African-French-American chef and restauranteur Mawa McQueen launches gluten-free granola line, GrainFreeNola

Company: GrainFreeNola

Introduced: April 2021

Distribution: National

Suggested Retail Price: $14.95

Product Snapshot: Aspen-based Chef and Restaurateur Chef Mawa McQueen recently announced the launch of GrainFreeNola, a gluten-free, protein-rich, good-for-you snack filled with high quality ingredients and dynamic flavors. Available in select storefronts and online for shipping nationwide, GrainFreeNola launches with five signature flavors: the Original Health Nut, Berry-Me, Green Machine, Out of Africa, and Tropical Paradise.

Born on Africa’s Ivory Coast and raised in Paris, France, Chef Mawa McQueen brings her African-French-American roots to the granola-alternative table, where she has gathered cooking secrets and skills from diverse cultures around the world to land on the motto that life is too short to eat lifeless, unhealthy food. This propelled her to open Mawa’s Kitchen in Aspen, Colorado in 2006 and The Crepe Shack in Snowmass Village in 2018. Chef Mawa McQueen was recently honored to receive the Colorado Governor's 2020 Minority Business Award for her excellence as an entrepreneur and restaurateur, and she is also a featured chef in a new Cookbook by award-winning photographer, Alan Batt, Toques in Black.

It was only during Chef Mawa McQueen’s "me time" that she tried her hand at granola alternatives, experimenting with gluten-free ingredients to align with her lifestyle and superfood alternatives to fuel her body with nutritious food. The COVID-19 pandemic propelled the business forward, as she began to stock the shelves of her establishments with GrainFreeNola to offer who would be indoor diners safe and socially distanced food options to-go. As she mixed each and every bag by hand, she felt a deeper connection to the ingredients and a new sense of purpose to share them with the world. Taking her mission a step forward, GrainFreeNola is now available to consumers across the United States for a healthy at-home snack or elevated meal.

“Cooking is my passion and my purpose. Sourcing the best ingredients is my labor of love,” said Chef Mawa McQueen. “I am thrilled to bring this together and launch GrainFreeNola. It’s how I share my heart with the world.”

The original flavor Health Nut GrainFreeNola features the mineral powerhouse of antioxidants and iron for a burst of green nutrients. Ingredient highlights include organic medjool dates, an assortment of organic nuts, organic dried coconut, organic pumpkin seeds, organic chia seeds, organic dried unsweetened cranberries, organic hemp seeds, and cinnamon.

The Berry Me GrainFreeNola is not your standard berry, made with organic golden berries and goji berries, as well as organic white mulberry and organic gooseberries.

The Green Machine GrainFreeNola turns a favorite smoothie flavor into a snack packed with ingredients like kale, ginger, apple, organic hemp seed and pumpkin seed, organic medjool dates, and banana chips, to name a few.

The Out of Africa GrainFreeNola recognizes cocoa as a natural way to achieve a sweet treat. The raw, unprocessed, organic cocoa nibs in this GrainFreeNola is rich in polyphenols, while other ingredients include organic dates, nuts, ginger, and dried coconut.

The Tropical Paradise GrainFreeNola is packed with flavor and antioxidants. Made with organic mango, shredded coconut, hazelnuts and hibiscus flower, it is also naturally sweetened with Turkish figs.

Chef Mawa McQueen’s non-GMO, small-batch GrainFreeNola is available for purchase on the company’s website. Each 8-oz bag retails for $14.95. With no signs of slowing down, the GrainFreeNola product line will be expanding with new offerings scheduled to launch this year. For more information, visit www.grainfreenola.com.