Chiwis is a Vancouver business that makes and sells natural healthy fruit chips. We spoke with Sarah Goodman, founder & CEO, to find out more about them.
What is your business called and what does it do?
Chiwis was founded in January 2020 by myself a nutritionist, serial entrepreneur, and lover of snacks. When Chiwis was initially founded I made kiwi chips from a rented portion of a kitchen in Squamish, when COVID hit I realized she needed to change the business model and took eight months to pivot to a scalable business that would be able to grow at a good speed. Chiwis launched into stores in February 2021 with two SKUS, and ended the year with five delicious flavours of 100% natural healthy fruit chips.
What made you want to do this work?
I love a good snack, especially a sweet one. As a nutritionist, I’m often too aware of the health benefits of what I’m eating, and wanted to make a snack that was sweet, nutritious, and used as much of the fruit as possible. I had made kiwi chips at home for adventures in Squamish for years before developing Chiwis.
What problem did you want to solve with the business?
Many healthy snacks are highly processed and some have additional ingredients I didn’t feel great eating. I wanted to develop a retail version of a snack I made all the time (kiwi chips) that were 100% natural, good for you, and tasted like healthy sour patch kids. We launched with two kiwi chip varieties and now have five 100% natural fruit chip varieties that use as much of the fruit as possible and upcycled fruit whenever possible.
Who are your clientele/demographics?
Our primary target are 25 – 45 year old women who are health-oriented and are looking for a snack that they can take anywhere, feel good about eating, and feel good about feeding their family.
How does your business make money? How does it work?
We sell to customers directly through our website as well as in over 700 retail locations in BC and Ontario.
Where in the city can we find your profession?
In Ontario, you can find us at Summerhill Market, the Big Carrot, Nature’s Emporium, Organic Garage, and Healthy Planet. We will soon be launching in all Whole Foods in Ontario as well!
What is the best part about what you do? What is the worst part?
The best part is hearing about how much our customers love our products, the worst part is all of the supply chain issues we’ve been having lately!
Where can we follow you?
Website | Instagram | TikTok | Facebook
PAY IT FORWARD: What is another local business that you love?
I absolutely love Eve’s Crackers, they’re tasty on their own, with soup, salad or on a charcuterie board. And they’re a local Canadian brand with an amazing founder!
