ollin: Cake mix taking the baggage out of gluten.
- KLS
- Jun 5
- 4 min read
For the 189th feature of our "Together Talks" campaign, we collaborated with ollin and Founder, Alyssa Fernandez. Ollin is a female and Latina-founded company bringing heritage grains with silly names (but serious flavor) to premium cake mixes that make gluten feel good again. We're on a mission to call a truce with wheat through stone-milling traditions and prove that gluten deserves to be celebrated, not feared.
"Together Talks" feature # 189: ollin presented by KLS - Your Trusted Shipping Solutions In The USA
What separates you from your competition? What have been the biggest challenges? Goals for upcoming year + Next phase of the company? How have you dealt with being the face of the company?
What aspect of entrepreneurship do you appreciate the most? Share a decision that you made that was detrimental? What is your why?
Story of how it was created?
We like to think of ourselves as a gluten company above anything else. A few years ago, while working my regular tech job, I felt dissatisfied and discovered a deep passion for food that started with my own health journey. I felt called to work in food and began slowly figuring out what that meant.
Through process of elimination, I realized I didn't want to make food, serve it, or give health advice. Starting a business became my path, and gluten was the most obvious gap I saw in the market. Post-COVID, I became my own baker and was researching wedding cakes when I discovered that what you're paying for is decoration, not what's inside. Almost everyone uses the same cake mixes, even gluten-free bakeries use generic blends with extremely long ingredient lists.
I started experimenting with my own cake using knowledge from sourdough baking and heritage grains. Despite all the confusing baking jargon about protein percentages and ratios, I eventually created a cake I loved for my wedding. Friends and family adored it.
It gradually became obvious that this should be the business. More than selling cake mix, I want to influence people to see gluten—an ingredient that's been villainized—in a different light. My job as a founder is to create products that make it easier to understand these flours without getting caught up in baking minutiae.
What separates you from your competition?
It's messaging. My background is in writing and rhetoric—I think deeply about what words mean and how we communicate. I spent most of 2024 obsessing over finding the right way to say something.
The messaging isn't about big health claims. Yes, there's more fiber, but it's still cake mix with sugar—it's supposed to be indulgent. I didn't want to be dishonest or target only the niche consumer who already knows about ancient grains.
I'm being gluten-forward, taking the baggage out of gluten. My competition isn't Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines—I'll never compete on scale, price, or longevity. My main competition is gluten-free. Most people avoiding gluten aren't actually allergic; they've just been told gluten is bad. We're making it palatable and inviting.
What have been the biggest challenges?
Figuring out the messaging was the biggest challenge. I was shy about telling people I was starting a business because I wasn't confident in the messaging. Once that became crystal clear, I knew the direction we could go.
Goals for upcoming year + Next phase of the company?
It's about opening up and listening—where are consumers taking this? How are they interpreting and using it? Where are they buying and discovering it? I'm eager to see what people do with our products.
Based on my CPG research, it doesn't matter how much founders spend tweaking messaging. You can only give kernels for the community to make it what it is. People call us a brand, but I disagree—we're a company with a product. We don't have consumers yet. The consumer makes the brand through collective identity.
How have you dealt with being the face of the company?
I spoke with a cake influencer I admired who said she lost herself in the company and had trouble separating herself from it. It's a learning process with many iterations before finding the sweet spot. The community will create that identity.
What aspect of entrepreneurship do you appreciate the most?
The creative liberty. I always thought I'd be a writer because I love world-building, but I didn't have what it took. This is my outlet—I get to do collaborative world-building, which is exciting and the best of both worlds.
Share a decision that you made that was detrimental?
With our packaging, I should have researched the liners more thoroughly. When sending first samples, products were exploding in transit. This showed me there are skills I don't yet have and encouraged me to hire someone for operations who knows the industry and what to vet for.
What is your why?
I feel I'm the person who can communicate this best. I want to see other people start companies or small businesses adjacent to this. I want to see gluten in a better light. If it can happen with craft beer and coffee, why can't it happen with wheat?
Do you have a moment that brings you the most joy?
Recently being featured in Snaxshot newsletter. I'd been subscribed for almost two years, and seeing my packaging in my inbox was validating. For the past year and a half, I've just been "the weird gluten lady" in my friend group.
Piece of Advice
I'll reiterate advice from another founder: only start a business if that's the only thing in your heart and soul you feel you should do. It's a journey, and I feel like I've barely started.
Promo Code
WELCOMEGLUTEN10 for 10% off your first order at ollinyall.com
Community Callout
She’s doing with dairy what I’m doing with gluten.
Ramping Your Brand by Dr. James Richardson is THE CPG Bible.
In Closing
KLS wants to thank ollin and Founder, Alyssa Fernandez, for today's "Together Talks" feature. Follow along for their journey with their social handles below!
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