Shortly after launching Stellar Eats, Stella teamed up with Michelle and Emma to collaborate and change the culture around comforting cuisine. As a holistic nutritionist, Stella knew that she wanted to create healthy baked goods that didn’t sacrifice deliciousness. With her friends by her side, they developed a very special line of grain-free baking mixes.
From banana bread to pancakes to chocolate chip cookies, each mix has no dairy, gluten, or refined sugar. Though most products cater to one's sweet tooth, Stellar Eats also crafts a high-quality pizza dough mix, allowing customers to satisfy their cravings without sacrificing their health.
Recently, we caught up with these talented women to learn more about their journey and hear their advice for fellow entrepreneurs.
1. Why did you start Stellar Eats?
Stellar Eats was started in 2020 by Stella, Emma, and Michelle — three female founders who were frustrated with the health food industry and the way healthy products were marketed to us as “skinny”, “low calorie,” or “diet.” We wanted to create products that not only taste incredible but also speak to consumers in a different way and empower them to enjoy all the foods they love with zero guilt. We felt that there was an opportunity to change the narrative around health food while bringing grain-free and gluten-free products that are made with eight or less real food ingredients, naturally sweetened, easy to prepare, and taste just as good, if not better, than their traditional counterparts (zero compromise!)
2. What obstacles did you face along the way?
Running a food business is a LOT — you constantly run up against obstacles and it’s all part of the process. Finding and managing a food manufacturer that could produce products that are up to our standards was certainly a challenge in the early days, along with navigating the worlds of distributors, retailers, and brokers. Because we sell our products in both Canada (where we started) and the US, navigating the world of cross-border shipping and delivering products to multiple warehouses across two different countries has brought many obstacles. Luckily, we now have an incredible operations team who manages this with confidence! All in all, we have learned so much and continue to grow and evolve with our mission at the core of everything we do.
3. What lessons do you have for other entrepreneurs?
So many! One lesson that we often share is to start before you’re ready. Nothing will ever feel 100% perfect when you’re building a business, and that’s okay. Be ready and open to learning and changing as you go, and don’t feel like you need to have everything figured out. We often laugh that you need a certain level of naivete before starting a business — knowing too much about what you’re getting into might not necessarily be a good thing. In general, being open to learning and pivoting is crucial, and not getting too attached to any one idea or belief. Also, talk to as many people as you can! We’ve learned so much from other founders in our industry and it really helps to have a network of people you can turn to who understand exactly what you’re navigating.
4. What’s on the horizon for Stellar Eats?
We just launched a brand new product line that we’ve been working on for over a year called Instant Treats! These are convenient, single-serve packs of Fudge Brownie, Carrot Cake, and Banana Bread. Customers can prepare them in one to two minutes using just a mug, a microwave, and a few simple add-ins. Instant Treats were born from our desire to create something that is more quickly consumable and great for on-the-go, busy mornings or quick desserts/snacks. We are so excited to launch and expand this new line!
5. How do you keep work/life balance? What drives/inspires you?
As treat lovers, we’re super driven by our mission to help people eat and enjoy all the foods they love without restriction or compromise. This is especially important to us as women who grew up at a time when the health food industry was so different and as a result, we struggled with eating disorders and food fear. Our customers also drive us. We adore seeing how much they love our mixes, and that motivates us to continue bringing them fun and innovative products.
Work/life balance can be tough as an entrepreneur because you care so much about your business and always feel like there’s more to be done. Having small hobbies or practices outside of work is helpful to clear the mind and get some space from the business (which can actually be really beneficial for the business). We all love going for long walks, doing pilates/workout classes, cooking a fun meal, and hanging out with our dogs and kids — Stella and Michelle both have little ones at home! We also make a conscious effort to spend time together when we’re not working by planning team dinners or just taking breaks to chat in between meetings and brainstorms.
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