Bram Bourgeois and Jennifer Lukas-Bourgeois are the Co-founders of Lekkco, a brand of all-natural chocolate spread created from a 50-year-old Belgian recipe. Lekkco’s dark chocolate spread is nut-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and non-GMO. It’s also low in sugar and calories, making it a guilt-free treat that everyone can indulge in without worry.
Bram and Jennifer found inspiration for Lekkco during their family trips to Belgium and created their company in 2017. Since then, they have built brand awareness, expanded their market reach, and developed a product line available at several large retailers in 42 major cities throughout the United States.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- Meet Bram Bourgeois and Jennifer Lukas-Bourgeois, the creators of the healthy indulgence brand, Lekkco
- Bram and Jennifer explain the marketing research behind the Lekkco flavors and share their favorites
- Jennifer shares insight from working on Red Bull’s marketing campaign and bringing their product to the United States
- Bram talks about the importance of getting the timing right when you’re introducing a new product to American consumers
- At what point did Bram and Jennifer decide to launch Lekkco together?
- Why 99 percent of food companies fail
- Lessons learned: scaling in the early days of Lekkco
- The method they used to improve their brand story when they first brought their product to stores
- Finding brand ambassadors, the value of word of mouth, and where you can buy Lekkco
In this episode…
Have you ever wished you could have chocolate with every meal and not feel the slightest bit of guilt? Well, that day has arrived. You can now enjoy your favorite dark chocolate flavor as a spread. And this healthy indulgence is vegan, low in sugar, and has no nuts, gluten, or dairy. Thanks to Bram Bourgeois and Jennifer Lukas-Bourgeois, who found a way to bring a Belgian tradition to the United States.
Since they launched Lekkco back in 2017, when they sold their first order to a family-run deli in Skokie, Illinois, Bram and Jennifer have managed to expand their market reach dramatically. Their products are now available at large retailers in 42 major cities throughout the United States. However, they’ve made some missteps along the way and are here to share what they’ve learned.
In this episode of Inspired Insider, Dr. Jeremy Weisz is joined by Bram Bourgeois and Jennifer Lukas-Bourgeois, the Co-founders of Lekkco, a Belgian-style chocolate spread brand. Together, they explain what inspired them to create their dark chocolate spread, how they expanded their product line, and what they learned from Red Bull’s marketing campaign. Plus, they offer some helpful tips for developing a brand story when you’re first starting out.
Resources Mentioned in this episode
- Lekkco
- Lekkco Recipes
- Jennifer Lukas-Bourgeois on LinkedIn
- Bram Bourgeois on LinkedIn
- Lekkco on Amazon
- Lekkco on Faire
- Email your resume to become a Lekkco Brand Ambassador
Special Mentions:
Related Episodes:
- How To Start From Scratch With a Food Product Business with Peter Rahal Founder of RxBar
- [Sweet and Snack Show Series] How to Improve Your Health and Wellness with Diana Stobo Founder of Truth Bar
- Mastering The Ancient Art of Jun Kombucha with Holly Lyman, Founder of Wild Tonic
- [Sweet and Snack Show Series] Creating a Positive Impact with Rob Nelson Founder of Big League Chew
Sponsor for this episode
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Insider Stories from Top Leaders & Entrepreneurs…
Episode Transcript
Jeremy Weisz 0:19
Dr Jeremy Weisz here, Founder of InspiredInsider.com where i talk with inspirational entrepreneurs and leaders you know this is i don’t know you know i’m here with Bram and Jennifer as you can see i’m gonna introduce them formally in a second but i don’t know if i’ve given away product on an episode before so if you’re watching live this is going to be you probably are listening maybe later on but if you’re watching live we’re going to give away products and if you can look if you’re seeing the screen you see these beautiful delicious jars of this belgium chocolate spread Lekkco so we’re gonna give away before i introduce everything we’re going to give away a couple jars of these and what we’re gonna do is we’re going to choose in the comments what would you eat chocolate on in may we may read on weirdness our favorites i don’t know how we’re gonna rate them but what do you like to eat chocolate with an extra bonus points if you tried Lekkco and you tell us what you like eating Lekkco on right for me i actually um i’ve tried a bunch of the flavors i’ll actually like putting it on bananas but i also like putting in my smoothies so that i have a nice rich chocolate dessert smoothie okay and we’ll talk about all the all the benefits of Lekkco but i encourage you to check out other episodes of the podcast i’ve had some amazing founders the founders of RXBARS the i like profiling people Jennifer and Bram who i really love their product and i consume it so that our RXBAR is Truth Bar’s, WILD TONIC kombucha and many Big League Chew that he was a blast check out other episodes of the podcast before i introduce Bram and Jennifer and you could put any comments in the whole time and we’ll check them afterwards and this episode is brought to you by Rise25 at Rise25 we help businesses give to and connect to their dream 100 relationships we do that by helping you run your podcasts and i you know Bram and Jennifer you we’ve known each other for a little bit but the number one thing in my life is relationships i’m always looking for a way to give to my best relationships and i’ve seen no better way over the past over decade to profile the people and the brands and the companies that i respect and love and shout them out from the rooftops and let them talk about what they’re working on so if anyone out there thought about starting a podcast we’ve been doing it for over 10 years and you can go to Rise25.com and check it out now this was inspired by family trips to belgium enjoying breakfast featuring dark chocolate spread Bram and Jennifer Bourgeois started Lekkco to bring a 50 year old belgian dark chocolate spread recipe to the united states and some of the best companies i’ve seen for him generally they take something from another country they innovate and they bring it to the us where it’s normal somewhere else and is not normal in that country like you look at coconut water right people walk around brazil it’s like hanging from you know it’s everywhere but people in the US just love it so but what’s unique about Lekkco is you know there’s a rise of not dairy and gluten allergies and diabetes and well Lekkco allows everyone to do is indulge without the worry it’s an all natural it’s not free gluten free dairy free vegan non gmo dark belgian chocolate spread recipe that’s lower in sugar and calories so it makes it a more guilt free treat so thank you both for joining me
Jennifer Lukas-Bourgeois 3:55
thank you very much
Jeremy Weisz 3:57
it’s good to be it’s pretty accurate
Jennifer Lukas-Bourgeois 3:59
yeah
Jeremy Weisz 3:59
what would you add into that
Jennifer Lukas-Bourgeois 4:03
i think it’s healthy indulgence i think you did a fantastic job great job and pronunciation of the last name that should be a test to spell it as well but no he did a great job thank you so much we appreciate that we appreciate the acknowledgement as well