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46 •• September 4 - 410, - 10, 2014 2014 • Tolosa • Tolosa Press PressIn the BlackVeg This WayBy Gareth KellyPhotos courtesy of Veg This WayIt’s a familiar story. Get in toCal Poly, get a great education,fall in love with San LuisObispo and its surrounding area,graduate with a great degree froma great school and are then facedwith the unenviable decision ofwhat to do next. Do you leaveparadise and head to the Bay Areafor a job or maybe south to L.A.?For many, the decision is oftenmade by the lack of opportunitieslocally within their chosen career.There is, however, another way,one that appealed to three recentfemale graduates.Sabrina Mutillo, Kaitlin Munozand Kate Mecozzi, all recentgraduates of Cal Poly, are theowners and founders of Veg ThisWay and their product, the RawrBar, an all-natural fruit leathertypesnack bar focused primarily atchildren.“We wanted to find a way to getmore fruits and vegetables into thediets of children,” said Munoz, herselfa food science major. Alongside herfellow food science major, Mutillo,they entered a couple of businesscompetitions with moderatesuccess. To help them even further,they recruited Mecozzi, a businessmajor, and entered an elevator pitchcompetition that eventually led themto the SLO HotHouse acceleratorprogram, a 12-week intensiveprogram designed to help youngentrepreneurs fine tune both theirproducts and business models.“We did a lot of productdevelopment during this time. Wetasted the product, found out whatconsumers wanted and figured outwhat we could do to make the productbetter,” Mecozzi said.After proving both themselves andtheir product, the girls got acceptedto the next level of the HotHouse,the Incubator program, a two-yearprogram providing new start-upswith mentors, office space and legalresources among numerous othertools to really help new businessesflourish.Their Rawr Bar is a gluten-free,all-natural fruit and vegetable snackbar with half a portion of fruit andvegetables with no sugar.“We’ve been doing really well. Weare in 27 stores as well as online withmany repeat orders. We currentlyhave two main flavors, sweet potatoand beet. We hope to have moreflavors like strawberry kale soon,”Mutillo said.With their bars containing onlyfive ingredients, the first being avegetable, these young businessladies are hopingto capture thehearts andminds of parentsincreasinglylooking toprovide their kidsa healthier optionthan traditionalcandy.One of theirmentors throughthe HotHouse isSabrina Harperfrom Wells Fargo,who informed thegirls about WellsFargo’s NationalSmall Businesscompetition. The girls wrote therequired 600-word essay andsubmitted their application.“We really didn’t think anythingwould come of it. There werethousands of entrants from allover the country. A few weeksago we got an email saying wehad made the top 25, winningus $1,000 with the chance ofwinning the top prize of $25,000.The winner is announced onSeptember 8,” Mutillo said.A year into the incubatorprogram, they still hand-makeall the Rawr bars but are hopingto scale up to a more automatedsystem as they increase sales aswell as the number of flavors.And, they have managed tocreate jobs for themselves so theycan stay in SLO, To find out moreabout the Rawr bar and whereyou can buy them, visit www.vegthisway.com. ✤Creative Elegant AffordablePricing & Packaging to suit every budget & wedding size.805.235.6365 carriejaymes@hotmail.com www.carriejaymes.comConstruction Services805-574-3155We Do All The “Honey Do’s”All Household RepairsProviding Professional Handyman ServicesFree EstimatesLicensed and Fully Insured: Contractors License No. 306732 Residential and Commercial Services