About Us

From The Founder:

Hi, I am Izhar Groner, the founder of Plantraw®.

As a kid I saw family members gaining weight and getting sick with the modern-day scourges of high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. 

Determined not to go there, I studied everything I could about nutrition and health--from biology in college, to books, journals, and professional podcasts.

As someone who used to crave refined carbs I had to find satisfying alternatives that I could stick to--real foods that I could indulge in without harming my body.

For snacks, I would prepare for myself healthy treats which I couldn't find anywhere, and I used dates instead of sugar.

Friends and family loved my creations, kept asking me for them, and were telling me that I should consider producing and selling them in stores. Since I cared about health, and wanted to improve people's wellbeing, this was exciting feedback. I decided to follow this passion and in 2016 I started Neoliv Foods, which later became Primeraw Foods, now Plantraw®.

Before this venture I was in finance. I hold an MBA from NYU with majors in both finance and economics, and I am a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Hofstra University, where I also took biology. And I am a graduate of Cornell University's Plant-Based Nutrition Program.

 

My Mission - Nutritionally-Dense, Superb Snacks

I craft vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, and keto snacks that are as delectable as they are wholesome and nutritious.

I set up my own production facility and spared no effort in sourcing the very best ingredients so my customers may enjoy peerless treats.

All my processes revolve around preserving the nutritional value of my products.

I dehydrate my crackers and chips instead of baking them, to preserve as much of their nutrient content as possible.

I don't heat my cocoa-date truffles or my Ice Crage™. Since they are not denatured, you can benefit from the flavonoids, antioxidants, and other micronutrients that naturally occur in raw, unsweetened cocoa paste.

My non-keto products are sweetened with whole organic dates, the fiber of which slows down carb absorption, buffering any potential glucose spike.

Does that mean that the glycemic loads of my non-keto products are universally permissible? Well, if you allow yourself dates, pineapple, mangos, and blueberries then you can enjoy my non-keto products.

  

The History of Plantraw®

I founded Neoliv Foods, the precursor of Primeraw Foods/Plantraw® in 2016. During my initial couple of years in the market, I received customer feedback that was so consistently strong and encouraging that I decided to build my own factory.

After searching throughout Northern and Central New Jersey I found the right spot: An industrial space that had been used to manufacture mattresses, relatively clean, without any chemicals, large enough to house my expected machinery, and not too far from New York City. This is how it looked when I first entered the space with the real estate agent. 

My search had taken longer than I expected and my machinery started arriving before the facility was built out.
Our machinery started arriving - truck

With no extra storage space, I had to work around the packed machines and move them back and forth from different parts of the facility as I fitted it out.
Our machinery start arriving

Working around the boxed machines

My machinery team started assembly as soon as it could, while my construction team was still working on the space.

The space in this picture would be my future packing area.
Starting assembly while fitting out the space

Framing

After many months of work the facility was finally finished.

This is the packing area today.
Packing area finished

In the production area I moved from a Robot Coupe...
Robocoup

...to a bowl cutter...
Bowl cutter

...and assembled other production machinery, like my depositor...
Assembling the depositor

Then, after passing all the required inspections and obtaining all the required permits and certifications, I finally hired people and started production...
Ice cream production 

Product Development

My first product was Chocolith®, also known as Cocoa-Date Truffles.

Chocolith (Cocoa-date truffles)

When entering new stores I would do "demos," giving out samples to introduce my product, and hear what customers had to say. I wanted to make sure I was delivering an excellent product that customers loved, and so I implemented requests and suggestions, like sizes and additional flavors.  
Our cocoa-date ('chocolate') truffles and their ingredients

Over the years I have developed additional products: The Ice Crage™ (a vegan ice cream alternative), Tomato-Onion Chips, natural Ginger Snaps, grain-free granolas, excellent raw kale chips, and grain-free Almond & Seeds Crackers. These are vegan, grain-free, gluten-free, kosher, organic snacks, with no added sugar. My most recent lines include keto snacks -- keto-certified and sweetened with allulose and a tiny bit of dates.

Ice Crage™ (thus called because it’s all the rage) is now in stores in the New York tri-state area. 
Ice Crage in stores
These are my Almond & Seeds Crackers, coming out of the depositor. 
 Raw Crisps™ crackers - prior to dehydration

As part of my mission to improve people's health I also launched the Health and Longevity™ blog, in which I summarize the latest research to optimize wellbeing and achieve a long, healthy life. Those who try it receive a free granola bag, just for trying.

Be well,

Izhar Groner
Founder and CEO.

PS,

We are doing our utmost to bring to you the highest-quality, most nutritious snacks possible. It would be our privilege to receive your feedback so we may further improve.