Women in Food: 10 Questions with Kate Sornik from Kate Bakes Bars

Today's Women in Food Interview is one that also comes with a cool announcement! We're talking with Kate from Kate bakes which is a DC based plant based bar/snack company. Kate just announced recently that Kate Bakes acquired fellow DC snack business Out Of The Box Bakery and will now carry their products under the Kate Bakes label. Congrats Kate! 

Tell us about yourself and your business.

I'm Kate of Kate Bakes, a gluten-free snack company focusing on vegan and vegetarian protein bars. I started the company because I was looking for something good to eat on the go. Many of the protein bars I found were either tasteless or not as healthy as they claimed. At the time I was writing a recipe blog called "New Kind on the Vegan Block" and decided to come up with my own. It eventually lead to starting the business, which has completely changed my life in the best way possible! I get to spend my days building a business I love around products I truly believe in! 

If you could define your food philosophy in one sentence it would be….

Eat real food!  I'm a big Michael Pollan fan - his rational, well thought-out reasoning and calm tone are much needed in the food industry.  

What are your 3 must have foods in your kitchen?

 Hummus, an entire food group for me; sriracha, which can "fix" any meal; and almond milk, for everything in-between!

It’s your birthday. What are you eating?

A nice, sit down breakfast is hard to come by for me, so on my birthday I'm doing it up! GF waffles, some earth balance and syrup, with fruit on the side and a huge almond milk latte.  A GF vegan dessert will also make an appearance during the day.  Maybe 2 appearances.  

Signature cocktail?

Russian Standard vodka, seltzer and splash of ginger syrup. If you're a vodka fan and haven't tried Russian Standard yet, I suggest you make it your next bottle.  Trust me.

Food you can’t like no matter how hard you try?

Baby corn. And this from a person on a plant based diet!

What are your go-to resources for all things food (websites/magazines/groceries etc)?

 Can I say Instagram? I'm blown away by how much I've learned from what's essentially a picture app!  Of course it's more than that though, it's a gateway to new food products, recipes and food bloggers.  You name it, I find it there first.  I'm always up for trying new things, so once I find out about them, I usually check to see if I can get them through Vitacost.  It has to be one of the biggest online health food stores, with fast shipping and a lot of reasonably priced Vitacost brand options for expensive ingredients or products.  

Food fad you wish would die a horrible death?

Food in mason jars.  Glass is so heavy! Maybe this has escaped me because I'm always carrying my food around with me?

Must have kitchen tool:

Vitamix!  It really is that good.  I recently did a sampling at Williams-Sonoma and my table was by the Vitamix display. I sold one in the first 10 minutes I was there!

What’s the one thing you learned this year that changed the way you think about food?

 I think I learn little things all the time that influence my overall food philosophy.  It's more gradual for me.  I try and stay constantly informed, reading articles and studies whenever I can.  GMOs and sugar have been on my radar a lot lately, particularly because I do make protein bars.  I want to know everything I can and then adjust accordingly from there.