Client Story

Brian and Corin Mullins – HapiFoods Group Inc.

After surviving the infamous 1998 Quebec ice storm without food, water or power, Corin Mullins was inspired to start a business to help others be prepared for tough emergency situations. Her original idea was to develop survival kits that included a high-protein cereal with a long storage life; but such a product didn’t exist on the current market. Up to the task, Corin and her husband Brian developed and tested 21 different cereal recipes. The final product, they felt was so good that they named it Hapi Food and started selling the blend of chia seed, buckwheat, hemp hearts, cranberries, raisins and apple blend at the Sechelt Farmer’s Market.

Holy Crap, we’ve got a business!

In response to several customers trying the cereal at the market during that first week and saying, “holy crap, this is good!” Brian decided to re-name the cereal Holy Crap. With a simple name change sales shot up at the next week’s market.

“The key to our success is in our eye catching and humorous product name, which draws people in to taste the cereal and allows me to create a one-on-one relationship with them,” says Corin.

The cereal started selling so well they decided to forget the survival kits and start focusing on selling Holy Crap instead.

“We had always planned to work together in our own business, and to have a business that was going to be healthy for us and our customers,” acknowledges Brian. “It just took 30 years of working for other people to learn the secrets of being a successful entrepreneur.”

It’s a deal

In April 2010 Corin and Brian recorded a segment for CBC’s famed reality show Dragons’ Den.  The show finally aired on November 17, 2010, and the show’s producer, Molly Duignan, said it was the fastest deal ever made in the history of the Den when Jim Treliving, CEO of Boston Pizza said, “I’ll give them anything they want.”

Ultimately, a deal wasn’t finalized, but the couple did receive valuable advice on how to plan, budget and focus their business.

The promotion from the show also gave the business an incredible boost; following the airing of their episode, the company generated over $1 million in internet sales.

Credit where credit’s due

Since their appearance on Dragons’ Den, the company has continued to expand, with their cereal line now including Holy Crap, Skinny B and Wild Chia. Each of the cereals are raw, vegan, lactose-free, wheat-free, nut-free, gluten-free, sugar free and salt-free, helping them appeal to the mass market.

“I get great energy from hearing firsthand how my cereal benefits my customer’s health and well being,” says Corin.

The business development and growth of the Holy Crap cereals has also attracted accolades from BC and across Canada, with Small Business BC awarding Corin and Brian with the Successful You Award for Best Concept in March, and Chatelaine magazine short-listing Corin for Canada’s Women of the Year 2011 in the Top Entrepreneur category.

Corin’s advice to all new business owners is that knowledge is key, “Stay focused, know your product and customers, know your market, keep your books in order and in our case have multiple suppliers.”

Foreseeing the Future

“The goal of the business is very simple, we want to see our cereals sold around the world in the very best stores via licensing agreements,” says Corin.

And that’s exactly what their working towards: duplicating the company’s prototype facility and employment plan around the world and creating local jobs and development opportunities in smaller communities close to major metropolitan centres.

And remember the survival kit idea that brought Holy Crap cereal into existence? Well it’s an ongoing goal for Corin and Brian to maintain “the world’s largest survival kit” with a base inventory of 30,000 bags of cereal available for the Sunshine Coast’s residents in case of emergency. That’s enough to feed the Coast’s population breakfast for a week.