Expo East 2022 Standout Brand: Lesser Evil

Lesser Evil: Better-for-You Snacks

Well, you can’t fault them for haughtiness, but we would certainly give Lesser Evil a bit more credit than evil after hearing Founder Charles Coristine’s spiel on what sets their popcorn, puffs, “peanots,” and more apart from other supposedly healthier snacks.

“What makes us special as a brand is our oils, the salts, and the way we process our snacks,” Charles told us, alluding to the lack of cheap, highly processed oils in Lesser Evil’s snacks that are otherwise so ubiquitous to the snack food industry.

We didn’t have to dig far—about six inches in front of us were laid out a cornucopia of samples—to confirm this major differentiator, as most of the Lesser Evil products were made with organic coconut oil and organic cassava flour, both of which are huge steps up from the status quo.

In fact, of the fifteen ingredients in Lesser Evil’s USDA Organic, vegan, grain-free Paleo Puffs, thirteen were organic—see for yourself:

• Organic Cassava Flour
• Organic Coconut Oil
• Organic Tapioca Starch
• Organic Tapioca Solids
• Organic Sweet Potato Powder
• Himalayan Crystal Salt
• Organic Nutritional Yeast
• Organic Coconut Flour
• Organic Flavor
• Organic Baker’s Yeast Extract
• Organic Garlic Powder
• Organic Onion Powder
• Lactic Acid
• Organic Ground Mustard
• Organic Spices

What makes us special as a brand is our oils, the salts, and the way we process our snacks.

Charles Coristine, Founder of Lesser Evil

And so it goes for the vast majority of the Lesser Evil catalog of healthier snacks, which includes a highly accommodating collection (grain-free, gluten-free, keto, kosher, etc.) of popcorn, puffs, poppers, power curls, cookies, “peanots,” and more.

They used to only deal in healthier popcorn, but we’re pleased that Lesser Evil has branched out to the wild frontier of snacks, because it’s about time a new sheriff strode in to clear out the riffraff—looking at you, basically every chip and cookie.