Leadership Awards
Recognizing trailblazing specialty food business leaders who are pushing our industry forward 
2020 Leadership award winner for Citizenship

Elizabeth Stein

Purely Elizabeth
2020
Citizenship

Elizabeth Stein, 38, had long enjoyed cooking and baking but did not take it seriously. Then came the day in 2008 when she made a batch of gluten-free blueberry muffins to hand out from a booth at a Westchester, N.Y. race expo.

Stein, from Philadelphia, worked in sales and marketing for a handbag company. From doing Ironman triathlons, she became interested in eating better and enrolled in New York City’s Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Pivoting from handbags, she set up practice as a holistic health counselor and worked one-on-one with a dozen or so clients to guide their wellness journeys. Part of it was urging them to go gluten-free for 30 days to see if they felt better.

People went wild for her muffins – made with almond flour, millet, flax, hemp, and chia seeds – and asked where they could buy them. “I told them to sign up for my nutrition newsletter and I’d let them know when they were available,” she says.

Elizabeth got to work, baking up a business with help from her mother and a friend from high school. In 2009 she launched Purely Elizabeth Blueberry Muffin Mix, Apple Cinnamon Muffin Mix, Cacao Muffin Mix, and Perfect Pancake Mix. A website picked up the news and within about two weeks she had 10,000 orders.

Soon, Purely Elizabeth products were stocked at retailers in Philadelphia and New York, followed by Whole Foods Mid-Atlantic. Elizabeth added Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix and Purely Elizabeth Granola to her repertoire, which has become her biggest seller. In 2013, Whole Foods launched her brand nationally; sales reached $1 million.

The company, a Certified B Corporation using non-GMO, organic ingredients, seeks to promote a healthy food system through sustainability and transparency and be a force for good. To that end, it has donated to nonprofits such as Slow Food USA, Wellness in the Schools, Charity: Water, and the Fruit Tree Planting Organization.
    
Timeline

  • 2007: Elizabeth Stein enrolls in New York’s Institute for Integrative Nutrition
  • 2008: Starts a practice as a wellness counselor and hands out her homemade gluten-free muffins 
  • 2009: Launches four Purely Elizabeth gluten-free mixes for muffins and pancakes
  • 2010: Mixes are stocked at Philadelphia and New York City retailers and Whole Foods Mid-Atlantic; introduces cookie mix to the line
  • 2011: Purely Elizabeth Granola launches; Purely, a digital magazine, publishes its first issue
  • 2013: Launch of Purely Elizabeth Ancient Grain Granola Bar; Elizabeth appears on QVC; Whole Foods promotes the brand nationally; sofi finalist for Original Ancient Grain Granola; company hits $1 million in sales
  • 2014: Elizabeth relocates from New York to Boulder, CO; Ancient Grain Oatmeal line launches
  • 2015: Elizabeth’s first cookbook, Eating Purely, is published; company achieves Certified B Corporation status
  • 2016: Probiotic Granola and Grain-Free Granola are introduced
  • 2017: Purely Elizabeth is named No. 1 for granola sales in the natural food channel
  • 2019: Purely Elizabeth launches 10 new products to celebrate its 10-year anniversary, with 76 SKUs in total