COSTA MESA, CA — When former food blogger Saphira Rasti launched Nowhere Bakery, she knew the art of influence and collaboration. Like many better-for-you bakeries, she started Nowhere in search of making better-tasting functional baked goods in response to her own dietary restrictions.
“A lot of my inspiration comes from traditional products that exist in the market,” Rasti said. “I just try to make healthier iterations.”
With eight cookies and a baking mix in the core line, Rasti has discovered collaborations as a growth avenue for new products and limited-time offers. Her food blogging experience baked in a network of opportunities for collaborations, including one food blogger focused on health-and-wellness and gluten-free recipe sharing.
The two collaborated on a better-for-you version of a classic sandwich cookie, which was cross-promoted through their social channels, which included a host of influencers.
“We ended up with a three-month waiting list for those cookies,” Rasti said. “I realized, ‘Wow, there’s something here.’”
Since then, Nowhere Bakery has done three to four collaborations a year with food bloggers and influencers.
“Some are based off recipes they’ve created, and we commercialize, and sometimes we come up with a recipe together,” she explained. “It usually depends on the person I’m working with. If they have a recipe that people really love, we can make several flavors of that recipe. Or if it’s not paleo, we can make it paleo.”
With the exception of one item that uses baking powder, all Nowhere Bakery products are paleo-friendly — though Rasti does not consider the brand to be strictly paleo.
“We’ve also done some collaborations for products with peanut butter,” she said, noting that all Nowhere Bakery products are grain-free, gluten-free and vegan.
“A lot of my inspiration comes from traditional products that exist in the market. I just try to make healthier iterations.” —Saphira Rasti | owner | Nowhere Bakery
The biggest collaboration so far has come from working with an influencer who was able to get Nowhere Bakery products in front of actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who liked the product so much she worked with Rasti to create a box of health-conscious cookies for the 2022 holiday season.
The product mix, which took the pair a few months to develop, is available direct to consumers (DTC) via Nowhere Bakery’s website through mid-December.
As Nowhere continues to build its DTC brand awareness through collaborations, it’s also building its local wholesale accounts, which currently make up about 35% of the business. The bakery recently invested in new branded packaging, seen in local retailers and coffee shops in the Los Angeles area.
“For people who are plant-based, celiac or even just want to be conscious of what they put in their body, we want to be known as their go-to brand,” Rasti said.
