Clara Paye – Founder & CEO of UNiTE Food

UNiTE Food is a Yorba Linda, California-based company that produces globally inspired protein bars. The brand offers unique flavors such as Churro, Mexican Hot Chocolate, and PB & Jelly, aiming to bring diversity to the wellness industry. Each bar provides around 10 grams of protein and is gluten-free, catering to health-conscious consumers seeking both nutrition and nostalgic tastes. 

Clara often relied on protein bars during her busy career but found the available flavors uninspiring. Drawing from her diverse culinary background, she recognized a gap in the market for culturally diverse flavors. 

Clara’s father is an entrepreneur. Her family immigrated from Sudan when she was five years old. When they arrived in the United States, her father started a plumbing supply distribution business, which is the business Clara worked in earlier in her career. 

The idea for UNiTE was something Clara started thinking about in 2018 or 2019 while she was still working in her family’s plumbing business. She began experimenting with different recipes and products in her kitchen in the early days of the pandemic in 2020.

Clara often visits ethnic markets to learn about new flavors for new products. She also studied flavors and what people were eating when she traveled abroad. 

QUOTES

“If I’m anything, I’m a very curious person. I’m curious about how the world works and I’m curious about why segments of the population aren’t being served.” (Clara) 

“If you focus on your customers, they will reward you with loyalty. And if they reward you with loyalty, your revenue will grow. If you create value, why would somebody leave you?” (Clara)

“For me, it was about making sure we were taking care of our customers. That was the winning strategy. It sounds really simple, but it’s way harder to execute.” (Clara)

“Business is a framework. Once you understand product liability, you understand how to insure against it. You learn about the certifying bodies in your industry. It’s hard and it’s not (hard).” (Clara)

“It’s really about building relationships. Mutually beneficial relationships.” (Clara) 

“When you’re over 40 and you created a new business, you’re usually not doing it for money, you’re doing it to try to make the world a better place.” (Clara)

“I wanted to find common ground. Let’s find flavors that will resonate with lots of people.” (Clara)

“The essence of the UNiTE brand is to seek to understand and seek to find common ground instead of focusing on how we’re different.” (Clara)

“At the end of the day, consumers want authenticity and they want brands that create products that are meaningful to them. (Clara)

“I don’t really worry about copycat brands. I worry more when they stop copying me.” (Clara)

TRANSCRIPT

00:01.49

vigorbranding

All right. Hello, everyone. Welcome to Fork Tales. I’m Michael Pavone. Our guest today is Clara Paye. And I’ve known Clara for a long time. ah She is from Unite Foods. ah Unite’s line of nutritious bars are built around the concept of global flavors, but also comfort foods. Clara has started a brand that’s redefining what protein and nutrition bars can be, and I’m happy to have her as a guest. Clara, welcome.

 

00:25.55

Clara Paye _ UNiTE

Thanks, Michael. Good to be here.