Becky Holmes believes dessert doesn’t have to be a pleasure that makes people feel guilty.

“I really tried hard to find foods that were just good for you, and it was a struggle,” Holmes said. “I would go to stores and look at things that say, ‘healthy,’ and you turn it over and there’s chemicals and there’s sugar as the first ingredient. That was when I just decided, ‘you know, I want to make a product that is good and truly good for you.’ And I know it’s possible.”

Holmes brought that desire to life with Ello Raw, a Raleigh-based producer and distributor of plant-based, organic and raw dessert foods. Her motivation to create health-conscious treats stems from growing up with financial limitations that forced her family into unhealthy eating habits.

“When we were trying to eat food, it was always just focused on whatever was cheap,” Holmes said. “So, a lot of this processed junk, whether it was McDonald’s or food shelters, you know, it’s just not healthy fuel.”

After becoming a student at Duke University, Holmes realized that her family had dealt with a history of mental and physical health issues, along with obesity.

She saw a connection between these trends and a history of unhealthy dietary habits, and the role of food took on a newfound importance in her life. Holmes emphasizes that food insecurity can have a devastating impact, especially in children.

“We talk a lot about economic gaps, and food is really a huge player in that,” Holmes said. “A lot of low-income students are behind their classmates, and some of the reason is not because they’re just dumb. A huge factor is that they’re not being fed. When you go to school and you’re hungry, you can’t pay attention as well, you can’t think well and remember certain things.”

Through Ello Raw, Holmes’ mission is to provide “superfood” options that appeal to all ages. The company currently offers four different snack bite packs, with flavors of coconut cookie dough, goji cacao brownie, cinnamon donut and pecan pie. These flavors entice the sweet tooth in consumers, but the ingredients used to create them are entirely different than those of the sugar-packed products lining most store shelves today.

Organic snacks

All of Ello Raw’s snacks are made organically, meaning they are processed without the use of pesticides and other certain chemicals, and entirely raw, meaning they are never processed above a certain temperature. Holmes said that processing food at high temperatures can kill off enzymes and micronutrients that are necessary to good health. The company’s products are also dairy-free and use no GMOs.

Ello Raw came from humble beginnings and has grown almost entirely through Holmes’ personal work and sacrifice. The summer after her junior year at Duke in 2014, Holmes was accepted to take part in the Melissa & Doug Entrepreneurs year-long fellowship program, giving her the opportunity to create her own start-up with the guidance of mentors and experienced entrepreneurs. Her passion for healthy food led to the birth of Ello Raw.

Holmes said the company did not see a lot of growth its first year beyond operating online. In late 2015, after graduating from Duke, she was able to fully focus on growing the company. Ello Raw was almost entirely a one-person operation for a long time, with Holmes handling everything from production to marketing.

Now, she said she has a team of two to three people for each of those things, which has allowed her to focus on other aspects of being the company’s CEO.

With Ello Raw, Holmes has emphasized growth through sales and a constant reluctance with expenses. She said that part of minimizing the company’s need for cash to survive has meant paying herself less than she would earn at a normal job.

As a result of this conservative strategy, Ello Raw raised money for the first time in its three years this past summer. With an angel investment of $35,000 by Justin Wright-Eakes, an investor in the Raleigh area, the company recently established a brand overhaul that includes a new logo, website and packaging for products.

Holmes felt the old packaging was too generic to establish itself in the minds of consumers and said the new packaging will be able to “pop” while displaying to potential buyers the unique benefits Ello Raw’s products provide.

Faith in company products

In an email to NC Business News Wire, Wright-Eakes said he was prompted to invest in Ello Raw by an admiration for Holmes’ work and faith in the company’s products.

“Without any external funding, she created and launched a unique line of products that directly addressed evolving consumer preferences and she built an impressive brand following in a relatively short period of time,” Wright-Eakes said. “Second, I’m far from being the target demographic for Ello Raw’s products but tried them and loved them, which gave me confidence that the products could extend beyond the natural health food niche and into the mainstream.”

Along with the rebrand, Wright-Eakes’ investment will help fund Ello Raw in attending the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California, on March 13. It is the largest natural, organic and healthy products event in the world and will allow Holmes to explain her company and sample products to some of the biggest names and potential buyers in the industry.

These efforts have not deterred Holmes from a mindset of revenue-focused growth. Wright-Eakes said that Ello Raw is not seeking additional investment at this point and instead wants to concentrate its work on sales, marketing, ecommerce efforts and securing new distributors.

Ello Raw products currently are shelved in various areas across the U.S., from a juice bar in New York to a start-up snack shop in Boston to a yoga shop in New Jersey. They also are in grocery stores such as Standard Foods and Whole Foods in the Triangle area, and the company recently received approval to offer its products through Amazon.

Ello Raw’s mission is rooted in the decision Holmes made during college to become a healthier eater and a healthier person. She said that at times, being CEO and founder of the company can often feel like it is doing just the opposite of that for her.

“Ironically, I’m running this health-food company, but I would say that doing that has actually deteriorated a lot of my physical and mental health just because of the toll it has taken and the sacrifices I’ve given it,” Holmes said. “I think it’s really important to find that balance, and I think a lot of other business owners would say the same.”