Haverhill Baker Wins $3K in EforAll Business Accelerator Program

Haverhill baker HamdAllah Olona’s sweet snack GoodieKrunch won $3,000 in an EforAll pitch contest. (Courtesy photograph.)

Shoppers at Haverhill’s Farmers Market quickly embraced local baker HamdAllah Olona’s sweet snack GoodieKrunch over the summer—and now others in the Merrimack Valley are taking notice of the coconut and raisin treat.

Earlier this month, the married mom snagged first place in the Entrepreneurship for All Accelerator, a free 12-month mentorship program aimed at supporting small business owners and fostering relationships within the community.

Refining her Goodie Krunch snack pitch with EforAll mentors during weekly workshops, Oolona presented her passion project to a panel of judges including Market Basket Vice President and Controller Michael King, who awarded her $3,000 to expand her brand.

“This traditional authentic signature recipe came from my beloved grandmother, who lived to be 101 years old,” Olona tells WHAV. “She warmly prepared it using only simple, good-for-you ingredients. My mother, now 86, inherited it and in turn passed it onto me.”

A key selling point, Olona tells WHAV, is the fact that her snack features five simple ingredients that can all be pronounced: Coconut, raisins, salt, sugar and vanilla extract. The baker recommends eating the GoodieKrunch snack alone or using it to mix into yogurt or top ice cream.

Her whole product line is gluten and dairy-free, which Olona prioritized due to her own gluten intolerance.

In the past several months, she has expanded from what she sold at the Haverhill Farmers Market to include flavors like peanut butter and dark chocolate.

With Market Basket being her ultimate retail “get,” Olona is currently in negotiations with several locations to market her product across the area, she tells WHAV and plans to return to the Farmers Market in June. She also sells the snack on her website goodiekrunch.com.

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