Danielle Gormley is feeding Lodi one bowl of chia pudding at a time. This healthy alternative to ice cream or other processed desserts is packed with both vitamins and mushrooms. It may sound like a strange combination, but Hello Puddin Chia Company’s loyal following tells us it’s a winning combo.
“Often times I sell to one person, they come back the next week and tell me they were so excited to tell their friends that they gave away all of their puddins,” Danielle laughs.
Danielle started Hello Puddin out of a personal desire for a gluten-, dairy-, soy-, and refined sugar-free dessert. With an entrepreneurial spirit, and a lot of knowledge about the benefits of adaptogenic mushrooms, Danielle began blending her own flavorful concoctions in a shared kitchen in Lodi.
Fast forward a year and a half and Danielle has outgrown her humble digs. In August, the mother of two started working with a co-packer to mass produce her famous puddings (that first gained notoriety at local farmer’s markets) and get the word out about the dessert’s health benefits, many coming from its mushrooms such as reishi, chaga, lion’s mane, and turkey tail.
“I’m a scoop of ice cream at night kind of gal, and my bowl went empty after making [many] food changes. I turned to chocolate chia pudding to save the day,” Danielle says.
Now she’s scooping up helpings of her dark chocolate chia pudding enhanced with relaxing reishi mushroom in order to satisfy her sweet tooth, and combat anxiety and insomnia. Her other flavors use different adaptogenic mushrooms to provide targeted benefits to consumers, including: strawberry enhanced with immune boosting turkey tail, blueberry enhanced with antioxidant-rich chaga, and coffee enhanced with cerebral supportive lion’s mane.
For her, the chia is an alternative to less healthy indulgences that were wreaking havoc on her body. Suffering from a substantial—and for a long time inexplicable—hormonal imbalance, changing her diet was all Danielle could do to stave off problems later associated with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
Her first 10,000 pudding cups—a dry mix that customers make using a milk-product of their choice and put in the refrigerator to set—were handmade by her. Today, she’s out in front of the community talking about the benefits of her company, while a co-packer (another female entrepreneur) takes over the day-to-day.
Try the nutrient-packed elixir for yourself, whether you’re looking for a dessert that fits your restrictive diet or simply want a healthy alternative to your favorite snack, by ordering puddins online, or follow @hellopuddin_chiaco to track Danielle, and her goods, down at a local farmer’s market.
Fill Your Bowl:
Hello Puddin Chia Company
@hellopuddin_chiaco
HelloPuddin.com