Joy Supply raised about $700,000 before moving beyond specialty retail

Joy Supply raised about $700,000 and recorded about $20,000 in pre-launch sales during month one, founder Lindsay Leopold said.

Leopold described Joy Supply as a Brooklyn-based crispy oat cookie brand that uses regeneratively farmed U.S. ingredients. It launched in May 2026. Products now appear at Nordstrom’s holiday market, Westside Market, Big Night and other select New York City grocery stores.

Why did Leopold start Joy Supply?

Leopold said she spent more than 12 years in food, working in New York restaurant kitchens and food media test kitchens. She later developed products for national brands and meal-kit companies Home Chef and Sakara Life. By her account, she had created more than 100 stock-keeping units across categories before starting Joy Supply.

Leopold said she had the idea in April 2025 while taking two months after leaving Sakara Life to consider her next move. She initially considered sustainable agriculture or ag tech. A friend who invests in sustainable agriculture said they were betting big on regenerative farming, which prompted the product concept.

Leopold described her aim: “I can make this Trojan horse product that’s super delicious and just so happens to use these better ingredients so that the more cookies we sell, the more acres we can grow in a more sustainable way.” She planned to sell taste first and let regenerative sourcing carry the mission, rather than preach to consumers.

The trigger was her experience as a parent. Leopold said she rarely bought center-aisle food before becoming a mother, then found no traditional, nostalgic home-style cookie for her daughter. She saw the choice as too narrow: ultra-processed or very health-focused. She also felt burned out on product development.

Leopold said AI and online resources have lowered the barrier for new food brands, but she sees more sameness as a result. She had worked on many launches and knew each production step could take weeks. That experience informed Joy Supply’s timeline, she said.

How did Joy Supply finance its launch?

Leopold said the company raised about $200,000 from friends and family to launch in May 2026. It raised about $250,000 more over the summer and about $450,000 afterward from its first institutional investor, Sling Ventures. She described total fundraising as about $700,000, although the three stated tranches add to $900,000.

Leopold did not explain the $200,000 difference between those tranches and her stated total. The funding base remains unclear at a point when Joy Supply must set production volumes and retail commitments.

Leopold initially targeted the 2025 holiday season, but she said that timetable proved impossible. Joy Supply reached the market about a year later, in May 2026.

Why can manufacturing limit growth?

Leopold said finding a manufacturing partner became one of her biggest challenges. Her first co-manufacturer, located near New York City after a nationwide search, produced high-quality products but ran short-staffed. Leopold ordered her own ingredients and trained floor staff. She said the plant was more interested in research and development and capitalizing on it than taking on a new client.

Leopold found a second co-packer through Keychain in Massachusetts. She said the co-packer makes high-quality products, holds organic certification and runs tightly organized operations. Its small scale and high costs now limit Joy Supply’s path into supermarkets.

Leopold said Joy Supply is moving out of specialty retail and now targets supermarkets. That shift happened quickly after the May 2026 launch. She needs a lower price point, but current margins cannot support it.

Leopold said the company makes about 10,000 boxes per production run, once each month, and the manufacturer needs one week for each run at that volume. She put the scale problem plainly: “If we 4X our production, then suddenly we’re their only client, and that feels problematic.”

Leopold described the industry as old-school. She said manufacturers rarely advertise and rely on word of mouth, so she has asked industry contacts and former colleagues for referrals. Many plants now specialize in gluten-free or allergen-friendly products, she said, but finding one that can handle all Joy Supply’s ingredients remains difficult.

How did an award accelerate retail demand?

Leopold said the company did little direct retail outreach before winning a Bon Appétit Pantry Award. Bon Appétit featured Joy Supply online in June as one of its favorite new snacks, which drew attention from an unnamed big-box retailer and Nordstrom. The September award produced more inbound interest.

Leopold said Joy Supply will launch in Central Market in Q1 2027. That will be the brand’s first more traditional supermarket chain, she said, and she expects it to provide more data on demand. Joy Supply products remain available through Nordstrom’s holiday market and the named New York grocers.

Leopold said her retail push has leaned on specialty accounts since the summer. For Q4, she plans a direct-to-consumer push around a holiday gift box with three flavors and a bow. She has promoted the website little because she originally envisioned a mass-market grocery brand, but she now sees a need to maintain both channels.

How does Leopold run Joy Supply?

Leopold said she remains the company’s only full-time employee, with a couple of fractional specialists supporting the business. That structure has left her responsible for sales strategy. She also credits broader involvement in the consumer packaged-goods community for generating opportunities, and she says leaning into that network has opened more doors for Joy Supply.

Leopold advises other food entrepreneurs to take calls and speak with fellow founders. Her near-term plan places the next wave of retail partnerships in Q1 2027.

The immediate test is whether Central Market and the next retail wave provide the demand data Leopold wants, while a new co-packer lowers unit costs without making Joy Supply the manufacturer’s only client.