The Bombay Chips sold by Keya & Co. feature masala spices. (Photo courtesy of Keya & Co.)
The chips started out as a gift.
When the demand for her custom desserts disappeared during the COVID-19 pandemic, local baker Keya Wingfield’s company in 2020 pivoted away from sweets to sell to-go Indian meals.
Wingfield included bags of potato chips flavored with her own custom masala spice blend, which she threw into customers’ orders as small tokens of appreciation for their business. It wasn’t long before customers started to want to buy the chips on their own.
“It was just a snack I was making for myself at home, nothing to it,” she said. “A week later someone ordered just the chips by themselves. At first I was like, ‘What chips? What are you talking about?’”
Wingfield’s company, Keya & Co., launched Bombay Chips as a retail product in 2021. The product – a kettle-style chip flavored with a masala spice mix that includes turmeric, chili powder and mango powder – is available in a dozen local stores.
And while Wingfield has already dipped her toe in retail, she hopes to take the chips to a new level through the Lighthouse Labs startup accelerator program. Last week, the Richmond-based accelerator announced that Wingfield and seven other entrepreneurs would be part of its latest cohort.
Keya Wingfield
Wingfield hopes the program will teach her more about distribution and scaling to help grow her budding snack brand after more than a decade of experience as a custom baker.
“I’ve been around for awhile but what I’m doing now is consumer-packaged goods, and it is so different. It’s not a custom dessert where I can be more creative when I want to be. This is more set in stone,” she said.
Keya & Co. aims to relaunch the Bombay Chips product with revamped packaging by the end of this year. There are also plans to eventually broaden the product offerings with new chip flavors, as well as popcorn, a snack mix and a cookie. All those items would feature flavorings influenced by Wingfield’s Indian heritage.
“The goal is to have a whole line of snacks,” she said.
Keya & Co. currently makes and packages its chips by hand, which Wingfield said limits production. To remedy that, Wingfield said she has identified a contractor to make and package the chips as part of the relaunch.
She said she intended to purchase and distribute 20,000 bags of chips in the initial relaunch in Richmond-area stores, and that project would be financed by her own fundraising and the $20,000 in funding that is awarded to participants of the Lighthouse Labs program.
Keya & Co. isn’t currently taking on new vendors but continues to supply its existing roster of stores, which includes Ellwood Thompson’s in Carytown and Barrel Thief Wine & Provisions in Westhampton, among others.
Keya & Co. operates in a 1,400-square-foot space at 3310 Rosedale Ave. near Scott’s Addition. The company moved there in 2021, and formerly operated at 710 Lafayette St.
Wingfield was born in Mumbai and moved to Richmond 17 years ago as a young adult. She founded Keya & Co. in 2010 as Candy Valley Cake Co. and rebranded last year. She was the winning contestant on the seventh season of the Food Network show Spring Baking Championship, which aired in 2021.
Keya & Co. is one of two local companies that will be part of the fall 2023 Lighthouse Labs cohort. The other local startup is Sherah, a personal assistant service founded by Kristin Richardson.
Rounding out the eight-startup cohort are:
- Chiyo: a personalized nutritional therapy company for women based in New York City;
- GenLogs: a supply-chain analysis software company based in Arlington;
- Linshom Medical: a respiratory monitoring hardware firm based in Ellicott City, Maryland;
- N-Smart: a utilities and power infrastructure analysis company based in Sterling;
- Parlay: a banking software company based in Alexandria;
- Tiny Docs: a children’s health education company based in Chicago.
The companies will participate in educational programming and meet local investors during the 11-week program that kicks off Aug. 21.
The Bombay Chips sold by Keya & Co. feature masala spices. (Photo courtesy of Keya & Co.)
The chips started out as a gift.
When the demand for her custom desserts disappeared during the COVID-19 pandemic, local baker Keya Wingfield’s company in 2020 pivoted away from sweets to sell to-go Indian meals.
Wingfield included bags of potato chips flavored with her own custom masala spice blend, which she threw into customers’ orders as small tokens of appreciation for their business. It wasn’t long before customers started to want to buy the chips on their own.
“It was just a snack I was making for myself at home, nothing to it,” she said. “A week later someone ordered just the chips by themselves. At first I was like, ‘What chips? What are you talking about?’”
Wingfield’s company, Keya & Co., launched Bombay Chips as a retail product in 2021. The product – a kettle-style chip flavored with a masala spice mix that includes turmeric, chili powder and mango powder – is available in a dozen local stores.
And while Wingfield has already dipped her toe in retail, she hopes to take the chips to a new level through the Lighthouse Labs startup accelerator program. Last week, the Richmond-based accelerator announced that Wingfield and seven other entrepreneurs would be part of its latest cohort.
Keya Wingfield
Wingfield hopes the program will teach her more about distribution and scaling to help grow her budding snack brand after more than a decade of experience as a custom baker.
“I’ve been around for awhile but what I’m doing now is consumer-packaged goods, and it is so different. It’s not a custom dessert where I can be more creative when I want to be. This is more set in stone,” she said.
Keya & Co. aims to relaunch the Bombay Chips product with revamped packaging by the end of this year. There are also plans to eventually broaden the product offerings with new chip flavors, as well as popcorn, a snack mix and a cookie. All those items would feature flavorings influenced by Wingfield’s Indian heritage.
“The goal is to have a whole line of snacks,” she said.
Keya & Co. currently makes and packages its chips by hand, which Wingfield said limits production. To remedy that, Wingfield said she has identified a contractor to make and package the chips as part of the relaunch.
She said she intended to purchase and distribute 20,000 bags of chips in the initial relaunch in Richmond-area stores, and that project would be financed by her own fundraising and the $20,000 in funding that is awarded to participants of the Lighthouse Labs program.
Keya & Co. isn’t currently taking on new vendors but continues to supply its existing roster of stores, which includes Ellwood Thompson’s in Carytown and Barrel Thief Wine & Provisions in Westhampton, among others.
Keya & Co. operates in a 1,400-square-foot space at 3310 Rosedale Ave. near Scott’s Addition. The company moved there in 2021, and formerly operated at 710 Lafayette St.
Wingfield was born in Mumbai and moved to Richmond 17 years ago as a young adult. She founded Keya & Co. in 2010 as Candy Valley Cake Co. and rebranded last year. She was the winning contestant on the seventh season of the Food Network show Spring Baking Championship, which aired in 2021.
Keya & Co. is one of two local companies that will be part of the fall 2023 Lighthouse Labs cohort. The other local startup is Sherah, a personal assistant service founded by Kristin Richardson.
Rounding out the eight-startup cohort are:
- Chiyo: a personalized nutritional therapy company for women based in New York City;
- GenLogs: a supply-chain analysis software company based in Arlington;
- Linshom Medical: a respiratory monitoring hardware firm based in Ellicott City, Maryland;
- N-Smart: a utilities and power infrastructure analysis company based in Sterling;
- Parlay: a banking software company based in Alexandria;
- Tiny Docs: a children’s health education company based in Chicago.
The companies will participate in educational programming and meet local investors during the 11-week program that kicks off Aug. 21.