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Summer is my least favorite season — I prefer a fluffy snowfall to muggy heat any day. When I sat down to chat with the folks behind Yommi Frozen Superfood Bars, I forgot all of my sweaty seasonal gripes. I made quick work of a Blueberry Lemon Bliss bar as Caroline Harris and Ryan Gussen, owners of Yommi, joined me on the shady porch of the Model Deli.
Caroline and Ryan bought the Yommi business (and its signature Boler trailer) in 2022 from Nicole Corbo and Adrian Johnson, who started Yommi in 2017 with the mission of making a nutrient-dense alternative to the typical summer sweet treats you can find all over the Island. “The Vineyard in the on-season becomes the island of dessert,” Caroline jokes. “Fudge, donuts, cake, ice cream — there are so many delicious sweet options. The missing link was something that was just as tasty, but also nutritious.” She also hopes that Yommi can be a summertime sweet treat option for folks who are diabetic, gluten- or dairy-intolerant. They also confirmed that the coconut milk they use to make the bars is free of carrageenan, a seaweed-derived emulsifier that folks with tick-borne illnesses, especially alpha-gal syndrome, can become sensitive to. Yommi Frozen Superfood Bars have found their audience on the Island — during peak popsicle season they’re hand-making and wrapping nearly 2,000 popsicles a week.
Since taking over Yommi, Caroline and Ryan continue to follow Nicole and Adrian’s mission. They’ve kept all of their original recipes so that customers who return to the Island after several years find their favorite flavors exactly how they remembered. When working on new recipes, Caroline and Ryan keep seasonal produce in mind as well as customer requests. Some flavors they’re dreaming up for the future include matcha, apple cider, pumpkin spice, creamsicle, and key lime pie.
“I enjoy helping people and doing something good for the world,” says Gabe Wengler, Caroline’s cousin and the newest addition to Yommi’s small crew. “We’re making something delicious with organic, locally-grown, locally-sourced ingredients.” Purchasing produce from local farms whenever possible is one of Yommi’s top priorities, and they work closely with Fire Cat Farm and Radio Farm. They source ingredients that can’t be grown on the Vineyard, like avocados, through Cronig’s.
Staying small and staying local is both a blessing and a curse. “This year it was hard to coordinate with farmers on strawberries to meet our demand without exhausting their entire stock,” Ryan says. “And it’s great to consistently support the Island Bee Company and MV Sea Salt, which are the lifeblood of all Yommi pops.” In peak season, Yommi uses nearly 10 gallons of honey every couple of days.
Yommi’s operations are very low-waste. “Everything we have can be blended and put into popsicles,” Ryan explains. “All of our food scraps, like strawberry tops, are used to feed chickens. Some people will make dye out of our avocado pits. All of our other production waste is recycled — it’s paper and cardboard.” While Ryan acknowledges that their operation still has an impact on the environment, they’re always looking for innovative ways to stay sustainable. Their current paper popsicle wrapping is a better option than plastic, and they’re hoping to upgrade to natural resin-based packaging in the future.
Caroline and Ryan light up when talking about the support they’ve received from the Vineyard community. “We love getting to know other small businesses on the Island and doing anything we can to collaborate,” says Caroline. “It feels like there are a handful of names buying everything on the Island, so it feels good to be a small fish supporting other small fish,” Ryan adds. They also love interacting with the community at markets, from converting superfood skeptics with their spinach-packed Mint Chip Magic pop to watching the surprise from parents when their children declare the turmeric-rich Golden Goodness their new favorite dessert. Caroline, Ryan, and Gabe all agree that the best review they can get is when enthusiastic kids end up with more popsicle on their hands and face than in their mouth.
Yommi Tip: To remove turmeric stains from clothes, apply hydrogen peroxide before washing.
“We really pour our heart and soul into this. We’re not just a couple of guys coming in from off-Island to make a quick buck and turn it over,” says Caroline, “We live here full-time and we feel very, very lucky to be able to be doing this and to be a part of the Island community.”
As they continue growing Yommi, Caroline and Ryan hope to find a larger kitchen with more storage space. Their current kitchen, located in the basement of the Model Deli (where the Larder used to be off State Road), is roughly the same size as my Subaru Crosstrek and is becoming bottlenecked as they make pops at maximum capacity. They’re also always looking for ways to make Yommi Frozen Superfood Bars more affordable and hope to eventually have enough space to safely produce nut-free options.
Yommi Frozen Superfood Bars are available at 13 locations across the Island, and they offer free home delivery for any order of 10 or more pops. You can also find them at First Fridays in Vineyard Haven and at the West Tisbury Farmers Market.
