Laid Back Snacks: Relaunched brand offers subscription snacking service

Oct 4 2021, 5:49 pm

Made in Vancouver is a collaboration between Vancity and Daily Hive. Together, we’re turning the spotlight onto local businesses, organizations, and individuals who are helping to create a healthy local economy.


Vancouver-based Laid Back Snacks has grown to become a brand you can find across North America. Originally named Naked Snacks, the recently relaunched Laid Back Snacks is the only snacking brand in Canada operating a direct-to-consumer subscription snacking service.

Photo by Gayle McLeod Food Photography

Vancity has been supporting people in our communities since 1946. As part of our Made in Vancouver series spotlighting local businesses, we talked to Neil Thomson, the founder of Laid Back Snacks about his journey to create better healthy, delicious and convenient snacks. Learn more about what Vancity is doing in your community at vancity.com 

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As a self-proclaimed food lover, Neil was looking for better snacks that would also be convenient.

Laid Back Snacks was created in 2014 after Neil left his stressful London life and relocate to Vancouver. This move brought a change in Neil’s health, aspirations, and goals.

Realizing there was a gap in the market for better snack options, Neil set about creating his own healthy snack eCommerce subscription company.

Photo by Gayle McLeod Food Photography

“Our Vision is to create a more relaxed world, one snack at a time. Life’s complicated enough without having to worry about what’s in our food and whether it’s good for us. Laid Back Snacks takes the guesswork out of snacking by providing our customers with healthy snacks they can trust, with no compromise on great taste,” said Neil Thomsen in an interview with Daily Hive.

Laid Back Snacks can be found across North America through gifting services, grocery stores and in food service locations including hospitals and 5-star hotels. A big part of Laid Back Snacks success has been through their online subscription service. Customers can pick their snacks online and have them delivered to their doorstep.

 

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In each of their 31 snacks, you’ll find Laid Back Snacks 80/20 snacking philosophy: 80% wholesome goodness and 20% live a little. Their reasoning? Since eating healthily is often taken too seriously, Laid Back Snacks includes a little fun flavour in each bag to shake things up.

“We have a unique nutritional philosophy that we believe positions us to offer the perfect balance of wholesome goodness and great taste. Our nutritionist and product designers have developed all our snacks with this 80/20 nutritional philosophy in mind: 80% fuel, or whole grown goodness, 20% fun. That part looks like dark chocolate, yoghurt chips, exotic spices and other fun natural flavours.”

Photo by Gayle McLeod Food Photography

Laid Back Snacks has grown tremendously since it began. Back when the company started in 2014, Neil began dating his now wife, Ryley, who embraced Neil’s dream and helped take his initiative to the next level. Ryley managed grocery sales and focused on building an online community.

“Ryley has been an incredible support both behind the scenes and in the business. She’s shared the emotional ups and downs of the journey at home. She has also been the first to raise her hand to take charge of special projects. This includes building grocery chain connections to making massive waves in the Canadian influencer community. Ryley is the catalyst for our incredible online following.”

 

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Originally named Naked Snacks, in 2021 Neil and Ryley rebranded their company to reflect the lifestyle experience they wanted to offer their customers, relaunching as Laid Back Snacks.

“The minimalist branding on our packaging and use of black and white reflects the products we sell. Our food is clean and simple, without added noise. The window also shows people what they get in the bag. Transparency is one of our core values.”

Photo by Gayle McLeod Food Photography

Neil and Ryley are passionate about giving back to the communities where they live and operate. Since the company started, they’ve been donating a portion of their proceeds to feed hungry kids in Canada.

For every box of snacks you purchase from Laid Back Snacks, they donate a snack through their partnership with the Breakfast Club of Canada. They also support Mamas for Mamas and many other local organizations. Laid Back Snacks is currently working on their B Corp Certification and Climate Neutral Certification. Sustainability and social impact are embedded in Neil and Ryley’s values both personally and professionally.

 

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“We’re just a small food company in Vancouver BC but we’re working hard to help give folks peace of mind when it comes to snack time. If we can make it a no-brainer easy to fuel your body with healthy and delicious snacks and feel great about it, then we’ve done our job.”

Laid Back Snacks is offering 20% off with the code dailyhive20 for their snack subscriptions, get yours by visiting laidbacksnacks.com 

Daily Hive

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This content was created by Daily Hive’s editorial team independently, with financial support from a sponsor.
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