What happens when you team up a former investment banker turned management consultant with a healthcare vice president who share a passion for health and wellness? You get Purposefuel, a functional plant-based snack bite company that’s products are full of superfoods rich in nutrients and taste. With the never-ending rotation of new health crazes, Purposefuel isn’t riding the coattail of a novel health food trend. Purposefuel’s founders, Caroline Stevens and Osswin D’Costa are forging their own path by developing simple, nutritionally-dense snacks. They are not branded as keto, or dairy-free (despite the fact they are). Purposefuel’s main value proposition is offering truly tasty and fueling snacks, made with nostalgic, comforting, foods and flavors.
Caroline Stevens, co-founder and a certified foodie, was born in India and moved to the U.S. for University. She describes the early days of her career “as sort of just slipping into finance.” This little slip brought her to London, where she dove into the world of Investment banking. When she wasn’t working, she spent her time exploring superfoods, health, and wellness. She quickly realized that this passion for health didn’t have to be her side focus, and she pivoted to a career in management consulting, specializing in healthcare. She moved back to the U.S., and continued to spend her free time learning the ins and outs of wellness. “This made me see that perhaps traditional medicine was not the only way to treat our bodies and minds.” This realization, combined with her experience living and traveling to many countries, led to an aspirational idea to create a health-focused food brand.
The second half of the team, Purposefuel’s other co-founder, Osswin D’costa, who, similarly to Caroline, is somewhat of a global citizen. Having grown up in Tanzania, lived in Kenya, and moved to Washington, D.C. for school, he now calls New York City home. An engineer by trade Osswin, started his career in the field, before pursuing entrepreneurship. After his brief stint as an entrepreneur, his career led him to the healthcare industry. Today he is a VP at Cigna health, where he serves in a strategic advisor role. Osswin describes Purposefuel as his return to his entrepreneurial roots.
While the co-founders are balancing producing their products at Union Kitchen’s facilities in Washington DC, while simultaneously maintaining their corporate jobs in New York City, the duo seemingly needs the functional fuel from their delicious bites more than anyone! Both co-founders are big on snacking but struggled to find healthy snacks that taste good. Their pantry was full of random snacks that they could never finish because they lacked flavor, were full of preservatives, or contained way too much sugar. With both coming from healthcare backgrounds and growing up in cultures that celebrate the functional, medicinal, and nutritional value of food, they were set on bringing that element of food to snacking. Purposefuel functional snack bites come in three flavors that offer three different functions, chocolate raspberry cacao (protect), Matcha Lemon (energize), and mango turmeric (heal). Purposefuel bites have no added sugar and offer a simple snack for those on the go, or just hanging out at home.
After joining Union Kitchen, Osswin and Caroline worked diligently to get their product ready for store shelves. But unfortunate timing in March of 2020 as COVID-19 cases were rising in the United States led to a delay. As Caroline puts it, “We were set to launch when Corona was just a beer.” With the whole world going into lockdown, it significantly delayed their product launch and posed unexpected logistical challenges. However, the constantly optimistic founders found a silver lining in the delay of their launch, there couldn’t be a better time for a healthy snack. “With the current health crisis, people are looking for ways to get, stay, and keep healthy, Purposefuel snack bites are the perfect snack that caters to those needs” the team remarked.
Osswin and Caroline’s optimism, grit, and willingness to learn is what led them to successfully launching a line of healthy bites even in the midst of a global pandemic. “It is tough to launch a product but extremely rewarding to see your visions come to life,” Caroline said. “One of the most helpful things for us was a collaboration with Union Kitchen. We avoided so many missteps, which would have likely cost us time and resources. You also get to be a part of a community and learn from other brands.” After the successful launch of their initial three flavors, Caroline and Osswin are already beginning research and development for new potential flavors to add to their current line of snacks.
Purposefuel’s three flavors: raspberry cacao (protect), Matcha Lemon (energize), and mango turmeric (heal) bites can be found at all five Union Kitchen stores across the D.C. area and are launching soon on Amazon.
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