Chris Paul has a baller resume—literally, and figuratively. During his time with the National Basketball Association, he’s won Rookie of the Year, the MVP award during the All-Star Game, and led the league in assists five times and steals two times. He also has two Olympic gold medals in his trophy case, and he counts among his pickup ball friends none other than Barack Obama.

As if that weren’t enough, he’s also added to his roster of achievements the title of snack entrepreneur. After finding the list of available snack options that were healthy and delicious, he founded his own brand, Good Eat’n. In a relatively short time, the portfolio of vegan, gluten-free, and flavorful snacks has expanded and is making a play to dominate retail shelves at stores like Walmart, much like Paul has a record of dominating the court.

To learn more about Good Eat’n, we connected with CEO April Siler to learn more about the brand’s BFY mission, her role in the growing company, and its , and plans for the future.

Jenni Spinner: Your founder, like many consumers, found it challenging to find snacks that fit his health needs but tasted good and indulgent. Why is this such a struggle?

April Siler: Plant-based snacks and better-for-you snacks have been mostly aimed towards adult entertaining. A lot of plain styles that need dip or something else to go with them. The 100-calorie-count snacks that were popular a decade ago are not resonating with younger generations that want BFY ingredients without compromising on taste.  

JS: He found it so challenging, in fact, that he went ahead and started his own snack company—please tell us a bit about the journey from idea, to Good Eat’n becoming a CPG reality.

Good Eat’n was started as a partnership between Gopuff and Chris Paul; Chris was involved in the brand development and worked for a couple of years on perfecting the product taste profiles before launching on the Gopuff delivery platform.  After two years, Chris made the ultimate conclusion to invest to be the majority owner of the company. Many of the celebrity-owned brands we know today are investor-owned and operated, but Chris took a different approach, and it evolved really thoughtfully over time. 

JS: Then, you joined as CEO about a year ago. Could you please talk a bit about why you joined the company, and what you feel made you their choice to lead the company’s growth?

AS: I joined as CEO first and foremost because the snacks taste delicious and have an ingredient profile to be proud of! As I weighed up a couple of different opportunities, I noticed my young children were so attracted to the Good Eat’n playful packaging, and when we opened a bag, it was always finished. Empty bags means you are going to get repeat purchase! It’s a $42 billion category that is mostly controlled by one big company so bringing in more competition is great for consumers, great for retailers, and presents a dynamic, scalable opportunity for us to execute against. But ultimately, how Chris and the team set up the Good Eat’n brand aligns with what I eat and feed my family, so I’m really fortunate to have such a great opportunity.    

Courtesy of Good Eat'n

AS: All Good Eat’n snacks are made with organic corn and certified non-GMO seasonings. No artificial colors and no artificial flavors.  Our puffs are light and super crunchy; they are not the soft eating style typically marketed towards children. The cinnamon sugar has only 3g of sugar per serve, so it’s a perfectly reasonable amount for a delicious snack for the whole family. The Hot Hot puffs are extra hot, with Gen Z consuming the hot snacks seems to be a badge of hono,r so while this item is certainly polarizing, it’s really popular. Our tortilla chips are very generously seasoned, our Nacho Cheeze—we joke, “Did anyone order extra cheesy without the cheese?” because it has vegans questioning whether it is really plant-based. And then the dill ranch has a strong kick of dill that has people reaching into the bag for more. 

We have drizzled Cookies’ N Creme popcorn that is popped in coconut oil and drizzled with a creamy coconut chocolate and cookie crumble. It has a rich chocolatey taste with the creaminess of coconut oil - one of the things I notice when I taste sweet popcorns is that they just taste sweet without any complexity of flavor. So this one really stands out and surprises people, we are going to invest a lot more in better-for-you drizzled popcorns.

JS: Congratulations on making it to Walmart. Why is this a big deal—for the brand, as well as other snackers looking to treat themselves with healthier stuff?

AS: Walmart is our first national customer, and it’s great to be able to make our snacks available to more people. Giving people exciting options that are a fun and pleasurable experience is what we are all about. We don’t want them to have to depend on the same snacks as what they’ve always had because there’s no other options. 

Related: Good Eat'n expands, launches at Walmart