Jul 29, 2020
“The whole family’s going to eat it and it’s going
to be made with clean, real ingredients, and it’s going to taste
delicious!”
Jennifer Wiese (4:21-4:28)
What was originally a decision to help her son battle autism turned into a movement to help families everywhere enjoy plant-based products that are made with real, clean ingredients.
Jennifer Wiese, founder of BeeFree and mother of four sons, had to quickly find a way to help her son August when he was diagnosed with autism at age 7. At an Autism conference in Vancouver, they learned about all types of modalities to help: detoxification, hypobaric chambers, taking 30 supplements a day… but none of those options were realistic for her and her family.
Jennifer learned about gluten free (before it was “fashionable”) and it’s benefits for kids with autism, so she switched the family diet to it. Noticing a difference in her son, she started getting asked by friends and other moms at the kid’s sporting events if she would make something gluten free for them or what kind of ingredients she used.
“I saw the need for other families and other moms who were seeking knowledge and seeking information. They just wanted help.” - Jennifer Wiese (5:18-5:22)
Even fellow members of the CrossFit community were wanting an alternative snack to the typical beef jerky, almonds and hard boiled eggs. She knew she was onto something and started taking her BeeFree line to the farmers market. At first, it was cookies, cakes, and pizza dough that she sold since that’s what her son, August, loved to eat.
In 2010, Jennifer turned BeeFree into an official business! Knocking on doors seeing who would answer, Jennifer moved her products into retail, then local and regional distributors to expand her footprint quicker. Her plant based products include granola and her Warrior mix that is made of ingredients only grown from the earth.
After going gluten free, she noticed her autistic sound sleeping better, being more interactive, more conversational and responsive when he heard his name. She isn’t saying this is a cure, but truly noticed a difference when removing gluten, dairy and artificial sweeteners from his diet.
BeeFree products are a great option to fit nicely into a household already filled with fruits and vegetables. Eating a plant-based diet should include variety, which is what the BeeFree products offer. Each of her flavor mixes are named after one of her sons (hey, they put sweat equity into this too!) and every product is gluten, dairy, trans fat, soy and refined sugar free.
Her granola is truly versatile due to it being baked and then hand pieced so there are a variety of chunks and clusters. Grab it straight out of the bag, top your favorite yogurt, add it to milk, or even bake it into a pie crust! With ingredients like almonds, pumpkin seeds and coconut, this is the perfect addition to other fruits and vegetables.
“The key ingredient for every recipe is love.” - Lori Taylor (21:08-21:10)
Not only is BeeFree healthy, plant-based and delicious, the foundation of the company is built on family. Jennifer’s family has been impacted with the creation of BeeFree because of the time spent together making each product and she hopes to have the same impact on others. This is a family owned, family run business with new flavors coming out based on each of her son’s personalities!
Thankfully, August’s health has been impacted for the better and out of it came a tasty snack filled with real ingredients that can compliment any plant-based diet.
BeeFree granola and Warrior Mix is free of gluten, dairy, trans fat, soy, refined sugar and is 100% plant-based. You can purchase BeeFree directly on their website or in most major stores. Stay tuned for new flavors including salted caramel, chocolate chip and maple!
How to get involved
- Join The Produce Moms Group on Facebook and continue the discussion every week!
- Reach out to us - we’d love to hear more about where you are in life and business! Find out more here.
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