{"id":704875,"date":"2026-05-31T01:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T01:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/704875\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T01:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T01:18:08","slug":"petaluma-entrepreneur-behind-popular-protein-powder-ready-to-expand-wellness-offerings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/704875\/","title":{"rendered":"Petaluma entrepreneur behind popular protein powder ready to expand wellness offerings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sm\u00e1ri \u00c1smundsson\u2019s native Iceland is in many ways at the forefront of what his business, Bygg Foods<\/a>, is all about.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is relevant to how I think about food; relevant to how our company and the product presents itself to the world,\u201d said \u00c1smundsson, CEO and founder of the Petaluma-based company<\/a> that produces the protein powder N\u00d8RSE C\u00d8DE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He had never seen a TV dinner or a mass quantity of processed food until he moved to the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are trying to create a product that is minimal in terms of complexity, and that is really healthy and good for you,\u201d the 56-year-old entrepreneur said. \u201cThat is what I brought to the company from my upbringing.\u201d<\/p>\n

While other products are in the works, he would not give a hint as to what they are other than to say \u201cwe are not a protein company; protein was just the first product.\u201d The next item from Bygg Foods could be released in the next year.<\/p>\n

Right now, \u00c1smundsson\u2019s attention is focused on fundraising in order to scale faster. After that, his goals include growing the business into a national brand, branching out to Europe and Asia, and then becoming a household name.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe broader vision for Bygg Foods is a wellness company with multiple products,\u201d \u00c1smundsson said.<\/p>\n

The following Q&A with the Business Journal and \u00c1smundsson has been edited for clarity and space.<\/p>\n

You moved to the U.S. at 20 to go to college. What kept you here?<\/p>\n

I came for school and stayed because I found a place where I could build something. California, in particular, with its food culture, entrepreneurial energy and access to distribution and retail, made that possible. Iceland is home in my bones, but the North Bay became home in practice.<\/p>\n

What led you to go from being an advertising photographer to starting a food company?<\/p>\n

Photography is about seeing things clearly and communicating them in a way that makes people feel something. Food turned out to be the same challenge. I grew up in Iceland eating simply and, well, and when I came to the U.S. I kept noticing the gap between how food was marketed and what it actually was. A big part of the shift was also personal. As an advertising photographer, I was often traveling for two to four weeks at a time, and I wanted to be a better dad and build a life with more stability and control. Sm\u00e1ri Organics started as a personal project because I wanted Icelandic-style skyr in the American market, and it grew from there. The creative instinct carried over. The tools were just different.<\/p>\n

Do you do any of the photography for Bygg Foods?<\/p>\n

Yes, I do a lot of it. I\u2019ve always been a branding nerd or marketing nerd. Being able to do all of that cohesively brings me a lot of joy. I think I have the ability to create something people react to and photography is part of that.<\/p>\n

The pandemic led to the closing of Sm\u00e1ri Organics. Why pivot to plant-based protein powder with N\u00d8RSE C\u00d8DE?<\/p>\n

COVID collapsed our distribution network almost overnight. I wound it down cleanly, and then spent real time thinking hard about what to build next. Protein powder kept coming up. It is a massive category with a real problem: most of it is awful. Chalky, bloating, overly sweet, with a bad aftertaste. I took everything I had learned and tried to build a company with the greatest chance of success, while also making something I genuinely believe is best in class and healthy. N\u00d8RSE C\u00d8DE is the product I would have built from the beginning if I had known then what I know now.<\/p>\n

Is any of the leftover barley from brewing beer that you use for the powder sourced from the North Bay?<\/p>\n

No. The barley protein we use is not sourced from the North Bay. It is sourced domestically, but not from North Bay brewing byproduct streams specifically.<\/p>\n

What are your top two concerns about your company or industry?<\/p>\n

The first is capital and timing. In (consumer packaged goods) it is very easy to expand too early, especially into retail, and that can kill an otherwise good brand. The second is trust. The protein and supplement category has been overpromising for decades, so customers are skeptical by default and, honestly, they should be. That means the burden is on companies like ours to earn trust the hard way.<\/p>\n

What is the key to retaining quality employees?<\/p>\n

Clarity, trust, ownership, and room to learn. Good people want real responsibility. They want to own their work, know what matters, and understand how their contribution affects the company. They also need permission to fail, learn, and get better. People stay when they are treated like contributors, not resources.<\/p>\n

Which character traits do you possess that are most instrumental to your success?<\/p>\n

Persistence and honesty. Persistence matters because building a company is usually much harder and slower than you expect. Honesty matters because if you are not honest about the product, the numbers and the problems, eventually it catches up with you.<\/p>\n

What has your company done to prepare for a natural disaster?<\/p>\n

We stay lean and keep operations close, which gives us more control than many brands have. Self-manufacturing creates responsibility, but it also means we can make decisions quickly if something is disrupted. We think a lot about flexibility, inventory, and how to adapt fast if normal operations are interrupted.<\/p>\n

How do politics, local-state-national-international, impact your company?<\/p>\n

At every level. Locally and at the state level it shows up in labor, permitting, food manufacturing and labeling rules. Nationally, it affects the business climate, freight, packaging and ingredient costs. Internationally, supply chains and trade policy always matter, even when you source domestically as much as possible. For a small company, politics often shows up less as ideology and more as cost, compliance and complexity.<\/p>\n

What brings you joy that is not work-related?<\/p>\n

Time with my son and with my partner. That is the big one. Beyond that, I love films, nature and anything that gives me a little perspective.<\/p>\n

How is your job different from what you dreamed about as a kid?<\/p>\n

As a kid, I did not imagine spreadsheets, supply chain issues, fundraising and constant problem-solving. But I probably did imagine building something, making something excellent and doing work that mattered. That part turned out to be true.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sm\u00e1ri \u00c1smundsson\u2019s native Iceland is in many ways at the forefront of what his business, Bygg Foods, is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":704876,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[256257,49,48,256259,84,395,256258],"class_list":["post-704875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-bygg-foods","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ceo-spotlight","tag-health","tag-nutrition","tag-petaluma"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=704875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/704876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=704875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=704875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=704875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}