GoKawiilKey Takeaways Lewensztain founded That’s it. in 2012, bringing the bootstrapped brand to farmers markets.
An early Whole Foods national rollout secured additional partnerships and ongoing growth.
The business takes a strategic, intentional approach to innovation that centers its initial mission.
During medical school in 2005, Dr. Lior Lewensztain stumbled upon a sobering statistic: only about one third of Americans hit their recommended daily servings of fruit. Lewensztain wanted to change that. So he started to learn more about the products available on supermarket shelves.
Image Credit: That’s it. Lior Lewensztain.
Lewensztain’s research found that although a lot of CPG products incorporated purees, concentrates and “fruit leather type” formulations, the market lacked snacks with real fruit, minimal ingredients and no added sugar.
The prospect of becoming an entrepreneur “came out of left field.” But Lewensztain was determined to build a fruit-first CPG brand of his own. After graduating from medical school, he joined an accelerated MBA program.
Leveraging an MD and MBA to start a business: That’s it.
“I got a business degree with the intent of utilizing both backgrounds to practice medicine on a grander scale and in a more of a preventative way,” Lewensztain says, “especially trying to get kids to develop better habits — to let them know that they can actually eat things that taste good and are good for you.”
Lewensztain founded his fruit-focused snack brand in 2012. He named the business That’s it. to encapsulate its simple, few ingredients. A bar with just two (one fruit and a second fruit) became its first and core product.
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