Sarit’s Snacks: Just Say Yes!

At 2 years old, Sarit Lewis’ son was a picky eater.

She tried to sneak vegetables into his food.

Sarit knew she was not the only mother in that situation.

But her solution was different. She decided to start a kids’ food company.

Sarit Wertheim, in the 2001 Staples yearbook.

Sarit — a 2001 Staples High School graduate and varsity swimmer (her last name was Wertheim) — did not have an entrepreneurial background.

But she did know food.

She majore in political science and history at Indiana University, and earned a master’s from NYU in fundraising and philanthropy for non-profits.

Her husband Michael attended culinary school, then worked for Michelin restaurants, at Google and in school programs.

In 2017 and ’18, he looked into opening a restaurant in New York City. But she wanted to raise their children in Westport. In 2019, they bought the house she’d grown up in, from her father.

He rented space to next to the Army Navy store, planning an all-day eatery called 81 & Sunny. The vision was “an expansive Granola Bar.”

COVID caused a halt. But her son continued his picky-eating ways.

Sarit and Michael Lewis.

Working with a Brooklyn R&D firm, she spent a year developing a popsicle with coconut cream, fruit and vegetables. You couldn’t taste the veggies, she says. But she could not find a manufacturer. Freezing, shipping and storage were big challenges.

Sarit had grown up in an “organic, health-conscious” house. She knew the importance of high protein and fiber, along with being seed oil- and nut-free, and the issues with dyes and preservatives.

There were snacks like those for toddlers. But not a lot for her growing son.

Sarit’s next idea was a mini-muffin. But that proved difficult too, without preservatives.

So she zeroed in on protein bars. There are plenty for adults, Sarit says, but few for youngsters’ taste buds.

It took Sarit a year and a half to research and develop her product. She wanted to make sure texture and appearance of a cookie — important to appeal to kids — was just right.

The finished product.

Ingredients include wheat gluten, carrots, sweet potatoes, zucchini, organic whole wheat flour and coconut oil.

The bars have 6 grams each of protein and fiber. That makes them more filling than run-of-the-mill kids’ bars.

She worked with an R&D team in California, found a manufacturer in Chicago, and tested recipes — chocolate chip and maple cinnamon — with Westport children. The first 3,000 bars were delivered recently.

Sarit started with a soft launch, to people she knew. Major marketing came from social media, and word of mouth.

Sarit and Michael Lewis, and their protein bars.

Feedback has been great. Kids love the bars — and “think they’re getting a treat,” Sarit says. Their parents, meanwhile, order some for themselves.

Now she’s ready to roll it out more broadly, via her website. She ships the bars from her Westport home. (It’s a full-time gig for Sarit and her husband, a French Culinary Institute graduate. Their 6-year-old is at Coleytown Elementary School; the almost-4-year-old attends The Community Synagogue preschool.)

Meanwhile, she’s searching for local markets, like GG & Joe, and Old Mill Grocery, along with specialty markets, gyms, play spaces, sports complexes, and New York bodegas.

The big boys — Whole Foods, Amazon, etc. — are part of her longer-range plan.

Oh, yeah: Sarit’s bars are called “House of Yes.”

“Kids always ask if they can have a snack,” she explains.

“Parents usually say ‘no!’ This is one way to say ‘yes!'”

(Click here to learn more about House of Yes, and to order. Click here for their Instagram.)

(“06880” covers local businesses, Staples graduates, young local families — and, like today, the intersection of all 3. If you enjoy stories like this one, please click here to support our work. Thanks!)