A couple months back, I discovered these gluten-free Boulder Canyon brand Rice and Adzuki Bean Chipotle Cheese snack chips at CostCo. I purchased a bag the first time I encountered them, and after trying them, the next time I was at Costco, I picked up a few bags - they were most excellent! Their bag was clearly marked "gluten-free", which is the one reason I bought them to try, and I was glad I did.
Essentially the Adzuki beans and cheese and spice made for something like a gluten-free Doritos (brand) tortilla chip, though a bit lighter in texture since they are rice-based (vs. Corn). Also, the PRICE was right : $4.79 for a 20-ounce (i.e., Large) bag of these chips, which is price competitive with non-gluten-free equivalents, and a super bargain for gluten-free snacking!
Gluten-Free Investing
I was actually so impressed by these gluten-free snack chips that I went digging to find out more about the company that makes them : Inventure Group Inc. (Public, NASDAQ:SNAK). I was delighted to see that they were publicly traded on the NASDAQ, unlike quite a few smaller players that make some of my favorite gluten-free foods.
This chart shows the stock-price for Inventure Group since early October, during the insane market panic period of recent. I decided that, although Inventure makes other gluten-containing snaks, I liked their gluten-free snack chips enough that I said "why not, I'll bet on them doing OK", and waited for a nice daily-dip in price to occur.
The stock hit intra-day lows of a dollar a couple times, and I snagged some at close to that price. I figured that for the price of a few bags of chips, I could also own some stock. SNAK (ticker symbol) has since posted solid earnings, announced a stock buy-back, and has now climbed back to $1.85/share, and I hope it returns to and stabilizes near their longer-term average of $3 or $4/share (or, perhaps a buyout buy a larger player). But, more than anything, I hope they continue to manufacture great-tasting gluten-free snacks that I can enjoy! Of course, it will sure be nice if I make enough off their stock to pay for all of their snack chips I am eating :)
It is not often I get to combine my financial / stock-market blog topics with my gluten-free blog entries, but this made for a perfect opportunity. Regardless of whether you are an investor or not, I am rather certain if you are reading this blog that you are wheat-free and/or gluten-free, and as such, these Boulder Canyon brand chips are a nice crunchy, tasty treat.
You can safely put these gluten-free chips out at a party and know everyone (not just celiac sufferers) will enjoy them -- all my family and friends love these chips, and they have had me pick up bags from CostCo for them too... all which makes for a good vote of confidence in the product. The *only* complaint I have is that if I eat too many of these chips at once, like most snack chips, they start to become a bit salty for me.
I am not sure if you can easily obtain these chips elsewhere (I have only seen at CostCo thus far), but hopefully they are available at a store near you.
7 comments:
Some celiacs have also a problem woth corn - so always check the label!
Alexa Fleckenstein M.D., physician, author.
Buying stock in a gluten-free company that makes fabu chips seems like a great idea to me. The gluten-free market is only gonna go up from here!
Alexa,
These particular chips do have corn ingredients. As you know, corn does not contain the gliadin proteins that Celiac Disease directly reacts to, though corn does have its own gluten (as we all know from the famous Chinese corn gluten in pet foods) of a different nature that some people *may* have a problem with.
I would just suggest being very careful to not scare new Celiac patients into thinking they can not eat corn. It would take a substantial elimination-diet to elucidate corn as an allergen beyond that of other gluten issues. And, I personally think it should be done "double-blind" to make sure people do not "react" just by thinking they will react. But, this is something each person will need to take up with their dietitian if needed.
Thanks for stopping by.
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Sally,
Well, I agree that the Gluten-Free market is only lookup "up", but of course that does not mean the stock in companies that make gluten-free products will go up :)
But, I remain optimistic as I see the potential. Here's hoping for more great gluten-free products that may also bring investing opportunity with them! m
I MUST GET SOME OF THESE CHIPS...thanks, MIKE!
I too found these chips at a Costco in Minnesota and now they no longer carry them. Doing several search's on intranet and calling the company who makes them has not lead me to them yet. Now I'n in Florida and going to Costco here to see if they carry them. If you find them somewhere else please advise.
Anon,
I too noticed that Costco no longer had these in stock. I found it upsetting, though luckily I had purchased a few bags to hold me over for a while. I have no idea what became of them; perhaps they were just an experimental-chip? Got me. Sorry the company didn't call you back. If I find them elsewhere, I will post an update.
I just bought these from Whole Foods, so you can definitely get them there!
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