As we celebrate Black History Month in February, we acknowledge the great achievements and contributions of black people around the world. As part of this, we wanted to take this opportunity to acknowledge the amazing black entrepreneur behind this women-owned business, Ohh Foods Founder, Brittany Charlton.
Brittany spends her valuable and passionate energy building an Inclusive Snacking™ community, innovating allergen-friendly products and taking time to share her success to inspire other women all over the world. Years ago delicious vegan and gluten-free snacks weren’t readily available like they are today - and we can thank entrepreneurs like Brittany who are passionate about her brand and her customers to provide the best allergen-friendly snacking products, exactly how they want it. Great tasting with better quality!!
| I am trying to make this world a little safer and a lot sweeter with her vegan, gluten-free and allergen-friendly snacks - Founder of Ohh! Foods, Brittany Charlton. |
We interviewed our young Canadian black entrepreneur, Brittany Charlton about her women-owned business and opportunities for women in Canada.
Q1. What energized you to create Ohh! Foods?
A1. I’m a big believer in the idea of helping humanity thrive - and I love the idea of creating. I am always creating (Brittany smiles in reflection). Even as a kid, I always loved creating products and helping people in a way. With myself going through allergy problems as a teen and facing challenges with picking up the right snacking for me, I started making recipes in my kitchen that provided great taste while keeping allergen-friendly in my mind. I would share them with my family and friends and they all enjoyed it, so that gave me the freedom & confidence to grow my own business and make it scale up.
Q2. What advice would you give to women who want to start their own business?
A2. Always listen to your heart. Be intentional about where you are getting yourself into. Even if we may take the first step, taking the second and third steps becomes harder; keep listening. For me it’s like life - everything, in general, is like Monopoly, if you’re going to play a game in a certain way you cannot choose differently halfway through the game, make sure you’re playing until the end and playing it well, make effective strategies behind you and how you are going to do that.
Do not get stuck in the thought process. Once you have a one-pager of what you think your idea is just start executing it and give it some time to realize if it’s sustainable and scalable. Throughout my journey, my mom has always supported me in trying out new things and understanding where my passion lies. I would say, listen to your heart and you’ll find the answers.
Q3. When did you realize that your products were gaining visibility?
A3. I think being named one of the Top 10 Vegan Products of 2020 by VegNews magazine is when I started to see gaining momentum in visibility for our products. Our commitment to innovation and meeting the needs of various dietary restrictions has earned us multiple accolades, and being named one of the Top 10 Vegan Products of 2020 was one of them. It has been a wonderful journey.
Q4. Do you have a favourite product or innovation that you are proud of?
A.4 I love all the products that I have created (Brittany laughs). But innovating products that are convenient and ready to eat is definitely an area that piques my interest. Our convenient Ohh Bites have gotten rave reviews from parents looking for allergen-friendly snacks, right through to adults looking for gluten-free or vegan snacks for their gym bags or movie night-in snacks. But, one of my favourite innovations is the edible Sunflower Butter Cup Cookie Dough… it is pretty dreamy!
Q5. What are you looking forward to this year in terms of the product line?
A5. This year, we are taking the current products and introducing new innovations in flavours including two new Ohh Bites flavours hitting the convenience check-out aisle, and a new flavour launching in our edible cookie doughs. We will also be expanding our edible Mini-Dough into the refrigerated convenience section in Walmart in spring 2023 which is exciting as well. So stay tuned… It is going to be an amazing year!
If you want to hear more about Brittany’s journey, you can check out her recent interview on the podcast Connect The Dots: Connect the dots: Brittany Charlton
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