Hidden Gems: Meet Carly Vong of Seedbar Foods

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carly Vong.

Hi Carly, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Seedbar Foods was born at the intersection of my personal history, my clinical work as a registered dietitian, and a belief that better nutrition should be both accessible and deeply enjoyable.
I am a Chinese-Vietnamese American raised by parents who survived war, displacement, and the challenge of rebuilding their lives in California. Their resilience shaped my path and led me to become the first in my family to attend graduate school and later start a business. My commitment to public health and nutrition was also influenced by my father’s battle with Parkinson’s disease and cancer, experiences that showed me how profoundly health outcomes shape families and communities.
Professionally, I have spent years educating people living with kidney disease, many of whom shared a common regret: they wished they had made lifestyle and nutrition changes earlier in life. During the pandemic, that realization pushed me to rethink how I could create impact beyond the clinical setting. I saw an opportunity to build a food company that could make preventative, plant-based nutrition more approachable in everyday life.
At the same time, I recognized a gap in the marketplace. Many functional nutrition bars and shakes were created out of necessity rather than pleasure. They were often overly sweet, dry, or engineered to resemble food instead of celebrating real ingredients. I set out to develop a snack that delivered great nutrition, clean plant-based ingredients, and a truly satisfying flavor experience.
I drew inspiration from flavors loved by friends and family—chai spices, Earl Grey tea, matcha, coconut, sesame, roasted seeds, nuts, and organic dried fruits. I began crafting bars in my kitchen that balanced nourishment with indulgence. I started sharing them within my community, and the response grew naturally through farmers’ markets, boutique gyms, pop-ups, and early retail partners. People connected with the idea that a healthy snack could be energizing, comforting, and something they could look forward to.
Today, Seedbar Foods is a mission-driven plant-based snack brand focused on freshness, clean formulation, and health. Our bars feature premium teas, coffee, organic fruits, carefully roasted seeds and nuts, and are completely free from gluten, grains, oats, peanuts, and unnecessary additives. Beyond product, the company serves as a platform for education and community engagement around reducing the long-term risk of chronic diseases such as kidney disease, heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension.
As the business continues to grow, we are building a supportive ecosystem that includes boutique fitness communities, retail partners, and fellow female-founded brands aligned around wellness and living actively. Our long-term vision is to expand access to high-quality plant-based nutrition while helping people make earlier, more empowered choices about their health.
At its core, Seedbar Foods represents resilience and possibility—transforming personal and clinical insight into a company designed to nourish both individuals and communities for years to come.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The journey has not been smooth, but each challenge has helped clarify the purpose behind Seedbar Foods and strengthen my growth as a business owner.
One of our earliest hurdles was moving from a home kitchen into a commercial production environment. Scaling required significant financial commitment, long hours, and learning nearly every operational role at once, from sourcing ingredients and equipment to managing packaging, marketing, and community outreach. It was an intense and formative period, supported by guidance from mentors and encouragement from friends who believed in the vision.
As production evolved, I made the intentional decision to grow at a thoughtful and sustainable pace. Slowing down created space to refine our processes, deepen community relationships, and stay true to small-batch craftsmanship. Today, we continue producing our bars using the same foundational approach I began with, including simple equipment, hands-on preparation, and no preservatives, while achieving greater consistency and scale.
We also refined our flavor offerings to focus on the profiles that best expressed our identity. This evolution led to our tea- and coffee-inspired bars, which offer depth, aroma, and sophistication while remaining clean and plant-based.
Looking ahead, one of our central challenges is expanding distribution without compromising freshness, formulation, or peak quality. We see this not as a limitation, but as an opportunity to help redefine expectations for truly fresh, minimally processed plant-based packaged food.

As you know, we’re big fans of Seedbar Foods. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Carly’s SEEDBAR™ is a fresh take on the traditional energy bar, combining clean, low-allergen ingredients with elevated flavor inspiration from teas, coffees, and comforting pantry staples. Instead of relying on typical nut-and-chocolate formulas, our bars are crafted to deliver a more layered, aromatic, and genuinely enjoyable snacking experience.
We take a hands-on approach to quality by dry roasting our own seeds and nuts and preparing many ingredients in-house to preserve freshness, texture, and nutrient value. Each soft, chewy bar is made with more than 70 percent organic ingredients and is naturally rich in fiber, minerals, and antioxidants. Our recipes are completely free from gluten, grains, oats, peanuts, and dairy, and every formulation is created by a Registered Dietitian who blends nutrition science with culinary creativity.
Based in Los Angeles, we are growing with a loyal community that values honest ingredients, fresh flavor, and active movement! As SEEDBAR™ continues to expand, we look forward to deepening our community impact through partnerships that support health, education, and local engagement—while staying true to our mission of thoughtful nourishment people can trust.

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
I find happiness in moments that bring clarity and presence. Sketch comedy, team sports, wandering through national parks, getting lost in a meaningful book, or beginning a creative project filled with possibility all give me a deep sense of joy. Even when a crochet or knitting idea turns into something completely unexpected, I’m reminded that creativity is less about perfection and more about discovery.
What ties these experiences together is focus. It might be the rhythm of a punch line, the intensity of a final game point, the quiet stillness of nature, or the calm of an uncluttered, minimalist space. Those moments create room to breathe, think clearly, and feel grounded.
That same search for clarity lives inside Seedbar Foods. I am drawn to clean ingredients, thoughtful simplicity, and nourishment that feels intentional rather than complicated. Happiness, for me, is creating something that helps people feel energized, cared for, and connected to what matters most in their lives.

Pricing:

• MSRP ~$4.00 each
• 4-Pack Boxes (MSRP $15–$16)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://seedbarfoods.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/seedbarfoods
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seedbarfoods/

Image Credits
Carly Vong