Area company takes big bite out of the snack stick market

After meeting through a mutual friend while living in Chicago in 2012, Peter Maldonado of Naples and Rashid Ali had lunch the next day to discuss an idea: launching a company specializing in meat snack sticks that would appeal to the healthy eating demographic.

Maldonado, a personal trainer who had previously been a purveyor of frozen healthy meals at dozens of gyms from Southwest Florida to Atlanta, was living in the Midwest, so his wife could finish school. Ali’s financial and operations expertise perfectly complemented Maldonado's marketing and sales acumen. And Maldonado had noticed during travels to CrossFit competitions the vast array of products sold to participants and the growing market of customers for those products.