In 2002, unable to find clean label, nutritious snacks to feed her son, Sujatha Duvvuri took matters into her own hands. She formulated her own products and started baking them at home.
“I realized there were many parents out there who wanted better snacking choices for their families,” Duvvuri said. “I went into business to provide products that moms can trust.”
That business is The Greater Goods Snacking Co.
Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich., the company makes its goods in India. These products, which debuted in 2022, include a trio of organic snacks in a variety of flavors, including biscotti (Dark Chocolate Sea Salt, Double Dark Chocolate Pistachio and Orange Cranberry), cookies (Chai Spice, Chocolate Chip and Cinnamon Snickerdoodle) and crackers (Caramelized Onion, Sea Salt, and Tangy Tomato and Basil). All three product lines are made with almond flour and are grain-free and vegan.
But The Greater Goods Snacking Co.’s brand name reflects more than just clean label snacks. The company also achieves the greater good by empowering and employing women throughout Duvvuri’s native India. By prioritizing women in underserved communities, The Greater Goods Snacking Co. works to make a difference in the lives of Indian women.
“What makes Greater Goods unique is our commitment to working for the greater good of humanity — starting with the women in our bakery,” Duvvuri explained. “We are dedicated to women’s global empowerment and employment. We put this into action by ensuring that 72% of our workforce are women in India, a country where the female labor participation rate is among the lowest in the world at only 19%. My hope is that Greater Goods leaves the world a better place.”
To achieve this, the company provides its female employees with an education, food and housing.
“We provide two meals instead of one to our staff members who have to travel from far away to our factory for the first shift,” Duvvuri said. “Some of our team members live on less than a dollar a day and sometimes must suffice with a single bread bun for dinner. We provide them with an additional meal to help do our part in making their lives better and giving the chance to provide more for their families as well.”
The company’s efforts are paying off.
“A lot of these women have gone from not having a voice in their families to becoming the breadwinners,” Duvvuri said. “We have members who have risen from the production floor to becoming shift supervisors. They have a lot more confidence and are able to speak for themselves.”
There is more to come. The company has two new cracker varieties arriving soon, including Mixed Herb and Rock Salt & Black Pepper, and is close to bringing products to North America that have previously only been available overseas. The Greater Goods Snacking Co. will also continue to employ and empower women across India.
The Greater Goods Snacking Co. products are available at Whole Foods, www.amazon.com or on the company’s website at www.eatgreatergoods.com.