Social Entrepreneur Profile
Noha
Waibsnaider
Founder, President, CEO
Peeled Snacks
Shadowed
by:
Josh Gelfman, Leslie
Neviaser, Omosede Idehen and Brian Coleman
Entrepreneur
Contact Data:
485 Central Park West, 6D
New York, NY 10025
Email: noha@peeledsnacks.com
Phone: 917-650-8315
Website: http://www.peeledsnacks.com/
Basics:
Founding Date: 2004
Corporate Form: C Corporation,
privately-owned
Geographic Focus: Peeled Snacks is carried in
over 100 stores in select markets throughout the United States and is
in the process of national expansion.
Full-time employees: 1
Industry: Food
Social Mission Areas: Health
Mission:
In a world full of
sugar-filled candy, overly salted potato chips, and energy bars with
"mysterious ingredients," Peeled Snacks give people a tasty,
healthy snack option that makes them feel good about snacking.
Q and
A with Students:
Q:
Can you give us some background on Noha
Waibsnaider?
A: In June 2004, Noha Waibsnaider founded Peeled Snacks
because she couldn’t find a snack that she wanted to eat. Perusing a
shop in an airport, Ms. Waibsnaider saw all sorts of overly sweet
candy, salt drenched chips, and “energy” bars full of who knows what.
What she DIDN’T see was the sort of food that would make her feel good
about snacking. Ms. Waibsnaider, after all, grew up in the Middle East
where people regularly snack on dried fruit and nuts.
Prior to launching Peeled
Snacks, Ms. Waibsnaider worked in consumer packaged goods at Unilever.
She gained experience in brand management and new product development
on the Lipton Tea and Ragú Pasta Sauce brands. In these roles, Ms.
Waibsnaider developed expertise in various functional areas, including
supply chain management, marketing, retail promotions and advertising.
Her exposure to the Health and Wellness category at Unilever gave her a
deep understanding of consumer trends within healthy snacks and led to
the eventual creation of Peeled Snacks’ fruit & nut mixes.
Before joining the consumer
packaged goods industry, Ms. Waibsnaider worked in the nonprofit
sector, publishing, and marketing communications. She received an MBA
from Columbia Business School, where she co-founded the Global Social
Venture Competition, a $1.5MM initiative promoting businesses with a
positive social and environmental impact. Ms. Waibsnaider graduated
magna cum laude from American University in Washington D.C. with a BA
in Spanish and Latin American Studies.
Q:
What led you to choose to shadow her?
A: We learned of Noha through other CBS students, and we
chose to follow her because she seemed open to sharing, and we were
interested in learning more about her business segment.
Q:
What issues did your social entrepreneur face during the project?
A: Sales, Production Capacity, and Quality Control.
Q:
What was interesting, surprising or inspiring about shadowing this
SE?
A: One can create a socially responsible business in
many different ways. Peeled Snacks is a socially responsible business
because of its: 1) commitment to providing healthy, non-processed snack
options (something desperately needed in America today), 2) production
of Peeled Snacks by a non-profit that employs physically disabled
workers, 3) the company’s commitment to sourcing the most
environmentally friendly product packaging possible, 4) its commitment
to provide employees with quality benefits and a quality working
environment, 5) donating to non-profits with related messages when
possible and to promoting the importance of fair trade to consumers
going forward, and 6) continuously striving to improvement in all
areas, so that Peeled Snacks can have an even greater degree of
positive social impact on the community.
Q:
What did you learn about being a social entrepreneur from this project?
A: We all learned something
from each thing that makes Peeled Snacks a SE, listed above.
Throughout, endeavoring to consistently apply vision to choices seems
to be very important, and a helpful way to overcome rough patches.
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