Happy Gurb | Fun with Family Time

Fun with FAMILY TIME

By Debbie Hall

Happy Grub, the only squeezable instant pancake mix designed for families, started with the founder and owner Ashley Davies’ love for her children. She wanted to spend more time with her young children - and cooking together seemed to be the perfect answer. “Children love pancakes in all different favors, and pancakes are a staple in my household. I wanted to focus on breakfast since that is what kickstarts the day, and its importance is often overlooked.” However, cooking with children can become a nightmare with all the mess. Davies wished she could prepare breakfast with her kids without four-covered surfaces, dough-caked bowls, and too many dirty dishes. Of course, she would see images of happy families cooking together on social media, and she wanted that for her own family.

“I soon realized that for parents, there were not enough easy, fun tasks to share with your kids in the kitchen. I wanted to create lifetime memories with less mess.” So, Davies developed Happy Grub for the whole family to prepare breakfast without all the grunt work. Instead, add fun for children in the kitchen. Just pick the favor, pour water into the bottle, shake it up, and squeeze it onto a hot surface. The kid-friendly squeeze top bottles allow for easy pancake (or waffe) making without all the mess, which means more fun as children “draw” shapes, letters, numbers, and all types of designs right onto the pan. Happy Grub is also a baking mix that can be used to make cupcakes, funnel cakes, and much more.

Buttermilk is the base favor along with Yummy Banana, Apple Cinnamon, and Whole Wheat favors, using only all-natural and organic ingredients and proven to be picky eater approved. “I wanted to offer pancake favors that would give kids a variety of tasty and healthy options in the morning, to enjoy both making and eating breakfast,” Davies explains. “As I developed our favors, I knew one of them would have to be banana because my kids love them. My children and my family did all of the taste testings early on to make sure these were favors that kids would eat and request. This was the longest part of the process because I wanted only the best favors I could source with all healthy ingredients.” Davies admits that Apple Cinnamon is her favorite because she loves fall favors. “I even drink pumpkin spice coffee all year, and apple cinnamon pancakes perfectly pair with my coffee. I love the scents and wanted to fll people’s kitchens with great favors.”

Her goal was to develop a product that was not offered on the market and is truly different from other brands. Doing research and then development, Davies realized that no similar instant pancake mixes were being sold. She was not interested in competing but in formulating and creating something new that Davies had patented to protect the brand from imitations. The breakfast experience includes inspired branding. Happy Grubsters are a species of monsters found in kitchens worldwide. Their diet of choice is pancakes and occasionally waffes. Each Happy Grubster is lured in by a certain smell and taste, the most popular being Buttermilk, along with Whole Wheat, Yummy Banana, and Apple Cinnamon. “I love my children; they are full of energy and demands; I often call them my little monsters,” Davies laughs. “Parents out there, you get it. That’s how we decided to make our mascots, pancake monsters, one for each favor. I wanted to create fun cartoon characters for kids since they love cartoons and monsters.” However, the Happy Grubsters do not have names yet. Happy Grub is planning on running a campaign, partnering with CHOC (Children’s Health of Orange County) to allow the children to select the four names. In fact, Happy Grub supports CHOC by donating a portion of its proceeds to them. CHOC works to develop programs to beneft the families of Orange County regardless of their family’s ability to pay. For more information, visit choc.org. “My husband and I love children, and we knew that if we ever started a company, we would support something for children and do good for the community.” Born and raised in Southern California from a working-class background, Davies spent her entire career in retail in various roles. After giving birth to her son and daughter and transitioning into a district manager, Davies knew she wanted to be her own boss. Davies wanted to balance her work life with her young family. “Family is everything, and the kitchen is the foundation where a child learns many life lessons. I want to teach my children how to cook the basics so that they have those skills as they get older,” she states. “I don’t want them just living on fast food or delivery because they didn’t know how to prepare a meal. Happy Grub develops a foundation for what it takes to cook a meal and not just hit a button on an app.” Davies plans to expand her distribution, including more brick-andmortar retail stores and supermarkets and adding more favors and products. All Happy Grub products always have the company’s mission: to bring families together in the kitchen, making mealtime more nutritious, convenient, and fun. Happy Grub Squeezable Instant Pancake Mix is sourced, produced, and packaged in the United States and is available online and at various locations listed on their website. For more info, visit eathappygrub.com and follow them on all social media platforms @ eathappygrub.