Meet Christina & Mitch Smith | Business Owners

We had the good fortune of connecting with Christina & Mitch Smith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christina & Mitch, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
We are a husband-and-wife team with a passion for cooking clean healthy foods and we first came up with the idea for Herbivore Bites during the 2020 pandemic lockdowns.

Both of us have suffered from multiple health issues (Christina has struggled with endometriosis (horrific periods) for 15+ years as well as SIBO-related issues; Mitch has struggled with prescription-drug-induced liver damage, sinus problems and shoulder/back injuries) and we became tired of using the medical system because it no longer worked for us. In 2019, we decided to try a more holistic route and changed what we ate. After we went plant-based, we noticed amazing results including weight loss, getting off all medications, reduced pain and inflammation as well as more energy.

In 2020 during the pandemic lockdowns, we decided to take an online cooking class to help us learn how to cook more plant-based foods. When you switch from eating everything to only eating plant-foods, there is an adjustment period for not only your body, but your taste buds as well. Sometimes it felt like we had a lack of options because we are limited to what we could eat, which was overwhelming at times. Even though we were eating healthy, we still had cravings for foods we no longer ate. We remember at one point we became so desperate for flavors that we started putting spices on our salads. Unfortunately we had trouble finding plant-based options that met our needs (clean, organic ingredients with no preservatives, low salt, low sugar and minimal oil), so we decided to make our own.

One day I found Mitch in the kitchen messing around with different spices and it wasn’t long until he created a delicious version of Italian Seasoning except ours tasted just like sausage! (Today this seasoning blend is our Italian Sausage Seasoning and it’s one of our most popular flavors.) Shortly after, we found ourselves using our seasoning almost daily because it helped satisfy those cravings especially when we put them on bread, potatoes, mushrooms, pasta, tofu, vegan butter and more. Even our salads tasted better when we substituted our seasoning in place of dressings. Mitch continued to experiment in the kitchen, slowly developing more delectable flavors along the way.

A few months into our seasoning making journey, we decided to send a few bottles to our son for his birthday. We packaged them with fun labels and mailed them off. (He isn’t plant-based, so we were very curious to get his opinion.) He LOVED them! It was at this moment we realized there were probably people who were struggling with some of the same issues; who wanted to eat clean, healthier foods and we wanted to help, so we thought maybe we should make this into a business.

Over the next 9 months, we decided to go for it and worked on creating our brand. We researched manufacturers and packaging options, designed labels, started social media accounts and built a website. On January 20, 2022 we officially launched Herbivore Bites!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Our brand is different from most because we care about the ingredients we put into our body and at the same time, are doing our part to take care of Mother Earth. We are an eco-conscious brand so our packaging is either compostable, reusable or made from recycled products. We only use high quality, certified-organic ingredients in our products and NEVER use any chemicals, dyes, fillers or preservatives. All of our products are small, hand-blended, made-to-order batches of seasonings and dry mixes. Even though it takes a bit longer, this processes helps keep them fresher with more flavor than those made in larger batches. (This is because ingredients naturally lose their flavor and color over time, as their volatile oils evaporate.) So by making our products to order we can assure our customers that what they buy from us will not have been sitting on a shelf for months or years.

The process of running this business definitely hasn’t been easy, but we take it one day at a time. Because we started this business coming out of the pandemic, we have had to deal with quite a few challenges along the way including supply chain issues, inflation and building a business that is eco-conscious in a day and age of single-use plastics. Over the last 2 years of running this business, we have learned to accept that we are going to have haters and nay-sayers. We are going to have people who don’t understand what we are doing and not everyone is going to like us. We have learned we are dealing with biased media and misinformation about plant-based eating, so we have been trying to educate as we go. In addition, we have had to manage our expectations about this business. We realized that life is going to throw curve balls and there are always going to be what we call ‘mini fires’ that have to be put out. There have been times when we would have a great idea for a product, but something in the process didn’t work or we couldn’t implement it, so we had to scrap it and move to the next idea. Ultimately, we have had to learn how to adapt, pivot and adjust as needed. But the biggest struggle for us has been the current culture war between vegans and omnivores. We started this business to help ANYONE and EVERYONE who wants to live a healthier lifestyle.

Furthermore, when you manufacture your own products, you learn a lot of lessons along the way. There have been a few times when our supplier was out of stock of certain items (due to supply shortages) and we attempted to substitute with different suppliers. It didn’t always work out because some suppliers use hidden chemicals or preservatives in their spices and we could taste those added fillers. We also noticed some supplier’s herbs weren’t as fresh as the company we chose to work with, so now if our supplier is out of something, we just have to wait until it is back in stock. Another lesson we have learned along the way is because we do not use preservatives in our products, we have to cure some of our products. Our curing process takes anywhere from 2 days to 2 months depending on the product. During this time we have to consistently mix our products while also letting them vent off and breathe. (This process originally came from certain herbs that needed to be dried and cured before consuming.) Luckily, we found a product that is used in the health and wellness field, which has been helping to keep our seasonings from clumping and we are hoping to release this item soon.

We sell an array of delicious seasonings including Italian Sausage, Taco and Cinnamon Sugar as well as seasonings to make sauces including Ketchup and Pizza Pasta Sauce. Recently, we expanded into dry mixes and currently offer a Flatbread & Pizza Dough Mix which has such a unique artisanal flavor that you won’t believe it came from a mix. Right now, we are actively finalizing our new pancake and waffle mix and we hope to expand our product line to include more dry mixes including breads, packaged oatmeal and granolas as well as dressings and sauces. We also sell a fun array of merchandise including shirts, coffee mugs, reusable tote bags, glass cutting boards, wall art and more.

Using our products has changed our world and we believe it will change yours too!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Southern California is such an amazing place to live with so many great places to visit including Newport Beach, Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa. First up we would explore Corona del Mar, a small area of Newport Beach, right on the coastline. We would grab a drink at our favorite coffee shop, Reborn Coffee, before heading down to Pirate’s Cove and walking along the beach. There we would climb all the fun rocks and discover the hidden tide pools before having a picnic on the sand. Later on we would grab dinner at one of our favorite vegan Mexican restaurants – Gracias Madres – who serve up traditional Mexican cuisine made from scratch using local, organic, plant-based ingredients!

The next day, we would drive up to Fashion Island in Newport Beach and spend the afternoon walking around the mall. This place is so much fun including a beautiful koi pond, lots of stores to shop at and of course, delicious foods. That night, we would drive up to our favorite local jazz spot – Campus JAX. They have local jazz artists who play here nightly and they even serve some vegan dishes. It’s a great excuse to dress up and have some fun.

We realized that the best way to sightsee through Huntington Beach and Newport Beach is on bikes, so the following day, we would rent beach bikes and ride along the boardwalk. You can cover so much ground on a bike, plus you really get a nice workout in. We would spend some time at the beach, playing in the water and enjoying the sunshine. For dinner, we would drive up to Costa Mesa to a yummy little plant-based spot called Vibe Organic Kitchen before calling it a night.

The next morning, after sleeping in late, we would grab some vegan donuts from The Donuttery in Huntington Beach, before heading to Newport Beach to rent some paddleboards and ocean kayaks. We would spend the afternoon on the water looking at all the sea creatures below and doing our best to not fall in the water. For dinner, we would have our last picnic on the beach while watching the sun set over the ocean.

On our last day together, we would start the morning off with yoga on the beach with Christina Lynne! (If you haven’t ever done yoga on the beach, you are missing out! There is nothing more relaxing than listening to the ocean waves while breathing and moving your body.) Once we were done with yoga and said goodbye to the beach, we would meet up for brunch at our favorite vegan café – Café Gratitude – in Newport Beach. This cute place has the best vibe and offers a variety of plant-based foods that are fresh and nutritious for you and the planet! The perfect send off for a fantastic week spent in Southern California!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We are so grateful to our immediate family for listening to our ideas, being our guinea pigs with new product ideas and supporting us every step of the way. We are thankful for our product testers who have helped us create our delicious products. They have been amazing by providing their honest feedback, taking our questionnaires, trying out various products and continuing to support our brand. We appreciate all of our customers and social media followers, who continue to believe in our company and products! All of this encouragement is a large part in why we keep creating more clean and healthy products. We wouldn’t be here without them!

Website: https://www.herbivorebites.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herbivore.bites/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/herbivore.bites

Other: https://linktr.ee/herbivorebites

Image Credits
Christina Smith