Editors Note: Epson Tour professional Molly Aronsson recently started a business with her partner Alexe Desruisseaux in Aronsson’s hometown of Shelburne, Vermont. The business is called Croquette Crunch, a healthy, natural and organic cereal that is for sale on their website www.croquettecrunch.com . Aronsson has played professionally on the Epson Tour since 2011. She had her best season in 2014 when she won the Island Resort Championship in Harris, Michigan and finished 30th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. The 3-time Vermont Women’s Amateur Champion played college golf at the University of Washington. She now will prepare for the 2016 Epson Tour season while also juggling the demands of being a small business owner.

Q: How long did it take to plan and get ready to launch this business and what was the process?
Molly: I came home from Q-school and the very next morning in Montreal, Alexe (who caddied for me on tour for two months) gave me a bowl of her homemade cereal. I couldn't believe how good it was. I had been thinking throughout the plane ride home from Florida that I would love to start a business. A former Epson Tour player, close friend of mine and excellent golfer, Kendra Little, started her own small batch coffee company in Portland (Prospekt Coffee Club). She inspired me to try something new and that morning it came to me. I told Alexe "This is incredible...this is our chance, we have to sell this." She told me we often talk about doing things in life but it's not easy to actually do it. We decided we wouldn't let this slide, especially since there is an opening in the market for it. It is not your typical granola, it's a cereal that can also be granola or even be eaten on its own. More importantly, it's insanely healthy, and stupid good!

Q: Who do you hope buys your product? Athletes? All walks of life?
Molly: We want everyone to try our product! We definitely target athletes and healthy food lovers. People who love organic, raw, natural and healthy products are already raving over it and the feedback has been awesome. Cereal on the shelves at stores sits there for a year and is pretty much all sugar. When you look at our ingredients, there is no comparison. We spent days going over all the math and percentages to sell our item for the cheapest we can considering all the organic ingredients. Every single detail was calculated.

Q: What are you responsible for on a daily/weekly basis?
Molly: We launched the business one week after the idea arose. Sales began the night of November 3rd and in order to do so, we worked all day and night the three days before. Some days are cooking days and we are in the kitchen for hours. Some days we go to multiple stores to purchase our ingredients. I am now a business member at Costco where I purchase some of our organic nuts, cinnamon, and organic Vermont maple syrup and organic honey. We go to two other stores to buy the rest of the ingredients - raw organic seeds, puffed wheat, etc. As sales have increased, I find myself making trips to the post office daily to get our product out to the customer immediately. The process has involved tons of math, and lots of heavy calculations when it comes to ounces per ingredient, calculating revenue/profit and sorting all the shipping costs. Days are so busy but fun! I may have a few business messages pop up on my phone while playing golf, but I actually love it. It feels nice to have to monitor the website, calculate profit, build our social media, etc.

Q: What type of cereal did you eat before you started your business? Did you realize there was a need for this?
Molly: I often ate Post Selects or Smart Start. I still like them both and believe they are good products but know they do not compare to ours nutritionally. I often mix yogurt with fruit and granola in the mornings too, so creating a cereal that is also a granola seemed perfect. I knew there was a need for this for a professional athlete like me, the girls on tour, and people in general who just want to be healthy. I get tired of eating on the road and now that I have our cereal, I can bring it with me on tour. Vermont is an incredible state and has a heavy desire to support our local companies. As a new business based in Shelburne, Vermont, many people are interested in our product, especially stores. I have multiple meetings over the next few days with local food stores. Vermont people are all about local, organic, healthy, new, forward moving things and foods. We couldn't have found a better place to start a small business, and I am so proud to be from Vermont! The online portion has also been great but is much more work than I anticipated. It's not easy to balance with golf but it is so rewarding and I love it.

Q: Is this also a way to supplement your income during the offseason?
Molly: I am not sure how big our business will get, but to generate some type of income aside from golf will be huge for me! Professional Golf is not the easiest journey as I'm sure every player would admit. So far, the product is doing well and I can't wait to see what comes of it! Go try it! I guarantee an excellent product: www.croquettecrunch.com

A New Business Venture for Molly Aronsson

Related Articles