Tom Gannon and Niall McGrath, the founders of Fulfil, the fast-growing protein bar maker, are launching a new snack brand called Cali Cali.
Gannon and McGrath were bought out of Fulfil last year by their business partner Barry Connolly (the founder of Richmond Marketing) in a deal that valued the company at about €40m.
Cali Cali, which also has the backing of Irish celebrity chef Donal Skehan, is described as a “guilt free real food brand” that prioritises mixing California flavours and California health benefits. Inspiration for the range comes from the street food markets of Los Angeles with the three founders saying they wanted to bring the latest healthy eating trends of California to Ireland and beyond.
The brand will officially launch with a two-day pop-up experience at Permanent TSB on Dublin’s Grafton Street, this coming Saturday.
Cali Cali’s initial range consists of sauces and crisps which will be rolled out to supermarkets, convenience stores, and health food stores across Ireland.
McGrath said: “Cali Cali is a platform brand which we hope will excel in many categories as we believe it has boundless market potential. Our vision for the brand, is to focus on two trends, real flavours of the world and healthy snacking…By giving consumers guilt free savoury snack options, we’re allowing them to shop in a category they would have previously denied themselves.”
Gannon added: “According to Nielsen, the snack market is growing 3% year on year and crisps account for €141m portion of the €450m savoury snacking market. We plan for Cali Cali to be a huge contributor to this growing market.”
