Today we’d like to introduce you to Byata Dikker – Cousins.
Byata, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Hi my name is Byata. I was born and raised in NYC. Brooklyn to be exact. My father a chef and my mother an ambitious career woman. I was a latchkey kid from the age of 5 raised by a single working mother. It was all about microwave dinners, fast food, soda and sugar. Let’s just say I wasn’t the skinny girl … but I tried really hard to be. A multitude of fad diets, binge eating and an eating disorder paved the way for my future role in life. Later, I too became a chef and it wasn’t until the birth of my first child that I heard my health conscious calling. I went to the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and graduated with a certification in health and wellness. I merged my love for food and my new found passion for health with a brand that I felt could make eating not only nutritious and healing but fun and delicious too.
Being a private chef for many years with many clients with various “lifestyles” (as I like to call it…I hate the word diet!) that I managed, ranging from Keto to Paleo to Whole 30 to Vegan really shaped the game plan for what Loco Nutz would become.
I believe everyone deserves to eat and indulge in life’s pleasures…but with integrity and consciousness. Understanding what certain ingredients do to our body; the good and the bad! Why sugar can be dangerous?! Why overloading on carbs and grains can lead to obesity, diabetes and an array of gut issues helped me grow much respect for the Paleo and Keto “lifestyles”; along with being vegan for many years and really noticing how much better it feels spiritually and physically to eat a plant based diet! I merged these 3 worlds together and created Loco Nutz; a brand that understands the science, the palate and the need for life’s simple pleasures! With a combination of Paleo, Keto and Vegan Wholesome Organic ingredients Loco Nutz was formed! Everything is made from organic nuts and seeds and plants. We sweeten our baked goods with monk fruit and allulose which is derived from fruit that has little to no affect on our glycemic load and blood sugar. Yep that’s right anyone and everyone can enjoy a Loco Nutz goodie. Unless you’re allergic to nuts… and coconuts that is!!! Whether you’re vegan or keto or paleo, we got the all-in-one approach covered and guarantee once you give it a try you’ll go Loco Nutz!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road for me has been quite a ride. Filled with many bumps along the way. From recipe formulations to logo designs to nutrition labels to finding the perfect kitchen to produce out of to getting all sorts of permits; let’s just say starting a company is no piece of cake…NO PUN INTENDED! Because we are a baked goods company focused on specialized desserts one wrong move and your whole production needs to be tossed in the trash.
We’ve had batches and batches of various mixes that we may have forgotten to add a certain ingredient too and upon pulling it out from the oven we realize “OH S%*T”! And there goes 600 cakes in the trash. Another struggle was not having enough hands in the kitchen and having to fill huge orders all by my lonesome. There were many a nights spent in the kitchen till 4am, 18 hours straight; we are talking about ME baking everything, packaging everything and then delivering it to stores by myself. No one knows the amount of times I have cried alone in the kitchen. No one!!! I have definitely sacrificed a lot of time from my 3 amazing boys and husband to build this brand but the fact that I have a product I know is magical and righteous makes me sleep well at night!
Please tell us about Loco Nutz.
LOCO NUTZ™️ will hands down satisfy your cravings…from a sweet tooth to a savory one we got you covered! Loco Nutz is an ALL Paleo, Keto and Vegan line of organic baked goods, desserts and treats packed with rich fats, nutrients, superfoods, antioxidants, adaptogens, wholesome organic ingredients and the #1 ingredient of them all…LOVE!
We are based in Los Angeles and are currently being carried in all of the Erewhon stores across the county as well as an online store on www.loconutz.com.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I wouldn’t do anything differently. My story is what makes my brand so amazing, so honest, so real and so good!
Pricing:
- $6
- $9
- $12
Contact Info:
- Address: Loco Nutz
2617 Manhattan Beach Blvd
Redondo Beach, CA 90278 - Website: www.loconutz.com
- Phone: 3107296282
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @Loconutz
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