You could say Nicole Bernard Dawes grew up in a potato chip factory. Her father, Steve Bernard, founded Cape Cod Potato Chips, and the Hyannis plant was a regular stop for her after school and during summer vacations.
That snack business upbringing set the course for her career. In 2003, she launched Late July Snacks, a line of organic tortilla chips and salsas, and her latest venture is Nixie: zero-sugar, certified organic sodas made with purified water, botanicals, Himalayan pink salt, and stevia leaf extract.
The idea was born out of Bernard Dawes’s frustration with the diet soda aisle. Even some stevia-sweetened sodas contain aspartame or sugar alcohols, while others use natural flavors obtained through chemical processes.
“When my father started Cape Cod Chips, it opened my eyes to what clean ingredients combined with creativity could do,” Bernard Dawes says. “When I started my first company, Late July Snacks, I was driven by the same mission: to create organic products that beat their conventional counterparts on taste.”
Super fizzy and refreshing, Nixie sodas are calorie-free and come in six nostalgic and fruity-forward flavors: Classic Cola (its caffeine comes from green tea extract), Root Beer, Cream Soda, Ginger Ale, Strawberry Cream, and Cherry Cola.
As for the name, Bernard Dawes says: “It’s inspired by my nickname, Nicky, and also another name for a mermaid. Born and raised on Cape Cod, I feel most at home near the ocean.”
Available at Whole Foods Market, Stop & Shop, Big Y locations for about $2-$2.50 per 12-ounce can, and at Amazon.com for $32.99 for a 12-pack. Nixie also has a line of flavored sparkling waters (about $1.19 for 12-ounces).
ANN TRIEGER KURLAND
Ann Trieger Kurland can be reached at anntrieger@gmail.com.