CHARLOTTE, NC. — Marquita Carter knew she couldn’t set aside pancakes, a Carter family favorite when complications from her pregnancy forced her to change her diet. She’d been diagnosed with pre-hypertension preeclampsia. Her doctor wanted to put her on full bed rest and prescribed her blood pressure medication for the remainder of her pregnancy.

The alternative was to alleviate stress and stabilize her blood pressure immediately with a healthier diet and exercise. He wanted her to consume less salt, high sodium ready-made meals, preservatives, fried foods, and high-fructose corn syrup. Marquita adopted a raw diet initially before opting for something more sustainable for her lifestyle by committing to an all-natural diet.

They decided not to eliminate pancakes, one of Marquita and husband Deven’s favorite go-to meals, but instead created their own pancake mix, without the ingredients her physician told her to avoid.

Along with Deven, she researched how to make their own quick and easy pancakes and syrup from ingredients they could pronounce. The Carters soon made it their mission to provide a healthier alternative. Their collaboration has evolved into Blanket Pancakes & Syrup, named for the warm feeling brought on by wrapping up in a blanket.

“I had to have something delicious, but it was made with ingredients my body could recognize,” Marquita said.

What started as a “necessity” to continue eating foods they loved quickly became a business venture for Marquita, a former special education teacher and Deven, whose background is insurance. Nonetheless, Marquita’s doctor advised she’d have to change her diet holistically or take medication and go on bed rest to stay healthy during the pregnancy.

The Carters created a pancake mix without high-fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, eggs, bleached flour, preservatives or GMOs, opting for whole ingredients instead. Sharing the mix with friends and family and at farmers’ markets showed the mix may have growth potential beyond their home.

“We have a busy lifestyle,” Marquita said. “We still live in this world. We can’t just eat carrots. When we made Blanket, it was ‘I’m gonna keep it real,’ it wasn’t just about the all-natural ingredients. It was the taste. You don’t have to sacrifice taste for health. We believe they’re both important.”

Blanket was launched in 2019 to get products into local markets in the Charlotte area. Last year, the brand notched more than $1 million in sales. Today, Blanket is distributed in Walmart, Costco, Food Lion, Giant Foods, Hannaford and others, Deven said. The pancake and waffle mixes come in buttermilk, chocolate chip, honey butter, vegan and sweet potato varieties; Blanket plans to launch a gluten-free buttermilk variety in 2024. The syrups are available in original, cinnamon and vanilla bean, all with three ingredients or fewer.

The pandemic in 2020 forced the Carters to grow their online presence as social distancing prevailed.

“We were on the news to do virtual cooking demonstrations, making pancakes or charcuterie boards,” Deven said. “We started really selling our products online and we opened ourselves up to not just our region but nationwide.”

In intervening years, Blanket Pancakes & Syrup has expanded its reach to thousands of stores nationwide, capitalizing on the fast-growing breakfast industry. The pancake mix segment is expected to experience significant growth, with the market size projected to reach $712 million by 2028, according to Allied Market Research.

 “We want it to be as high quality as how we are feeding ourselves — other people to see that you can make this healthier alternative,” Deven said. “You don’t have to break the bank to do it. It doesn’t take you a long time to prep, and we wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to transition into incorporating healthier products into their diet.”

The Carters are now opening up their family business to invest in Blanket on StartEngine, hoping to gain enough capital to continue to scale the business for more consumers.

Marquita said the prospect of investing in the company has gained traction from the amount of resources and work the family-owned, family-run business the Carters already have sunk into their passion project.

“It’s exciting to investors because we funded our business ourselves,” she said. “We did a lot of the heavy lifting. Now, we have the business to where it’s thriving. We’re forecasting double the amount (of demand) in the next year. We know that this is the time now to have our products in everyone’s kitchens, and let’s make them owners as well.”

Deven said gathering community, in this instance by calling for investors, is intrinsic to the company’s DNA. The company’s mission includes three pillars: nutrition, accessibility and community.

Having grown up in food deserts, they hope the call for increased financing will yield growth sufficient to bring Blanket to the shelves in communities like the neighborhood where Deven grew up in Brooklyn, NY.

“I didn’t know what an avocado was until I was in my teens,” he said. “... It’s not necessarily about healthy foods. We didn’t honestly have a full range of what the produce section may look like until I got much older. And there’s a lot of communities around the nation that are like that.”