Bubble Goods - Five Minutes with the Founder of Bake Me Healthy 

Meet Kimberle, the founder of Bake Me Healthy, a healthy baking business on a mission to help others bake better for themselves, their families, and the planet without compromising health, taste, or the planet. Kimberle is a former beauty executive, who developed lactose and egg intolerances from pregnancy and then had to eliminate soy from her diet due to becoming high-risk for breast cancer. Bake Me Healthy offers convenient, delicious baking mixes that are Top 9 Allergen-Free, plant-based, refined sugar-free, and upcycled.

Q: What did you do before starting Bake Me Healthy that led you to founding a better-for-you baking mix company?

A: I didn’t grow up in the world of food. I spent about 20 years leading product development, innovation, and marketing for beauty companies like L'Oreal, Laura Mercier, Philosophy, and Shea Moisture. I’ve always had a passion for ingredients and a terrible sweet tooth. About 13 years ago, after having children, I had health issues and discovered I was lactose and egg intolerant. Later, I had to eliminate soy due to being at high risk for breast cancer. These challenges led me to launch Bake Me Healthy as a top-nine allergen-free, upcycled baking company.

Q: One of the things I love most about your product is how great it tastes. How did you go about developing it, especially transitioning from the beauty side of CPG into food?

A: I partnered with Drexel Food Labs in Philadelphia, part of Drexel University, which has an incubator lab with a team of food scientists. During the pandemic, I had a home bakery, but I didn’t know how to make a mix, especially a gluten-free, vegan, upcycled one. We did surveys, focus groups, and tested the recipes extensively to ensure taste was top-notch.

Q: When you were thinking about bringing your product to market, how did you decide where to sell it? How did you find Bubble Goods?

A: I found Bubble Goods through a Google search for better-for-you online retailers. I filled out the application on your website, and here we are!

Q: Is the goal to see Bake Me Healthy become the next Betty Crocker? What’s your plan for the business?

A: Yes, on our vision board, we’ve written that we will be the healthy, sustainable Betty Crocker. Beyond baking mixes, we want to expand to any baked treat that’s better for you.

Q: Are you planning to get into shelf-stable, ready-to-eat products?

A: Yes, we are working on a shelf-stable, better-for-you treat, aiming to launch it this fall.

Q: How did you handle production? Do you use a co-packer or a commissary kitchen?

A: Every one of our baking mixes is hand-filled by me. I work out of a commercial kitchen in Long Island City and do 12-hour shifts to fill as many pouches as I can.

Q: How have you funded the business? Do you have investors, or did you bootstrap it?

A: I’m a solopreneur and have fully bootstrapped the business so far. I’ve applied for grants and recently won one from the Balance Futures Foundation. I’m also part of the Columbia Business School accelerator program and will be pitching to angel investors and VCs in September.