Moving Acadiana Forward: Local kale chip company expands from Farmers Market to 17 Whole Foods Stores

A search for healthier food options motivated one Lafayette woman to start her own company.

“I would go to the grocery store and try to find nutritious things and think oh god I can’t afford this,” says Taylor Stokes, of Taylormade Eats. This led Stokes to the farmers market. She found better prices and kale which at the time wasn’t as popular as it is now. She says, “I could get all of it for cheap and go home and experiment and make cool stuff with it. Then the kale chips were great. I love French fries so I was like whats a healthy version of French fries something salty and crispy.”

Once Taylor perfected her recipe she started bringing her chips to the farmers market and they took off. One day her mother met a rep from Whole Foods who was interested in Taylormade Eats treats. “My mom said she got her email address and I was like ’mom I’m in ziplock bags with sharpies there’s no way.’” 

Fast forward to getting packaging, barcodes, and a logo Taylormade Eats hit the shelves in September of 2014 in all seven Whole Foods in Lousiana. In November of 2019, she’s expanded to all ten Whole Foods in Huston.

Talyor says her inspiration to keep growing comes from her mother, a dedicated nurse. She says, “I watched how much joy it brought her to do what she loves and taking care of people. It always gave me the drive to want to find something I was passionate about and just follow it.”
This summer Taylor hired her first two employees to help produce more chips and expand the company. She’s now working on other healthy treats to introduce to the farmers market this summer.