U of G program brings success to Guelph snack box service

Stewart Russell and his wife Courtney are the founders of Well Baked Box, a Guelph-based healthy snack box service which the University of Guelph's Hub Incubator program helped them begin. CREDIT: STEWART RUSSELL

Cambridge and Hamilton next potential markets for local couple’s Well Baked Box

ALLAN SLOAN

The author was provided one free recipe by Well Baked Box to make for reviewing purposes. All opinions are his own.

Well Baked Box is a family-owned, Guelph-based healthy snack box service who describe themselves as “created by a recently married couple who wanted to remove the barriers to healthy eating.” Customers can order a box of portioned ingredients to make a number of sweet treats.

Recently I was given a box to make. The oatmeal cookie recipe I chose was dairy-free, gluten-free, and vegan friendly.

The recipe’s easy-to-follow instructions leave even a very inexperienced baker feeling like they have baked something delicious. If you’re looking for something reminiscent of your grandmother’s homemade oatmeal cookies, you won’t be disappointed.

I had the chance to chat over the phone with Stewart Russell, U of G alumni and co-founder of Well Baked Box.

He explained how he and his wife Courtney used the University of Guelph’s Hub Incubator Program to help get their company off the ground.

“It’s a really good program,” Russell told The Ontarion. He elaborated that the Hub Incubator helps with working on business pitches, getting your financials set up, and covering legal bases so that your company hits the ground running.

“There are a bunch of student-run businesses that are in the program, which we get to collaborate [with] and hear from,” Russell said.

The Hub Incubator Program is available to all U of G students and alumni. The program itself offers funding, dedicated office space, and access to experienced entrepreneurs to help properly build a successful business model.

With all of this help and support, the Russell family was able to grow their company quickly, and are looking to expand into other areas like Cambridge and Hamilton.

“It’s just that we have to be able to handle the scale,” Russell said, “We started in Guelph and then the small surrounding cities like Rockwood, Elora and Fergus… [but] we’re afraid of Toronto.”

Russell went on to explain that it’s more of a scale issue with Toronto.

“Right now we’re running our own delivery service instead of outsourcing,” Russell continued, “but when we move into Toronto, it’s not going to really be feasible until we find a shipping service.”

Despite the fact that COVID-19 has hindered inter-city travel, Russell doesn’t consider the pandemic to be a barrier to their company’s growth.

“For us, COVID has been more of an opportunity to step back and think deeply about what we want to work on in this business,” Russell said. “It’s not really a detriment [to us] business-wise.”

With opportunities to expand and a delicious, easy-to-make product, Well Baked Box is in a unique position to provide a tasty and accessible product to its customers.

For us, COVID has been more of an opportunity to step back and think deeply about what we want to work on in this business.