Yasso's co-founders return with Snack Buddies

Amanda Klane and Drew Harrington, the co-founders behind frozen Greek yogurt brand Yasso, are back with a new venture. Their latest company, Snack Buddies, enters the better-for-you snack category the pair helped define, and it starts in the mini muffin aisle.

The debut lineup is protein mini muffins made with hidden vegetables, 5 grams of protein and, by the brand’s comparison, twice the fiber and half the sugar of the leading mini muffin brand, in four flavors including Chocolate Chip and Birthday Cake. The product launched direct-to-consumer, with first orders shipping in early July; no retail distribution has been announced yet.

The founders, childhood best friends from Boston, started Yasso in 2009 and sold it to Unilever in 2023, capping a run that took the brand from a two-person operation to national freezer-aisle distribution.

Why it matters

Second acts from proven CPG founders are among the most closely watched launches in the category. Retail buyers and investors treat a repeat founder as a shortened diligence cycle: the operating playbook, the co-manufacturing relationships and the retailer conversations already exist.

For the better-for-you snack set, a shelf already dense with entrants, a founder team with a completed exit is one of the few credible ways to earn early distribution. Starting DTC first is its own signal: prove velocity and repeat rate on owned channels, then walk into the retail conversation with data.

What to watch

The questions that decide whether a founder-led relaunch converts into a durable brand are the ordinary ones: which retailers take it first, what the price point looks like against incumbents, and whether a mini muffin with hidden vegetables does something the aisle does not already do.

Originally reported on Instagram: see the post