Mezcla is the “new kid on the block” in the protein bar arena. Yes, there’s lots of competition – but Mezcla is different and the founders have done everything possible to make this brand stand out as a healthy, tasty protein bar with a recognizable image!
I am sharing an interview with the Mezcla co-founders, Griffin Spolansky and Coco Sotelo, in bits as it applies with the photos and details about Mezcla
Who are the founders and why Mezcla?
During co-founder Griffin Spolansky’s senior year in a social entrepreneurship class at the University of Virginia, the initial seed for Mezcla was sown. Through weekly guest lectures from local business owners, the class highlighted that successful businesses can also be socially conscious ones. One of these lecturers, in particular, inspired Griffin. This was Coco Sotelo, a young woman who immigrated to America from Mexico over ten years ago.
Upon initially arriving in the States, Coco struggled to find her place in a culture and society that differed so greatly from her native country. She eventually turned to food as a means of not only reminding herself of her life and roots in Mexico but also to establish roots in her new home. Coco began to make and sell granola using the ingredients she grew up with.
After hearing her story, Griffin was inspired and the two developed a close friendship centered around food. They began to bake in her kitchen, spending hours working to make products that gave her feelings of home, of belonging, of history. In the kitchen and around the dinner table, Griffin and Coco learned about each other’s backgrounds and experiences, subconsciously manifesting what Mezcla is all about: food’s ability to connect individuals and foster a sense of community.
And thus, Griffin and Coco founded Mezcla–meaning mixture in Spanish.
Mezcla is a protein bar company focused on celebrating the world’s diversity through food and art.
How did you find or create the flavors?
Choosing and creating the flavor profiles for Mezcla was mainly a process of trial and error starting in Coco’s kitchen. We wanted to create flavors that were different and unique to the protein bar space. We tested out a lot of different flavor pairings and bar textures until we were ultimately satisfied with the final three flavors:
Japanese Matcha Vanilla,
Peruvian Cocoa Peanut Butter,
Mexican Chipotle Hot Chocolate.
Why pea protein?
We didn’t want to use an animal or soy protein, but we knew that we wanted our bars to provide that quick fix of protein to the consumer. We found pea protein and loved it not only for its nutrition but for the texture it provides as well. We wanted our bars to have that crunch factor that so many bars in the space lack.
Another large factor that led us to pea protein is its health benefits. We wanted our bars to be a tasty, plant-based, yet healthy protein alternative, and we were able to achieve just that through our use of pea protein. To name a few health benefits:
pea protein is
–rich in essential amino acids,
–highly soluble,
–allergen-free,
–great for muscle-building and repair.
Another thing that attracted us to pea protein was sustainability. Pea protein requires less water than farming other sources of plant-based protein such as almonds. Pea protein is also known as a regenerative crop as it puts nitrogen back into the soil, ultimately improving the health of the soil.
How did you come about with doing local artists?
The idea to use local artists on the front of our bars’ packaging came later in the process. After we established our flavors, we decided to highlight our unique flavor profiles on the front of our wrappers (Japanese Matcha Vanilla, Mexican Chipotle Hot Chocolate, Peruvian Cocoa PB).
Although we could have sourced our ingredients from within the United States, we wanted to take our product one step further and source certain ingredients directly from countries around the world.
We sourced our matcha from Japan, our cocoa from Peru, and our chipotle from Mexico. We wanted to be as authentic as possible and create a community-driven experience that inspired the idea of using artists from each highlighted country on the front of the packaging.
The local artists we chose to design our bars’ packaging created an opportunity for the artists to truly express themselves as they ultimately chose what they wanted to highlight on the bars’ wrapping.
By giving these three artists a blank canvas and asking them to share their own backgrounds and culture as they saw fit, we not only managed to create a sense of community but also act as a forum for expression.
More information on Kickstarter
We planned the Kickstarter for six months as it was very important to us to test the proof of concept and gain some initial funding. We created a video to complement all the information found on the Kickstarter website.
We were very excited about our feedback and support from the Kickstarter. We launched the campaign in February 2020 and raised over $30,000 in just 30 days. The Kickstarter campaign was a great way for Mezcla to gauge consumer interest as our brand concept is unique to the protein bar space.
Mezcla looks like a real winner based on all this information courtesy of Griffin Spolansky and Coco Sotelo.
These bars look and sound phenomenal. If you are interested in trying any and/or all of these new protein bars, visit the Mezcla website: https://eatmezcla.com/
Follow Mezcla on these social channels:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatmezcla/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eatmezcla
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EatMezcla
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/eat-mezcla/
Stevie Wilson,
LA-Story.com
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Aw, this was a really good post. Taking the time and actual effort to generate a top notch article… but what can I say… I hesitate a lot and don’t manage to get anything done.