From the Kitchens of Colorado
Healthy foods that got their start in the handsand mixing bowlsof local parents.
The parents who created these foods were so concerned about their children having real, healthy food that they started their own companies to make that happen.
Wild Zora
Zora and Josh Tabin settled in Fort Collins, lured by good schools, beautiful weather, and easy access to the outdoors. They noticed that the granola bars they ate during family hikes left them hungry soon after. So the Tabins began experimenting with jerkys, dried fruits, and vegetables. They created Wild Zora bars, which use meat with no growth hormones or antibiotics, free range turkey, and all organic produce.
Kid favorite: Parmesan Beef Bars with Kale and Tomato, known as the “pizza flavor”
Noosa
Koel Thomae discovered what she called a “revolutionary yogurt” while visiting the beach town of Noosa in her native Australia. When she returned to Colorado, she teamed up with a family dairy in Northern Colorado to make Noosa, a thick, creamy style yogurt flavored with fruit purees and honey. Koel’s four-year-old daughter loves traveling with her mom to visit Farmer Rob and check on operations at the dairy.
She’s partial to the honey flavor, while Koel’s favorite is the passionfruit.
Bobo’s
On a rainy afternoon, Beryl Stafford and her daughter “Bobo” opened a cookbook to bake oat bars. When Beryl saw that the recipe contained large amounts of butter, refined sugar, and corn syrup, she began experimenting to make the bars healthier. She took the final product to local coffee shops, her business grew, and now Bobo’s snacks are available at grocery stores. Beryl says parenting was good practice for the delayed gratification and sleepless nights that running her business brought.
Canyon Bakehouse
When Christi Skow was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2007, she realized how few quality gluten-free products were available. She teamed up with her husband and a friend and they formed Canyon Bakehouse near Loveland, where they make gluten-free breads that taste and feel like “real” bread. Christi recommends the Heritage Style bread for amazing sandwiches.
Bella Gluten-Free
Founder Mary Capone is a celiac chef with celiac kids, who created a line of gluten- and allergen-free baking mixes. Bella Gluten-Free has everything from chocolate brownie to pizza dough mixes. Mary is also the author of The Gluten-Free Italian Cookbook, to help families cook GF.
Binnie’s Coconut Butter
Lindsay Binnie knew that her health and that of her family was related to their diet. But it wasn’t until she discovered she had food sensitivities that she changed the way they ate. They began eating whole foods with fewer preservatives, and she created a spread they could use as an alternative to peanut butter. Binnie’s Coconut Butter is gluten-free, non-GMO, and vegan. Spread it on pancakes or toast, use it as a fruit dip, or for cooking.
Quinn Snacks
Kristy Lewis wanted healthier options for snack food—especially microwave popcorn—and when her first baby was born, she started working to make popcorn with no hydrogenated oils or synthetic additives. Quinn Snacks popcorn bags are compostable, and have no plastic liners. The snacks are non-GMO, and dairy, corn, and gluten-free and flavored with wild blossom honey. The company recently launched their first pretzels as well.
