Amin Bahari, Elite Sweets - Building a Better Sweet Life

Written By Tenaj Ferguson

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This week, I spoke to Amin Bahari, Founder and CEO of Elite Sweets and creator of The Elite Donut, the best tasting gluten-free, keto-friendly donut on the market. The Elite Donut is packed with protein (13g per donut), low in sugar, and naturally sweetened. Made from ingredients like almond flour, eggs, and whey protein, these donuts are superior to your typical chalky protein bars. 

Coming from a Mexican-Iranian family suffering from diabetes and obesity, Amin and his twin brother knew they had to make a lifestyle change. Together, they adopted a high-protein, keto diet and lost over 200 pounds in one year as teenagers! 

Fast forward a few years, Amin was working for the University of Texas football team. Being the broke college students that they were, they found themselves at the donut shop 3-4 times per week… not a healthy choice by any means!

While eating the sugary donuts, he and his soon-to-be co-founders came up with the idea for a healthy, yet still indulgent snack choice that would indulge even the elitist of elite athletes. Elite Sweets is now redefining the health food game, showing people that you don’t have to cut out decadent sweets from your diet to get fit and be healthy.

“Working with elite athletes, we wanted to be an elite product and really set ourselves apart.” - Amin

Amir sheds light on the importance of having confidence, perseverance, and taking action on your great ideas because “...if it wasn’t us, it was going to be someone else and the thought of someone else cashing in on our idea… just did sit well with us…” Elite Sweets has been invested in by entities like WeWork and The Elite Donut has become the #1 selling donut on Amazon.

In today’s episode, Amin gives insight into what it’s like to turn a challenge into a business idea, start a business from scratch as a college student, and get investors to invest in your product

In This Episode You Will Learn:

  • The Origin: How Amin and his family overcame obesity and fueled a passion for better-for-you products (4:30)

  • Differentiating your product/brand from your competition (10:52) 

  • Bootstrapping a business while in college (11:50)

  • Taking risks and believing in yourself (16:39)

  • The power of building community around a brand (31:17)

  • Business Accelerators, Competitions, & Mentors: Key drivers of small business success (40:50)

  • How Elite Sweets is spending their recent $2m investment (57:30)

Questions Answered:

  • What is your background and why did you start a donut company?

  • As athletes, what were your weight loss strategies?

  • How did your business idea progress into a commercial product?

  • What have you learned from fundraising and taking risks as an entrepreneur?

  • Through what channels do you sell and promote your product in the beginning stages?

  • What surprised you about working with a copacker (contract packager)?

  • What would you have done differently in the product development stage?

  • What inspired your new Elite Sweets branding?

  • How beneficial are business accelerators and competitions for funding and growing a company?

  • How do you feel about being Mexican-Iranian on shelf?

  • ...and more!

Stream Black on Shelf NOW on Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, Google Podcast, Amazon Music, Stitcher, and Pandora!

Connect with Amin:

Connect with Black on Shelf:

Tenaj Ferguson https://blackonshelf.com
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