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Believe in Buffalo: Buffalo-born cracker company Top Seedz has the recipe for success

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Posted at 12:36 PM, Mar 10, 2022
and last updated 2022-03-10 19:09:58-05

BUFFALO (WKBW) — Tucked away in a facility in Cheektowaga business is booming for entrepreneur Rebecca Brady and her seed cracker company Top Seedz.

"I struggled in my head to believe that I would ever need to hire one person to help me, now we have a team of twenty to twenty-five people," Brady told 7 News Anchor Jeff Russo. "We are on our way to big things."

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Top Seedz founder Rebecca Brady is a New Zealand native and came to Western New York with her family in 2015

Top Seedz makes hand-made crackers and roasted seeds using simple organic ingredients. Brady, a native of New Zealand, founded the company after her family moved to Western New York from Japan.

"We got transferred here for my husbands job," said Brady. "I've been making seeds and crackers for a long time. Everyone was raving about them all the time. I thought o.k., maybe I will try and combine my passion for good food, sport and nutrition and set up my own business."

Top Seedz started modestly in 2017. Brady was the only employee as she began whipping up her cracker recipe with simple ingredients.

"It's a mix of seeds. Mainly pumpkin, flax, sunflower seeds, chia and hemp. Arrowroot, olive oil and hot water hold it all together, and a little bit of magic."

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Top Seedz crackers being boxed in Cheektowaga facility.

The hand-made crackers quickly caught on. "We started selling in a local corner store in Clarence. One of the coffee shops. Slowly we got into Wegmans, and then Whole Foods," said Brady. "We are now in three hundred to four hundred stores."

To keep up with demand the company has now grown to twenty-five employees. They Top Seedz team is as unique as the recipe.

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Top Seedz employees refugees from all over the world.

"We employee refugees from all over the world. Afghanistan, Somali, Sudan, we gave them a good start," said Brady. "I like the mix of the international community, inclusion."

Brady is happy to help others after receiving a big boost of her own. Top Seedz captured the $1 million grand prize in the 43 North Business Plan Competition.

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Top Seedz won the grand price of $1 million in the 2021 43 North Business Plan Competition

"Winning that million just gives us that boost and the confidence to get to the next level. We want to grow ten times in the next five years," said Brady. "We are ingrained here. It's a nice place to be. We want to grow here. We want to make Buffalo proud."

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