Meet Emily Griffith | Founder & CEO of Lil Bucks, The Buckwheat Brand

We had the good fortune of connecting with Emily Griffith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Emily, what’s the end goal, career-wise?
I honestly deeply believe I was put on this planet to bring buckwheat to the masses and improve soil health, so I plan to do that over the next 5-10 years. Then I plan to invest in and advise other sustainable food & beverage businesses, especially ones founded by women and minorities. I already know too much not to share it with the industry forever.

With Lil Bucks’ journey, we’ve certainly had some tough luck, like launching right before a pandemic, scaling during the Russia/Ukraine war putting unprecedented challenges on our supply chain, and fundraising during the worst economy since 2008. But there’s been some “signs from the universe” that Lil Bucks is meant to be — our sprouting partner is incredibly supportive, working with us even when we were way too small for them. Our regenerative farm partnership is a dream come true and is trailblazing how brands work directly with sustainable farmers. And really, just hearing more and more people every day discover how much they love buckwheat crunch tells me we are on the right path.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Lil Bucks makes crunchy snacks and superfood toppings from sprouted buckwheat seeds, these grain-free super-seeds packed with protein and fiber. I got the idea for the brand while I was living in Australia and noticed the widespread use and enjoyment of sprouted buckwheat–I had the seeds for the first time on top of an acai bowl and it was truly love at first crunch!

I always said, “oh, I’ll be happy when we hit the shelves at Whole Foods” (we’re only in the midwest Whole Foods for now, sorry!). But then as the idea grew and I saw how many people could really enjoy buckwheat in so many versatile ways, I realized, we gotta get this in every pantry in America. Then we’re also able to have a more significant impact on soil health than I could ever have dreamt.

We’ve done a lot of cool things. As a graphic designer I designed a brand I wanted to see — something for the future of food. It’s real, it’s fun, but it’s true to its values. I see packaging I designed on the shelves of Kroger, Whole Foods, Jimbo’s and more. That’s pretty sweet to thing about, but nothing will ever top how proud I am of our regenerative partnership. We have an exclusive partnership with a regenerative farm in Minnesota, A Frame Farm, which is one of the world’s leading regenerative organic certified farms. They’re doing extremely innovative and sustainable farming practices in the heart of corn/soybean land with degrading soil. As someone from Chicago originally, with no farming or food industry background, being able to build a brand big enough to empower this farm to include the important cover crop buckwheat in their rotation, I’m still mind-blown to this day that I somehow made this happen.

Our sprouted buckwheat crunch, Lil Bucks, our snacks Clusterbucks, and our Everything “Bucks” Seasoning all sell for 6.99. I know it’s not the cheapest but it’s the price of sustainable, REAL food, so we hope to continue convincing Americans that it’s worth investing the extra $1 or $2 when you support a business making a real difference in the world.

Lessons I’ve learned: Entrepreneurs tend to be perfectionists. Get over that. Nothing will EVER be perfect. The most important thing is sticking to the values you set forth for yourself and your business, and then you have to learn when to go the extra mile and when to be okay with something being good enough to get to where you need to go. I was a graphic designer beforehand and I would spend more time than any CEO should on critiquing social media posts or flyers we were designing, but that’s somewhere I had to let go and focus on the bigger picture. They don’t need to be perfect! That was just my kryptonite hah.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Being from the Midwest, we’re hosted tons of visitors over the past couple years so we have a good itinerary!

Cafes (because I love some cafe culture):
– Communal in South Park – grabbing your coffee from a campervan is the most California vibe. Then we walk around my neighborhood South Park, which is just so damn cute.
– Palmy’s of course!!! It reminds me of the cafe where I had the acai bowl with sprouted buckwheat that gave me the idea for Lil Bucks.
– Bird Rock in La Jolla – I think they have the best lattes in the city, hands down.

Go for a surf at Tourmaline – super chill vibes and friendly locals, it’s a great place to learn (and close to Bird Rock!) so we love to bring visitors there. Maybe do a beach bonfire after, though I’m not sure if those are legal or not hehe.

Sunset Cliffs for sunset (duh). If they’re adventurous then a bike ride from Del Mar to Carlsbad and back, stopping at the Leaucadia Farmers Market and Nectarine Grove along the way. Hike the Ho Chi Minh trail. Walk around Coronado and maybe do brunch at The Henry.

Cessarina in OB is our favorite Italian in the city, being from Chicago we were so impressed by this spot. We also love visiting Barrio Logan. Epic art, food and you get a real feel for the heart of San Diego.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Naturally San Diego, a group that brings together people from all over the natural products industry, from founders to investors to vendors to mentors. We all make our ideas better by sharing our learnings with one another and I’m grateful to have this community in San Diego.

Website: lilbucks.com

Instagram: lovelilbucks

Linkedin: lovelilbucks / https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilygriffith/

Other: tiktok is @lovelilbucks

Image Credits:  @colorforbreakfast