Tina's story

I started Hungry Bird Eats in Brooklyn, New York while working as an architect, designer, and food blogger. Born and raised in Denmark, I have always loved cooking, especially baking.

The business originated in my home kitchen after learning that my 1-year-old son Ike was allergic to nuts and soy. Finding that most snack foods on the U.S. market were heavily processed and contained these allergens, I decided to make my own. Inspired by the traditional long sheets of Knækbrød (rye crispbread) of my native Denmark, I created a bite-size variation made with olive oil and packed with healthy seeds and began sharing them with neighbors and friends.

In 2016, I joined a food startup incubator and began producing my first Nordic Crisp product, Rye + Sea Salt, with a small baking team in a Brooklyn commercial kitchen. After building the company for two years, we were forced to halt production in the fall of 2018 when the commercial kitchen unexpectedly shut down due to a lack of funding, leaving 175 food startup companies stranded without a workspace for production.

Despite the challenge, I was determined to overcome this obstacle and spent time reflecting on the business and the approach to restarting it. I located a great spot to set up my commercial kitchen nestled in a large historic building in New Jersey, where a creative community of talented artists and makers of all types continuously inspires me. Hungry Bird Eats commenced production again in January 2020. We have since developed several other lines of Nordic Crisps and nut-free granola, and they are now carried in over 250 retail stores nationwide. We use organic, vegan, and non-GMO ingredients and source our packaging from a local company using sustainable practices.


This loan is special because:

It supports a small business owner with 0%-interest, zero-fee capital.



Loan details


About Blackbird Crisp, LLC

Industry: Food
Years in operation: More than 5 years
Website: hungrybirdeats.com

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