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Saskia Sorrosa is currently the only Latina in the kids‘ food space! She is the founder of Fresh Bellies, a company that focuses on bringing the next generation of snackers healthy and flavorful options.
This entrepreneur was raised in Ecuador by a father that was a banana farmer and agricultural entrepreneur. She grew up surrounded by local fruits and veggies and ate traditional meals sucha s sancocho and ceviche. At 17, she moved to the U.S. for college and had a succesful 16-year career in consumer marketing. Before Fresh Bellies and being a mom, she held the title the Vice President of Multicultural and Targeted Marketing for the NBA.
Then, after forming a family and when her daughter was ready for solids, she noticed that most snacks for children at the grocery stores had a very high sugar and sodium content. With this, she saw an opportunity to create her brand and focus on offering healthier snacks for adults and kids. Saskia takes inspiration from her upbringing to create unique, fun and healthy flavor of snacks.
“I leaned into my Hispanic roots for Fresh Bellies, so instead of flavors like cheddar or barbecue, we use things like mangoes with basil.”
She launched her brand in 2016, and now has just finished raising nearly $7M. Now, her snacks are now available at 5000+ stores, including, Target, Whole Foods, Kroger, Walmart and much more. Her investors are primarily Black and Latina investors. She has also been on Shark Tank and won several awards, such as the 2021 Launch with GS Entrepreneur Cohort, 2018 Winner National Parenting Product Awards (NAPPA), among others.
Fresh Bellies is now ranked a top 5 brand in natural toddler snacks in the entire country, even above the world’s largest food brands. Her latest snack line “Groovies” created for pre-schoolers is made of actual vegetables instead of wheat, corn or added sugars. Her brand grew 3x more during the pandemic than in previous years. This Latina Powerhouse is fullfilling her mission to bring yummy, authentic and savory adventurous snacks for all of us to live a better future.