Product Review: HighKey

By Kaylee Franklin

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If you haven’t noticed from my previous posts, I’m a big snack girl. I especially love sweets but more often than not I would love sweet snacks but I don't want to sacrifice eating all the sugar it comes with.

If you’re like me and looking for a different sweet alternative, I’ve found an excellent alternative for you! Introducing…HighKey, the “FOMO No Mo’ cookies.” On a mission to drive sugar out of snacks and remove over 10 million pounds of sugar from the American diet by 2025, Highkey is the fastest-growing better-for-you cookie brand in the US. 

Earlier this week, Lee sat down with Joe Ens, to chat about his journey to becoming the CEO of HighKey. In Episode 114, he shares his journey from growing up in Toronto, to working at General Mills for over 20 years, to meeting the founders of Highkey. He talks about his experiences leading a Fortune 200 company, how to build trust with your team, why he uses the big plus one hiring strategy, and the difference between a growth versus a fixed mindset.

Prior to listening to the episode, I always saw HighKey advertised on Amazon and would pass them in my local grocery store but never committed to buying. When I heard more about them on the show, I knew I HAD to pick some up. Lee raved about them and said she almost finished a pack in one whole sitting! 

I headed to my local Target where they had them available, went straight for the cookie and cracker aisle, and saw the light blue packaging sticking out between the other new CPG brands. The other brands looked similar to each other with pink and orange/gold mix, or all white packaging to the branding. HighKey stood out with its blue and white branding and cookies on the packaging.

I really appreciate it when a brand makes its packaging stand out and is easy to find on shelves. As soon as I made it to the aisle, my eyes were immediately drawn to the blue packaging. I was familiar with the brand so I was expecting to have a few flavors to choose from, as well as their cracker options, but unfortunately, they only had three flavors available: Chocolate Chip, SnickerDoodle, and Double Chocolate Brownie. I looked for the red packaging of the crackers, and asked a store associate, but was informed they were either unavailable or not being sold at my store.

I made my purchases and headed straight to my car. I couldn’t wait till I got home to try them, so I ripped open the Chocolate Chip pack and got to snacking. They are the perfect mini cookies. The Chocolate Chip flavor reminds me of Chips Ahoy but in a less crunchy, less crumbly, and healthier way. I had quite a few to begin with because I was shocked by how good they were. And then I remembered that I have two other flavors to try!

Snickerdoodle is one of my favorite cookies ever, so I went for them next. I grabbed one and noticed the same fluffy, crunchy, yet soft texture from the Chocolate Chip and had high hopes. I tried the Snickerdoodle and although I felt it tasted good, I wish there was a stronger taste of cinnamon to it.

Next up was the Double Chocolate Brownie, and I had a strong feeling these would be my favorite. As expected after the first two flavors, these had the same texture and level of sweetness and were everything you’d expect from a chocolate cookie. I even asked myself “how did they get the chocolate to be so sweet and low in sugar?” These ones are DELICIOUS, but I’m also a big chocolate girl.

If you’re looking for some other flavors and want to give HighKey a try, they offer other flavors in their mini cookies: Chocolate Mint, Vanilla Shortbread, Peanut Butter, Lemon, Salted Caramel, and Chocolate Peanut Butter are all available online. They also have Vanilla and Banana Wafers.

Fortunately for us, they’ve expanded beyond their mini cookies and wafers. This expansion has grown to chocolates, crackers, and other treats. To get a full look at their product line, I recommend buying from their website. 

Did I mention that some of the best things about their products (besides low sugars, of course) are that they're gluten-free, keto-friendly, AND high in protein? They also include how much sugar they’ve eliminated on their website, and since opening their business they’ve eliminated 2,535,015 pounds of sugar. That’s a lot of sugar!

We’re big fans of HighKey over here at Stairway to CEO and we look forward to seeing more of what they do, getting to try new products, and the progress of their continued goal to eliminate sugar from American snacks.

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