On this episode, we’re joined by Eli Bank, the Co-founder and COO of Absurd Snacks, a top-9-allergen-free, snack company that started as a senior capstone project at the University of Richmond and now sells in Whole Foods, Kroger, Publix, and college campuses across the Mid-Atlantic.

Eli walks us through how he and co-founder Grace turned their classroom idea into a fully commercialized brand, navigating student grants, allergen-safe formulation, hand-filling tens of thousands of bags, and eventually scaling to a co-packer.

We dig into the behind-the-scenes of launching in national retailers, demo tactics that drive real velocity, and how grants in the early days can be an alternative to fundraising.

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Episode Highlights:

🥣 From college project to Whole Foods shelves
💰 How to fund your brand with grants (instead of VC)
🌰 Making snacks that are top-9-allergen-free
🏭 When to move to a co-man (and how to pick one)
🛍️ Opening doors at Whole Foods, Kroger & Publix
📈 Demo strategies that actually drive turns
🎯 Channel differences and retailer expectations
🚀 What he’s learned after producing 100K+ units by hand
📦 Fancy Food Show & trade show strategy
📊 Trends Eli’s watching in snacking and allergen-friendly CPG

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Table of Contents:

00:00:00 – Intro
00:40:11 – Absurd Snacks intro
04:17:00 – From capstone project to on the shelf
09:49:25 – Grants, the alternative to early-stage fundraising
11:48:25 – Formulation and commercialization philosophy
14:21:26 – Transitioning to a co-packer, allergen free reqs
19:36:22 – A bunch of recommendations surrounding co-packers
22:50:08 – Opening up the first few doors
25:54:07 – Demo strategies
29:36:18 – Whole Foods vs Kroger vs Publix
34:16:26 – Fancy Food 2025
38:37:09 – Trends Eli is tracking

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Links:

Absurd Snacks - https://absurdsnacks.com
Follow Eli on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/elibank/
Follow me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/
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