Hey Friends,
We are very excited to share our new logo and our new look with you!
But before doing so, let’s take a take a quick walk down memory lane…
In 2007, while working as an exterminator for my father’s pest control company, I started offering free CrossFit classes to all the kids and teens living in a section 8 housing complex in North Camden, NJ. If you know anything about Camden, NJ you know it is a very tough place for kids to grow up as violence, gangs, and drugs are a regular part of daily life. From the very start my intention was to offer the kids who didn’t want to choose the thug life a safe place to get away from it all, get in great shape while also promoting a strong sense of community and belonging. We called it Steve’s Club.
The club quickly grew and before we knew it, we had to find a bigger space to accommodate the growing classes. About a year in, I put the kids on a 60-day nutrition and fitness challenge to further encourage them to reach their health and fitness goals while also using it as an opportunity to teach them about proper nutrition. The prize went to the athlete who lost the most amount of weight over the 60 days. I also included a series of fitness tests that I put them through at the beginning and end of the challenge. That way, kids weren’t just starving themselves in an effort to lose weight and instead were losing weight the right way. For the grand prize winner, I told them whoever won I would take them out to dinner and let them order anything they want…steak, lobster, etc!
After 2-3 weeks into the challenge, a few of them told me how much of an issue they were having eating the cafeteria food for lunch since all of the options were unhealthy (and bringing your own brown bag with lunch was apparently not cool). I put jerky (that I loved making in my free time) in a vacuum sealed bag and added some dried fruits and nuts to it so it was properly balanced and would fill them up. The kids loved them and so we decided to put them online for sale with the hopes of raising some funds for our club. The first PaleoKit was born.
As demand for PaleoKits quickly grew online we added other high quality clean snacks on the go and expanded our offerings to include grainless granola, jerky, meat sticks and a few other paleo snacks. In 2010, we decided to change our name from “PaleoKits” to “Steve’s Original” before changing our name once again in 2014 to “Steve’s PaleoGoods”. The name most of you have come to know.
So that brings us to 2020 and the announcement of our new company name (which we promise you will be our last change!)
**Drum roll please**
Our new name is Steve’s!!
I’m sure you are wondering why we are dropping “PaleoGoods” from our name. Two reasons: Our customer base has broadened beyond Paleo. As our company has grown online and in retail over the years, folks from all walks of life now enjoy our products. You don’t have to be on the Paleo Diet to enjoy one of our grainless granola bars, a bottle of our squeaky clean dressing, or a shot of Gut Power made from locally-sourced organic vegetables that we ferment in vats for weeks at a time, and are loaded with LIVE probiotic cultures. In general, we have noticed that people have become much more flexible in their dietary ways focusing less on specific diets like Paleo and instead just looking for clean food options to help keep them healthy and fit.
The other reason we have decided to drop “Paleo” from our company name is because our overall philosophy towards nutrition continues to evolve. While we still strongly believe in the main tenets behind “Paleo” which is a diet primarily focused on whole, unprocessed, nutrient-dense foods as close to nature as possible, there are many foods that may not be considered “Paleo” but yet are still considered healthy. These foods have been enjoyed hundreds of cultures around the world and go back thousands of years. Foods such as ancient grains, rice, oats, grass-fed butter, hummus, cashews and some “old world” pasta and breads (using very traditional time honored methods) made from high-quality, freshly sprouted organically grown grains. I don’t think adding a few slices of Ezekiel bread to your breakfast each week go with your eggs and bacon is going to kill you….despite it being considered Paleo or not! As we have learned every food affects everyone differently and what works for some people may not work for others. And there lies the most important takeaway in all of this: When it comes to proper nutrition, you ultimately need to figure out what what works best for you. Diet is a not a one-size fits all approach. Period. This is the hallmark of a healthy and sustainable diet in our opinion.
With all that said, our mission will continue to stay the same as we work relentlessly to bring you the very best snacks and foods with the highest quality ingredients without making a single compromise. Neither will our commitment to Steve’s Club and our mission to help the greater good of the community by bringing fitness, nutrition and peer mentorship to kids in inner-cities around the country ??
Please don’t hesitate to drop Steve a line directly at [email protected] and let him know what you think of our new name and logo!
Over the next few months please keep an eye out for our new packaging with “Steve’s” on it. We are also working on updating our website to provide you with a better shopping experience and to update our new name.
Lots of changes coming!!
Most importantly, thank you for all your continued support over the years. Our small, family-owned business (we currently have 16 employees) wouldn’t be here today without you. So it is with sincere gratitude that I thank you from the bottom of my heart ?
-Steve
