Community Highlights: Meet Connor Lawrence of Oso Adventure Meals

Today we’d like to introduce you to Connor Lawrence. They and their team shared their story with us below:

Oso Meals started when a couple of friends (Connor, Felipe, and Marcos) took Dom on his first backpacking trip. After a big day of hiking and summits, we pulled out some dehydrated beef stroughahnouf and lasagna. Needless to say, Dom was unimpressed by dinner, and we started talking about the food we wish we had with us, the spicy flavors of Mexico that we grew up eating at our grandma’s house.

From here, the idea for Oso Meals was born. We bought a dehydrator and started experimenting in our kitchen, first for ourselves and then for friends and family. People liked them so much we decided to take it to the next level – we launched a Kickstarter campaign, raised ~$18,000, and hired a food scientist to help convert Felipe’s family recipes from Michoacan, Mexico, into shelf-ready adventure meals!

That was in 2021/2022. Over the last two years, we’ve been working on growing the business and becoming part of the outdoor recreation community in Colorado and beyond. We’ve completed a startup Accelerator, been featured on Denver 7 news, hosted some epic pop-up events, and met some amazing people. You can now find Oso Meals on the shelves of mom-and-pop outdoor shops in multiple states and national parks or online through our website!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Not a smooth road, it was very hard to start a CPG company as first-time founders building into the tailwinds of Covid and an economic recession! We’ve struggled to raise capital and REALLY struggled with the dehydrated supply chain. We’ve had contractors rip us off, made mistakes with our package printing, and overall, had to learn a lot of lessons to get here!

One example is that almost immediately after we got into two Colorado REI stores (our first big box wholesale deals), REI’s corporate HQ shut down the local buying program for all stores nationwide! That was a major bummer and really hurt small outdoor startups like us who can’t yet service multiple states with inventory.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Oso Meals specializes in dehydrated meals that are full of real spices and real flavor. We are proud of our authentic roots in Mexico and the American Southwest and the fact that we make all of our meals locally here in Colorado. We are currently in the process of revamping our supply chain to use only local Colorado ingredients!

In addition to being a majority BIPOC-owned company, we donate a portion of every meal to getting kids into the outdoors through our non-profit partners in Denver. We currently offer four meals: Enchilada Bowl, Veggie Enchilada Bowl, Pozole, and Huevos Rancheros. We are also currently in the kitchen working on developing a pinole (ancient superfood) based snack bar for kids!

What changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
The outdoor industry is thriving right now. People are desperate for nature and getting away from crowds. We’ve seen a ton of energetic young companies spring up across all the dimensions of outdoor recreation, and Colorado is now a nationwide hub for outdoor startups. We are also seeing more people of color get outside. Latinos represent the fastest-growing demographic in outdoor recreation.

That being said, we still see a lot of underrepresentation in the outdoors. Despite making up 40% of the country, people of color represent less than 15% of public land users. We believe everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy the mountains – no matter what you look like, where you are from, or what zip code you live in.

Pricing:

• $13-15/meal

Contact Info:

• Website: www.osomeals.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/osoadventuremeals
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/osoadventures