Bake Me Healthy

0:00Welcome to the Emerging Brands podcast. Sharing the stories behind brands you'll want to shop next. I'm your host, Kelly Bennett. I am a New York City-based brand strategist for CPG Food and Beverage Brands. In each episode, I'll take you behind the scenes of founders that are building better-for-you products and bringing them to market.

0:21Kimberle Lau:it. Also, I talk to brand builders, retailers, industry experts, and tastemakers who help bring those cool products to your shopping cart. You will hear stories of real-life founders, their launch strategies, and practical advice you could use to grow your own brand or simply discover what's next on shelf. And the best part is you could shop all the brands featured on the show. This podcast is brought to you by Glimpse. Glimpse is an AI powered deduction management tool that disputes and recovers invalid deductions, winning brands, thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours back to founders so that they can focus on what really matters most.

1:06If you're a brand selling and retail, go to tryglimpse.com backslash trial for 30 days free and let them know I sent you. Now let's dive into the new episode. Hi everyone. Welcome back to a new episode of Emerging Brands Podcast with Kelly Bennett. Today I have the runner up from the Enthuse Foundation's Pitch Slam. And I was really taken by her passion, her also emphasis on sustainability while also making an allergy-friendly product that really brings a lot of joy to the baking aisle and to the cookie aisle. Kimberly Lau, she is the founder and CEO of Bake Me Healthy. And Kimberly, I'm so happy to have you on the podcast.

1:58Kimberle Lau:Thank you, Kelly. I'm so excited to be here. You're so welcome. I first want to start with the white space that you saw. I know that you're in baking mixes and ready to eat. I would love to hear, though, what was the initial idea and concept that sparked what we see now on shelf for Bake Me Healthy? Sure. So I was actually spent my entire career in beauty and just developing products. So innovation and product development is my love language. But when I became a mom 14 years ago, I became lactose and egg intolerant. So I had to adjust my diet to accommodate these food restrictions. And then in 2020, I became high risk for breast cancer.

2:42Kimberle Lau:And my oncologist advised eliminating soy from my diet. So yet again, I had to adjust my diet for these new food restrictions. and along the way I've discovered that baking should be inclusive anyone should be able to indulge in a you know carrot cake or brownie or cookie without fear what I'll do to their bodies and I really didn't see that on the shelf and something that was allergy friendly across multiple allergies so I couldn't have eggs dairy and soy and so there were like gluten there were gluten-free options uh there were some dairy-free options but nothing that was really all-encompassing.

3:15Kimberle Lau:And so I decided to launch Make Me Healthy to be just allergy friendly. And we started with baking mixes because I was a scratch baker. And I discovered in speaking with, I was actually baking for clients on the side while working in beauty. And they would all be like, oh, I wish I could bake like this. And so I decided, well, let me just create something that would be easy for them to have at home and bake with. And so that's why we started with baking mixes. So cool. So I didn't realize your background was in beauty. So how did that translate? I mean, it's CPG, but how did that translate into then CPG food and beverage?

3:56Because there's a lot of nuances in both worlds, but I would love to hear how you even started making that shift. Sure.

4:05Kimberle Lau:So I've always done skincare marketing. I've Okay. So right from when I was in business school, I interned with L 'Oreal and helped develop an acne line for them. And so I've always loved ingredients, which is why I'm also a baker. And I just have loved, you know, testing new ingredients. And so between skincare and food, there's actually so many similarities because the key ingredient is the key ingredient, no pen and pen is ingredients. right and so that transition was easy in that it is developing a product you know but I would say the biggest difference in going from beauty to food and I tell everyone this are um one the margins are completely different and so it's almost like it was like shell shock coming into food from the world of beauty where your margins are like 80 to 90 percent I was working with products that were $1 ,500.

5:00Kimberle Lau:And then to go to a product that costs$12. And so your margins, so it's a numbers game and you're operating on pennies on the dime for your margins. So that was the biggest challenge in going from beauty to food, but so many similarities. You're still developing an amazing product and it has to taste, consumers have to love it. There has to be a white spade need. There has to be a problem solution you're solving for. And in terms of food and for the packaging, it had to be aesthetically pleasing from beauty. And so everything, you know, had to just look beautiful. So, you know, in beauty, you should be like, what's, you know, your shelfy, what's on your, you know, in your cabinet and in the food world.

5:42Kimberle Lau:I see like what's on your, you know, in your food pantry and you want to be something that you want to brag about, so to speak. Totally. When did you start making that shift? Because it sounds like you had a very substantial career already in beauty. What did that look like to roll the dice and go into food? I'm sure that was a lot of conversations with yourself and just, what am I doing? Does this make sense? I would love to hear just the thought process of making that switch. When you decide to become a founder, it's probably one of the biggest risks that you'll take. Right. And it's a bet on yourself.

6:21Kimberle Lau:And at the end of 2020 is when I was diagnosed with being high risk for breast cancer. I had surgery. And so I actually took time off from my, from, you know, working to tend to my health. And it was in the year of, you know, the pandemic years where a lot of us were questioning, what's my greater purpose? Like, do I stay in beauty for the rest of my life? or is there something greater for me in store? And so I was consulting at the time after I managed my health back. And I said to my husband, when I came up with this idea, I said, what if I launch a business? And he's been so supportive my entire life.

7:05We've been together for 21 years.

7:07Kimberle Lau:So incredible. So he's always been supportive. He was like, go for it. And I was like, I have nothing to lose. I don't want to live a life with regrets. Right. So let's just try it. If it doesn't work, I can always go back to the world of beauty. But let's just try it. And so that's how it started. But I mean, it was a huge risk because I'm a mom of two. We have more, you know, house mortgages. We have college to save up for. And it's not cheaper. So it was a really big risk. But I figure let's just try it and see where it goes. And what were some of those initial early steps? the fact that you have product development experience and a career in it is an incredible advantage going in.

7:52But there is, again, we know the nuance of food and beverage and a lot of a learning curve, especially margins. A lot of conversations I have with early stage founders, I'm like, please, please be mindful of this going in. But what was those initial steps of creating the product. Again, I know that there's a sustainability piece here too that I thought was really interesting that I learned during your pitch at Enthuse Foundation. But what were some of those steps of getting this product then on shelf? Yeah.

8:25Kimberle Lau:So first in terms of the development, so the development, like I said, is what I love, but the sustainability piece of it was very different than anything that I work with. Right. And so with our, with Make Me Healthy, it was not only that we had to be allergy friendly, I wanted us to be plant friendly. It's just been sustainability and being eco-friendly has always been a core value of mine. And so I wanted to make sure that the brand stood for me. And so we use upcycled ingredients in our products. Upcycling is taking food that would normally go to waste and finding a creative use for it. And so what's in all our products is when they make sunflower oil, the pulp that's left over is a byproduct that goes to waste.

9:05Kimberle Lau:And when it goes to landfills, it creates methane gas food, actually 40 % of food produced is actually never consumed. And so the greenhouse gas obviously leads to climate change. And so we, I just wanted us to be more mindful about our carbon footprint. And so we, we work with a company that upcycles that sunflower byproduct is 51 % protein dense. So it's actually better for you and better for the planet and using it in our products. So interesting. Did you realize or did you have you found that consumers resonate with that? Or is it more so just from a business perspective of how you wanted to integrate sustainability?

9:47Kimberle Lau:I've discovered it's more so the latter. Right. Because consumers definitely want to be mindful of the planet. But first and foremost, the product has to deliver on a benefit. Right. And so it's more of a second seat or third seat in terms of the priorities within the brand. But it, you know, because it was so core to me, I just wanted to make sure it was baked into the brand. And but so it does. But then when I love these questions, when consumers like what's upcycling or what's upcycled? It's my favorite question. And so when I get to explain it to them, they're like, wow, that's so cool. I love what you're doing.

10:23Kimberle Lau:And so it has this like wow factor to it. and like, oh, it's a feel good, you know, factor in terms of the brand. So that's super important, but it was really difficult in formulating with it. And I actually had to work with a team of food scientists at Drexel University because it's not like a regular all-purpose flour. Right. If you think about it, it's a thirsty flour, meaning you need more wet ingredients to offset it. And if you think about it, it's because it's dehydrated. So all the moisture literally sucked out of it. So you need to infuse more moisture to use it. And so it's not only is it gluten free and, um, but you have to like make sure it has the right level of moisture.

11:05So you don't get a dry crumbly baked good, which often is associated with gluten free

11:10Kimberle Lau:flours and gluten-free figgies. So the texture was very tricky to work with. And so I had to work with a team of food scientists. I'm a home baker. I've never taken a professional course. I've never taken a food science course. It's a whole other ballgame. I mean, they always say baking is a science. It truly is a science. And so I had to work with this team of food scientists to help craft this formula so that it was delivered on taste and also nutrition and just be better for you. And then how did that translate to manufacturing? Because again, you're doing a lot of innovation. So I'm sure that was also a huge next piece of the puzzle.

11:48Kimberle Lau:So to get back to your question of, oh, was it a van to come in from a product development career? And yes, it was. But where I didn't have the direct experience, I've always worked for pretty big or small and big companies, but I've always had a team of operations, sales team, you know, there are all these different teams. And so the skills that I had to learn very quickly are ops and sales. And so ops, so I right now, Baking Healthy, it's just me. I'm a solopreneur. I don't have anyone on my team. And so and I don't have a co-manufacturer. And so I work. Oh, wow. Every baking mix and cookie, every product that you see from Baking Healthy is handmade by me in a commercial kitchen.

12:34Wow, I did not realize that.

12:37Kimberle Lau:So yeah, I actually was just in the kitchen the other day. I am with days, you know, two days ago. So they're 15 hour days. And so I'm Kimberly. This is wow. You really are a one man band right now. Yeah. Yeah. Like, you know, I say everything's baked with love because literally I literally thing with like my two hands. And so I had to learn like, you know, operational efficiencies, like in terms of the baking mixes and later products to launch, like, you know, how, you know, in terms of like, how many can I crank out in an hour? What is the steps that I have to take, you know, to maximize product production efficiency?

13:16Kimberle Lau:Uh, how do I have to store it all the shelf life? Like all that good stuff that goes into the back. And in terms of ops, I had to quickly learn. Uh, and then also for sales, which I used to, when I first launched, I was like, Oh, I'm not a salesperson. I like developed such respect for my sales team. And then like, after a while you, you have to become a salesperson because that's the only way you're going to get your products. Totally. And you have such a personal connection to your product, literally. And the story too, I feel like you are the best salesperson for the product. Yeah. And it's like, I had an event three weeks ago.

13:55Kimberle Lau:I was a gluten-free expo and I was actually, this is a good topic for those who are parents. I had to choose between like attending one of my, my son's hockey playoff games versus doing this event. And this event has always been a big event for me. And so the organizers like, can you find someone who can work the event? And I was like, I can't because I've always been the one selling at the event. I don't know if I can trust anyone yet at this point, but at this point to like do the brand justice in terms of explaining upcycle ingredients, explaining, you know, why I developed each product, what makes each product nutritionally dense.

14:31Kimberle Lau:So in that respect, you're right. You are the best salesperson. And you can see the excitement that just comes through when I talk about Make Me Healthy and why I created the product. So yes, it becomes more natural. Right. And so what is your plan on now scaling, right? Because your self-manufacturing, which is so impressive. I didn't even realize that, that you are now gaining traction. You're finding the fit in the market. You're going to expos. You're networking. You're really growing the business. Again, really impressive pitch that you had at the Enthuse Foundation. What does it look like for, say, even just the year ahead of really ramping up the business.

15:20Kimberle Lau:So last year we launched ready to eat dark chocolate chip cookies. Yes. They're dark chocolate chip protein cookies. They have eight grams of fiber, eight grams of protein, four grams of fiber, no added sugar. So super nutrient or macro nutrient friendly. And they come in snack packs. And so I've been pitching all of 2025 into like both like corporate offices, colleges, universities. I've gotten a lot of yeses, but the yeses mean that I need to scale up to your point. And so I spent the better part of 2025 interviewing and finding a co-manufacturer. For anyone who has looked in this space, for most people, I would say, it's not that easy.

16:01Kimberle Lau:It's like finding, you know, like a spouse almost, because you just need to find the right partner. And definitely for me and for Bake Me Healthy, because we're top nine allergy friendly, where there's maybe like one or two co-manufacturers that are top nine for it. And I I don't necessarily need that out of the gates, but I do need gluten-free certified. And so that limits the pool. Right. And so long story short, I have found, I think I found a co-manufacturer. And so I will be at least moving the cookie production to this co-manufacturer for launching for future retail and college and corporate office production.

16:42Incredible. So is it easier, easier is a relative term, but to move the cookies, the ready to eat products to manufacturing even before the baking mixes?

16:54Kimberle Lau:Definitely because the cookies, because they're handmade right now, the bottleneck is like, so I have two helpers in the kitchen. But it's like the I Love Lucy production that I showed. Right, right, right. Like I'm literally rolling every single cookie and so scooping and rolling and patting and baking. And so it takes just so much. Whereas the baking mixes, at least it's just, you know, mixing flour with baking powder and other dry ingredients. It's a little bit – it's actually a lot easier than the cookie production. That makes sense. That totally makes sense. And what are you finding of what people are resonating with?

17:31Is the ready-to-eat cookies getting some more traction because it's even easier to, like, have an allergy-friendly option that they literally don't do anything? Or is the baking mixes still really satisfying people who want to make these types of products at home? I would love to hear. It's interesting that you have both verticals happening, too.

17:55Kimberle Lau:Yes. So our cookies are definitely taking off because they're easy to consume. And people, consumers, you know, they value taste and they value convenience. Those offer both. And so, you know, it's great for individuals like you and me who are on the go, can throw it in your backpack. It's good for families, can throw it in a lunchbox. So it's just easier for convenience. It's also easier, quite honestly, to sample versus the baking mixes. And to send emails, like, you know, we send some to, like, micro-influencers and we send some to PR. And it's easy for those folks to even like try it versus like the baking mixes.

18:30Kimberle Lau:It's like following up like every like, you know, maybe two weeks later, did you get a chance to bake it? Oh, I didn't have time this weekend, but maybe I'll bake it next weekend. So we're seeing the adoption rise nicely for the cookies. But we're also seeing that consumers still are enjoying the baking mixes, which I was surprised. I thought that might taper off a little bit. I think once you have a food allergy, you're just used to like baking and making stuff at home. And it provides a really easy convenience because for our baking mixes, it's just add oil and water or oil and milk of your choice.

19:02Kimberle Lau:So it's just two ingredients. It's super easy. So we're finding it's pretty even split between the two. Interesting. What are you most excited about of now really scaling your business, scaling the brand, taking it to the next level? I'm sure just the logistics of not being in the kitchen as much. But anything else that you're just genuinely excited about of what you're building? Yeah, so we're super excited to offload the cookie production. To a co-manufacturer. And I think that's probably really exciting because then it definitely, as you mentioned, and it frees up the time and just the mental capacity of just like, as we talked about the operations of like planning everything, ingredients, packaging and so forth.

19:47Kimberle Lau:So that's really exciting. And then really be able to say yes to some of these, you know, clients, because I couldn't say yes before, because we just literally produce on demand. And so I'd be like, Oh, hold on, I'm going to produce, I'm sorry, out of stock, but I'll be producing in the kitchen next week. So hold that. So I like, I'm in like pitching, but also with the, you know, mindset of like, oh, I can't really pitch too much because I can't produce that much. It's in that funny in-between. Totally is. So that's what I'm really excited about is really to get into some of these, both retail and corporate offices and colleges with greater capacity.

20:23Kimberle Lau:And then quite honestly, looking at new innovation, I just mentioned earlier that innovation is my love language. And so just being in the kitchen, figuring out what else consumers are looking for, How else can I bring joy and fun to them? So cool. What piece of advice would you share with someone who's in the really, really early stages? Like I said before we were hit record of I work with early stage CPG food and beverage founders who have a product idea even before formulation, manufacturing, packaging, branding. I'm with them in those early days. Is there anything that you've learned that maybe you wish you knew a little bit sooner or something that from your past that you brought into this business that you found really helpful that you would share to an early stage founder to just have like a really good foundation to get started with?

21:22Yeah. So when I first launched, I thought, well, this is going to be a huge overnight success,

21:28Kimberle Lau:right? I think a lot of founders come in thinking, I have the best product ever. And so I had hired a few agencies earlier on to promote the product, sell the product on Amazon, do some affiliate marketing, do some paid media. And I sunk a lot of, unfortunately, money into that early on. And as a brand starting from zero, you can't do that because you really don't have any brand awareness. And so even unless you are venture backed, unless you have deep pockets, it's very hard to, to, to go into that, to go, you know, partner with those agencies so early on. So I know probably you, the founders will want to hear this, but you have to be scrappy.

22:11Kimberle Lau:I've always had a scrappy and you just have to be scrappy. There's no, this has been the hardest lesson to be. There's no recipe for success. And so it's so much test and learn, and you have to be the one testing it on your own and learning and pivoting. And it's just constantly testing, learning, pivoting. And I would say the best advice beyond like don't hire agencies off the bat because you just have to figure it out on your own and learn it is just talk to anyone and everyone. I would say like the founder hive is your greatest asset. It's my best asset because people just want, it's so hard.

22:50Kimberle Lau:It is like beyond hard being a founder. And so learning from others is really the best thing that you can do. And so network like crazy, talk to everyone and anyone. And the founders are just, we know how hard it is. So we most, I would say pretty much everyone who I found had met as a founder has been so gracious and offering advice. And just, you know, like listening to your podcast, like just like listen, just consume as much information as you can because it will help you and your brand grow. But you'll make mistakes and you'll make a thousand and one mistakes and it's okay. But just continue to learn from those mistakes and grow from it.