Our Story
My partner and our 2 kiddos have made our home in Minneapolis, Minnesota—perhaps the hot cereal capital of the world. Throughout my life, which has included travel, art, sports, home construction, and innovation, I’ve also had a deep interest in food, where it comes from, how it's produced, nutritional values, and cooking for myself and others. I first came up with the idea of marketing this combination of hot cereal ingredients under the name “Eli’s Hot Rockin’ Cereal” almost 20 years ago! I didn’t have the wherewithal to make it happen then.
So why now? Inspired by others in the local food marketplace, my pipe dream began to resurface this year as the Minnesota cold weather set in. I worked on dialing in the recipe and I was gratified to watch my little ones loving it. I was ready to make a go of it!
Mission
As a local business, we want to become better as we grow—not just bigger and more profitable. As a small business, we have to consider practicalities while staying true to our values. Though our starting point is small, we want to be an inspiration to others who want to embark on their dream. With this in mind, these goals embody the values that we seek to achieve. We’ll post our progress here as we work to meet goals that support better health for people, systems, environment.
Orange stars indicate achieved goals.
#1. Our commitment to your health
Our goal from bag one.
December, 2022
The ingredients in Eli’s Hot Rockin’ have different and complementary nutritional values. We are committed to buying organic and believe in the non-gmo mission for your health and the health of the land.
#2. Crossing Our T’s and Dotting Our I’s
Our goal for 1,000 bags sold.
March, 2024
Correct a couple of details printed on our first hot cereal packaging run.
One of my friends mentioned that some microwaves might blow up if they run for 10 minutes! We will update this information in the next bag printing.
#3. Sustainable Packaging
Our goal for 25,000 bags sold.
Transition to packaging that is better for the environment.
We spent a good amount of time looking into what kind of bags would work for the initial run of Eli’s Hot Rockin’. Unfortunately we didn’t find a bag that met our wish list: biodegradable, sturdy, and at a decent price point (not 3 dollars a bag!).
To offset our single-bag packaging footprint, we also sell our hot cereal in bulk. If you see us on the shelf at your favorite store and they have a bulk section, you’ll probably find us there as well.
#4. Organic Certification
Our goal for 50,000 bags sold.
Get organic certification.
We understand the importance of certification. All of our hot cereal ingredients are organic. Unfortunately, certification is expensive and can take up to a half year and it can be impractical for small businesses to achieve up front.
#5. Gluten-Free Label
Our goal for 100,000 bags sold.
In order to add a gluten-free label to a product, extensive lab testing is required to ensure that gluten levels stay under the threshold of 20 parts per billion. Although none of our hot cereal ingredients contain gluten, working in kitchens where wheat or other gluten-containing foods are prepared can make it hard to stay below this threshold. This most likely will mean that we’ll need to find a new kitchen that is designated gluten-free.
#6. Fair Trade Certification Assessment
Our goal for 200,000 bags sold.
Assess the impact on the local population, farmers and environment of the increased popularity of quinoa.
Quinoa thrives in a part of the Andes which is unique. There are efforts to grow this super star seed, that we think of as a grain domestically in the US, but as of now Peru and Bolivia still grow the majority of quinoa. For thousands of years, quinoa has been a staple to the people of Peru and Bolivia. Opening up to increasing foreign demand has undoubtedly created an impact on the local population as well as the farmers.
After our trip we’ll post a report on the website and consider such things as implementing Fair Trade certification.