From Chocolate Scientist to Entrepreneur: The Story of 7 Summits Snacks

By Kristyn Carriere

It all started with a problem. For me, a chocolate scientist, it was the struggle of eating another gross-tasting energy gel during my marathons. For my sister Leanna, it was finding wholesome chocolate that spoke to her as an elite athlete and personal trainer. Both of us were deeply dissatisfied with the options available to fuel our lives and adventures.

Two problems, one simple idea: what if chocolate for fuel was the answer?!

That was the spark that became 7 Summits Snacks. It wasn’t born as a formal business plan, but as a mission to create real food experiences that fuel your body and nourish your soul.

Seven Summits Snacks has always been rooted in developing a winning functional snack for our community. From the get-go, we’ve leveraged outdoors enthusiasts to co-create our products and are forever grateful for their feedback in building our brand. The saying “it takes a village” is part of the backbone that keeps us on our expedition to snacking success. 

Rooted in science, I was obsessed with finding the perfect blend of nutrients to provide a sustained energy release for an hour of running. This was coupled with us tasting many different chocolates until we found the perfect flavor, as we knew our product had to work AND taste amazing. To test our first bars, we leveraged an online community of endurance athletes to trial our bars while they hike, bike and run. 

The lesson we learned here was non-negotiable: never compromise on either taste or function. We took the feedback from our community and fine-tuned the recipe for their performance goals. The combination of chocolate science and endurance athletics became our secret sauce.

I’ll never forget the first time a real athlete came to us at an event to share the elation they experienced after our bars truly helped them on their journey. What gratitude I felt in that moment knowing that we made a difference in an athlete’s life. We knew the product was delicious and worked, but having that external, real life validation was a lift we needed, and proof to retailers that chocolate is the answer. 

We quickly learned that creating an amazing product was only half the battle. We had to master a whole new world of business management - something we were not experts in. 

Building a business has tested me in ways I never imagined. I lost a partner, became a mother of a disabled child, faced personal health emergencies, and the loss of a parent—all while trying to keep grow and scale this fledgling business. Having a team of skilled and complimentary talents around me enables the business to continue growing, even when setbacks arise.

Over time, gratitude evolved into a leadership philosophy. There are still days when I question everything, but gratitude and grace for the small wins always bring me back. 

The supportive community, the new account listing, the feedback from a struggling athlete that our bars work to help them get their goals. I learned to lead with heart and acknowledge the win, even if it’s small, because I knew what it felt like to struggle and even small progress builds momentum. I learned to celebrate my team for every step forward because building a growing business is a team effort.

Today, 7 Summits Snacks fuels thousands of everyday adventurers across Canada with steady year-over-year growth and a U.S. expansion on the horizon. But success to me isn’t measured in numbers—it’s in the lives we touch and the purpose we carry forward.

Connect With Kristyn

www.sevensummitssnacks.com