Kerri Waldron
Listen to this articleWith unhealthy foods saturating the market, Jessica Young knew there was significant – and untapped – demand for healthy alternatives.
The Lehigh Valley native is the founder and CEO of Bubble Goods, an online platform that sells 1,000-plus healthy food products and 1,500-plus clean label products directly to consumers in the continental U.S. “We connect customers with producers,” Young said.
BubbleGoods.com said 80% of the products can’t be found anywhere else online.
“Holistically, there are some cool things” happening, she said, as the business expands rapidly. “The market is hot.”
Young said the natural foods industry is growing 40% every year.
Her company, which was founded in 2020, has an office between Allentown and Bethlehem and also one in the SoHo area of New York City. Young and her staff – Bubble Goods has six full-time employees – spend a lot of time in the Big Apple.
The platform keeps adding brands from all over the country, including the Lehigh Valley. One example is Keystone Farms Cheese, which has a warehouse and office in Bethlehem.
Bubble Goods has also attracted some investors from this area, Broad Street Angels and Richard Thompson among them. Nationally, the “Etsy of health foods” is backed by Sequoia Capital and Karlie Kloss.
On Bubble Goods’ platform, 64% of the businesses selling products were founded by women and 18% were BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) founded, its website said.
The platform is where small, natural food and beverage businesses can compete with the consumer packaged goods incumbents.
Before starting Bubble Goods, Young was a chef at New York City-based Michelin restaurants and the first employee of Daily Harvest, leading the launch of operations, product, supply chain, customer experience and frozen direct-to-consumer fulfillment.
Daily Harvest, which delivers healthy meals, quickly grew into a million-dollar business.
“What’s really cool about the Lehigh Valley and the southeast part of the state is its proximity to New York City,” Young said.
It’s no accident she chose this region to locate her business hub, she said.
‘Great ingredients, great food’
“Bubble Goods is on a mission to redefine our food system,” according to its website.
“Great ingredients, great food,” Young said.
None of the products sold through Bubble Goods include refined/cane sugar, hydrogenated oil, filters or gums, or artificial flavors or preservatives.
They can feature agar, seaweeds, taro or tapioca for thickeners; meat and dairy from responsibly raised animals; unrefined and lower glycemic sweeteners like honey, maple syrup and fruit purees; whole fruits, vegetables, herbs, nuts and seeds; and oils that are minimally processed and nutrient dense.
Before granting a stamp of approval for a product, Bubble Goods relies on leading nutritionists, chefs and Eastern and Western practicing doctors in the vetting process.
If it passes muster, there’s one final hurdle: the taste test.
Young and her staff use the SoHo office for this fun part of the job, she said.
“Just because it’s healthy,” the website said, “doesn’t mean it has to taste like cardboard.”
And any surplus or samples not accepted will be donated to Bubble Goods’ local partners Food Bank For New York City; 9 Million Reasons food pantry in Queens; and Children’s House of Easton.
Paula Wolf is a freelance writer
Source: lvb.com
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