MI Snack Competition 2023 Grand Prize Winner Presented with Growth Opportunities

Dave Shammas, owner of Live Crispy

MEDIA CONTACT:

Patti Samar

The Write Company

810-300-2176

pjsamar@aol.com

COMPETITOR CONTACT:

Jon Holden

All Star Services

734-323-6793

jonholden@allstarservices.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 1, 2024

More Than $55,000 in Cash Prizes Will Be Given Away

September 14, 2024, in Port Huron

MI SNACK COMPETITION PRIZE MONEY

PRESENTS GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES

FOR MICHIGAN MICRO-SNACK BUSINESS

PORT HURON, Mich. – Last fall, when the winners were announced at the second annual MI Snack Competition in Port Huron, snack-entrepreneur Dave Shammas of Ferndale, owner of Live Crispy, an all-natural dehydrated fruit treat, didn’t even listen as names were read over the loudspeaker.

“It was our second year and we didn’t even place the first year,” he said with a laugh. “I didn’t even bother listening to the names. It wasn’t until someone came looking for me that I realized we had won.”

And that win provided him with a $30,000 cash prize -- $15,000 for winning his Mindful Munchies category, and an additional $15,000 for taking home the grand prize.

In 2023, during its second year, the MI Snack Competition (formerly the MI New Favorite Snack competition) attracted more than 50 snack makers from across both the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan and awarded more than $50,000 in prize money to five award winners. As grand prize winner, Shammas also received a distribution agreement with All Star Services, a Break Room Services company based in Port Huron.

The deadline for entries in the 2024 competition is August 12, 2024. The competition will take place in Port Huron on September 14, 2024.

Companies must meet the following requirements to be eligible for participation:

Must be headquartered in Michigan
Must have 10 or fewer employees

All businesses that enter the competition are eligible to come to Port Huron for the September 14 competition and exhibition, where they can compete for more than $55,000 in cash prizes, hand out samples of their products, and sell products directly to the public.

The snack tasting event is marketed to consumers in St. Clair County and surrounding areas in metro Detroit.

In the 10 months that has followed since his big win, Shammas has worked hard – “the money went all right back into the business” – and he is thinking more strategically about how to take his business to the next level.

“We’re still building and trying to scale as a company,” said Shammas. “Winning this award got us into a few more stores. We were able to get into Amazon. That was huge.”

Along with Amazon, the company also sells online on Faire.com, which is a website for small companies trying to introduce themselves into their respective markets.

“Once we got into Amazon, we knew we’d have more eyes on us,” Shammas said. “Target is very interested in us, but we’re not ready for Target yet. One of the big problems as a small company is gearing up production.”

Shammas, who started Live Crispy in 2020, said his product was the result of an accident.

“As I’m getting older, I decided to get healthier,” he said. A trained chef by trade – he attended the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Chicago – Shammas had purchased a food dehydrator. “One day, I whipped up a pineapple fruit smoothie, and I left it overnight. As I was throwing it away, I tasted it. I had whipped it too much and instead of being chewy, it got crispy.”

The result was an all-natural crispy dried fruit snack.

“We are the first and the only all-natural fruit snack out there,” Shammas said.

The food creator inside of him told him he was onto something, but replicating it was not easy.

“It took me about a year to recreate that mistake,” he said. Once he was able to do so consistently, friends agreed and suggested he make a business venture out of his product. They must have been really good friends because they also offered to go into business with him and invest in the company.

“This is a healthy alternative snack so you can feel a little better about what you’re eating,” he said. “We are offering something new and different.”

To move the business forward, Shammas knows he needs to eventually make the leap into larger markets.

“In order to show my partners we have a return on investment, we need to get into big box stores,” he said. And so how can he accomplish that, especially with big box stores like Target reaching out?

“We need a co-manufacturer,” he said.

While he works with his investors on identifying the right manufacturing partner, he is also fielding calls from Shark Tank, the popular entrepreneurial television show.

“Season 16 of Shark Tank reached out to me; they contacted me,” he said with a laugh. He said Shark Tank has twice contacted him and he is waiting to hear if he will have the opportunity to present his product to the celebrity sharks.

Meanwhile, he continues working on strategically identifying new growth opportunities for his company.

“This isn’t a get rich quick project,” he said. But, making connections at events such as MI Snack Competition have all been part of his company’s path for growth.

“The prize money was a great boon for us, and ever since then, we’ve been on the uptick,” he said. “And getting the contract with All Star Services really went a long way to helping us. The validation from winning alone was huge for us. We’re coming back this year. We’ll be involved every year just to be involved.”

This year’s event will take place on Saturday, September 14 at the McMorran Plaza in the heart of downtown Port Huron. Contestant set-up begins at 1 p.m. Judging will take place at 3 p.m. The event is open to the public from 4 to 6 p.m.

For more information and to register as an entry into the competition, please visit the MI Snack Competition page on the Blue Water Area Chamber of Commerce website at: www.BlueWaterChamber.com.

Check out the following videos featuring Jonathan Holden, vice president of sales and marketing at All Star Services of Port Huron:

VIDEO of All Star Services

Vice President of Sales and Marketing Jonathan Holden

regarding STATEWIDE Competition

VIDEO of All Star Services

Vice President of Sales and Marketing Jonathan Holden

regarding ST. CLAIR COUNTY Competition

The MI Snack Competition is produced by the following sponsors and community partners:

Community Foundation of St. Clair County

McLaren Port Huron

Eastern Michigan Bank

Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling