, by 2010, Sacal and growing family business began working with the Mexican government and farmers to upscale apples and create shelf-stable fruit bars for children’s lunches. By 2015, discussions around health shifted to focus on “clean label” attributes and the company started to emphasize its natural, organic and single-ingredient fruit products for snacking.

After introducing Solely fruit products to Starbucks in Mexico in 2018, Sacal and family officially launched Solely in the United States. Since then, the La Jolla, Calif., company has converted upcycled fruits and vegetables into a growing line of snacks (bars, jerky, dried fruit), confections (gummies) and even meal/side dish offerings (pastas).

Along the way, it has earned numerous supplier awards and Prepared Foods gave it a 2022-2023 Spirit of Innovation award for its Fusilli Pasta made from just one ingredient: organic green banana.

Last year saw Solely add as many as 18,000 more points of distribution and expand beyond natural food stores to include new convenience, drug and conventional grocery outlets. By the end of the year, officials said the company posted a three-year compound annual growth rate of 70%.

This year, Sacal says Solely already has plans for new products, new multi-pack sizes and an entirely new packaging design.