Success Story: Hella Nuts

Mother and Daughter Duo Brings Delicious Vegan Food to the Bay Area

Location: Northern California | Alameda County

Business Type: Restaurant, Vegan Foods

Small Business Center: Silicon Valley SBDC

Assistance Received: Budgeting, Access to Capital, Networking

Visit Hella Nuts Online

Kami and Mieko Scott founders of Hella Nuts started their plant-based journey in 2018. Their goal was to come up with vegan options that had no chemicals, fillers, or soy. Nothing but all natural ingredients. As a black-owned and women-owned business, Hella Nuts aims to transform the stigma of how a vegan lifestyle isn’t for people of color or how vegan food is flavorless, to being delicious food for everybody. They started gaining momentum feeding the East Bay their fresh, organic, plan-based vegan foods products at festivals and pop-us. Just as they were preparing to get their permit from the City of Oakland to open a physical location for their eatery, COVID hit.

Prior to COVID, the Scotts came to the SBDC and the SBDC’s Restaurant Program with no experience with financials. They worked hard with their advisors to develop a business plan, learn how to price, and understand their budget. Their advisors introduced them to crucial connections in the restaurant industry who went out of their way to help with every level of their business.

Having explored their vision and different lines of revenue while building their business plan and budget, the Scotts set themselves up to be nimble so that when the pandemic hit, they were prepared and able to improvise. They credit the SBDC for encouraging them to build an extra $20-30K into their budget, which helped keep them afloat through the COVID shutdowns. The Scotts switched from their in-person plan to selling online and wholesale where they found national demand with 85% of customers being from out of state. Today they operate on Martin Luther King Jr Way in the heart of Oakland.

Hella Nuts has been featured in VegNews, Peta, San Francisco Business Times, and More!

Updated: 12/14/2023