Yips Yogurt Chips was born out of innovation and convenience. Co-Founder Erin Vranas was looking for an easier way to eat yogurt on the go without a spoon.
We caught up with her to learn more about the inspiration behind the company, her future business aspirations, and advice she has for fellow entrepreneurs.
Read the interview with Vranas below:
Hi, I’m Erin Vranas and I’m a restauranteur, Greek yogurt geek, and co-founder of the revolutionary new snack company Yips Yogurt Chips. Yips Yogurt chips are the first probiotic chips made out of Greek yogurt, no fridge required. I had an iconic restaurant in Madison, Wisconsin, and I was always really busy running this restaurant, plus I was sitting on a bunch of industry boards and I was taking classes at UW-Madison. I wasn’t finding time for full meals during the day so I was always looking for indulgent snacks with healthy, functional ingredients to keep me going but I wasn’t finding what I was looking for. I always try to bring my yogurt with me during the day but eating with a spoon while you’re running around is really inconvenient — and it’s not like I can carry a fridge in my backpack. So, I did the next best thing and magically made yogurt into a chip to make yogurt-eating easier and much more fun.
On looking ahead
Right now we’re still small and I’m self-manufacturing all of our products. We do freeze-drying. We are in the process of moving to a contract manufacturer. Within the next year, I want to be hoppin’ — I want my DTC sales to go through the roof. I also want to launch onto Amazon and then also into retail. Five years from now, can I be totally honest with that? I want to blow this thing up, have a successful exit, and then become a SKU mentor myself.
On advice
Oftentimes I come across people where it’s analysis paralysis. And for me, I really think you just gotta jump in and you just gotta do it. You have to put yourself out there. There are so many people inside the CPG ecosystem who want to help, but you need to go out and put yourself out there and reach out to them and ask the right questions. So if you don’t know if you’re stuck, just surround yourself with some amazing people, and they’ll help you. They’ll talk you through it. But you gotta be out there.
