By Penny Ruekberg

How do two SMU graduates found a food company with a global conscience? For Ben Hurt and Blaine Iler, an entrepreneurship class was the first ingredient in crafting a successful partnership. When their professor asked if anyone had started a business, only their hands went up. That was the catalyst for their friendship and the decision to start Dallas-based Impact Foods.  

Before Ben and Blaine formed the company, they researched critical global issues like education, poverty, healthcare, and hunger. They feel without a solution to hunger, it’s isn’t possible to solve the other problems. And when they learned early malnutrition can cause irreversible damage to brain development in the first 1,000 days of life, they committed to children’s nutrition.  

    
  Ben Hurt and Blaine Iler with food packets and distributing them in Honduras

With a one-to-one model similar to TOMS® Shoes, Impact Foods sells organic oat granola in Maple Oat, Vanilla Almond, and Blueberry Honey. Each bag helps feed a hungry child. The venture began with test batches baked in their parents’ kitchens. “We aren’t chefs,” tells Hurt, “so we asked people what they thought would do well. We set out to make some incredibly good granola and started samplings in Dallas’ area farmers markets.” Word of mouth among consumers and industry professionals helped to spread Impact Foods’ message and let people know their product was food for body and soul.    

The turning point for the company came when Whole Foods agreed to carry their granola. Now available at Whole Foods in Texas and six other states, the goal is to be in all Whole Foods in the US. They will also grow the product line; introducing new foods to their current offerings.  

Although Ben and Blaine started out with passion, a 2011 trip to Honduras was, “When we met the children and the severity of the problem hit home even harder.” They knew that to help more children they’d have to grow the company so they partnered with the World Food Program (WHP), a global hunger relief organization. The WHP provides medically-approved foods to alleviate malnutrition, and as healthy meals for school children.

Ben quit his full-time job to promote the company and they’ve hired staff for baking, packing and distribution. The two men have different business strengths, which has turned out to be a distinct advantage. Blaine is analytical, taking on the books and number crunching while Ben does product demos and handles marketing and press relations.

Although they currently help children in other countries, they are acutely aware of the domestic hunger issue. Unfortunately it’s more difficult and expensive to try and help kids at home, but they have set their sights on it for 2013.  Now the challenge is to balance the growth and stay true to their values. While neither is currently taking a salary, they are both confident about the future of Impact Foods. They know that sales revenues must support them in order to keep the company viable and are working toward that goal daily. Ben and Blaine are looking far down the road, and as the company matures they aim to make a tremendous positive impact on childhood hunger. 

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Penny Ruekberg is a freelance writer based in the Dallas Area.