Hear how two Jewish dads from Toronto turned their wellness cereal into an interstellar story after the recent Artemis ll astronauts brought it on their historic mission, on The CJN’s North Star podcast.
Millions of people around the world have been celebrating since the Artemis ll astronauts landed safely on Friday April 10—but Toronto entrepreneurs Daniel Carson and Daniel Schreiber have been happier than most. That’s because the best friends’ Goldy’s Superseed Strawberry Lavender breakfast cereal went along for the ride as part of the historic mission’s menu.
Their product is made in a KSA kosher-certified plant in Etobicoke. It was personally selected by Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen to be among his home-grown pantry during the crew’s 400,000-kilometre journey around the moon—the farthest distance any human, or cereal, has ever travelled from Earth.
Carson has been deeply rooted in the Jewish community, working for Camp Robin Hood and the Magen Boys, while Schreiber—a childhood friend from Thornhill—was born in Israel.
On today’s North Star podcast, both speak with host Ellin Bessner about their next-level ambitions to bring kosher cereal to infinity—and beyond.
Related links
Learn more about the two Daniels behind Goldy’s kosher KSA-certified oatmeal and cereals.Read more about the Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, killed when the Space Shuttle Columbia exploded on re-entry in 2003, in The CJN.Interview with Gregory Chamitoff, a Jewish astronaut who grew up in Chomedey, Que. and went to space on board Discovery, in The CJN from 2013.Transcript:
Ellin Bessner
Toronto entrepreneurs Daniel Carson and Daniel Schreiber had a very good reason to miss their first Seders with their families this year.
On April 1st, the two Daniels were at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, watching NASA’s Artemis II mission blast off. And while they took selfies, they also held up a package of their own company’s Superseed Strawberry Lavender cereal.
Retail version of the Goldy’s cereal that went into space on board Artemis ll. (Supplied photo)
Because at that very moment, freeze-dried packs of the cereal made in a kosher-certified facility in Etobicoke, were traveling far above their heads, stowed aboard the spacecraft as part of the astronauts’ approved menu for the historic 10-day mission. In fact, Canadian Jeremy Hansen personally chose Goldy’s cereal for the journey. He and his crewmates flew roughly 1/4 of a million miles from Earth, about 400,000 kilometers, which is farther than any human has traveled, even passing behind the moon.
And while a floating jar of Nutella certainly captured global attention during the mission, we’re focusing on a different story. The two Jewish founders behind a homegrown Canadian product. Two lifelong friends from Thornhill with deep roots in the Jewish community. Daniel Carson worked for Camp Robin Hood and later with the Magen Boys as a DJ and MC. His partner Daniel Schreiber brings Israeli roots to the business.
Their cereal has now been accepted not only for Artemis II, but for future use. On the International Space Station.
For a brand whose name could easily belong to a Jewish bubby, joining the lineage of Jewish and Israeli presence in space–from astronauts to ritual objects–represents a moment of pride.
Daniel Schreiber
I am hyper aware and I try to be hyper aware of Jewish and Israeli accomplishments. And so, for me, this is another one. Right? Another proof of concept of the value that Jewish people bring to the world, the accomplishments that Jewish people can achieve.
Ellin Bessner
I’m Ellin Besner, and this is what Jewish Canada sounds like for Wednesday, April 15th, 2026. Welcome to North Star, the flagship podcast of The Canadian Jewish News, made possible thanks to the generous support of the Ira Gluskin and Maxine Granovsky Gluskin Charitable Foundation.
Goldy’s cereals come in 11 varieties. Before reaching space, they underwent rigorous testing by space officials. The gluten-free, nut-free blend includes chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, organic buckwheat, freeze-dried strawberries, and lavender. Add water in space, and it transforms into a soft, pudding-like meal.
Carson and Schreiber created Goldy’s during the pandemic, searching for a nutritious breakfast their own children would actually eat. Today, their products are sold across Canada in health food stores and major grocery chains.
And while this isn’t the first time kosher food has gone to space (Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon famously brought kosher meals aboard his ill-fated mission), it’s rare for a commercial product like this to make the journey.
Now the two founders hope to build on the momentum and maybe go further.
They join me now from Toronto.
Ellin Bessner
Congratulations and welcome to The CJN’s North Star Podcast.
Daniel Carson
We made it! We’re so excited to be here.
Daniel Schreiber
Pleasure to be here.
Ellin Bessner
Listen, we spoke just to set this interview up, Erev Shabbos on Friday, when the world was about to watch the splashdown. And I said,” I’m praying”. God forbid. Because I covered one of the disasters in Florida for CTV News. So, we were praying. Can you walk us back to a couple of days ago when you were watching the landing?
Daniel Schreiber
The landing happened during kiddo bedtime, so they could have scheduled it a little bit better for me. So, I only watched the highlight reruns.
Daniel Carson
I was watching, I was out with my family celebrating the splashdown, having a little dinner, and you know, now that we came full circle from liftoff to touchdown, so we were watching on our phones and as soon as everyone was safe and smiling and happy, I ordered an extra drink and we celebrated with the whole fam.
Daniel Schreiber
One thing I knew for sure is that they were not going to land hungry because they had Goldy’s on board.
Daniel Carson
Always.
Ellin Bessner
They did have them during Passover. So, it needs to be said that these things expand. Therefore, they would not be considered by many Ashkenazim as kosher for Passover. Luckily, it was Friday, so it was already finished, right?
Daniel Carson
Okay. That was our biggest fear, to be honest, was that part of it.
But it is a kosher product.
Ellin Bessner
Tell me about that.
Daniel Schreiber
Well, inherently, all of the ingredients are plant-based. And our facility is a kosher-certified facility. All we had to do was register under their license because all of our ingredients are kosher certified in and of themselves.
Daniel Carson
Yeah, and we worked hard to get that done because we always wanted to have a kosher certification on our packaging, but the facility needed to be kosher. And all of our products independently were kosher. So everywhere we source each ingredient from, they were all certified kosher. But it wasn’t until we got the certified kosher facility that we finally could get it to the places that we wanted to.
Ellin Bessner
Can you tell us where it’s actually made in Toronto? Because it says Etobicoke.
Daniel Schreiber
Yeah, it’s made in Etobicoke.
Daniel Carson
That’s it.
Daniel Schreiber
That’s all you get.
Ellin Bessner
When you say that Canadian cereal going to space is a great story and you’ve been everywhere, but the kosher part hasn’t really been explored publicly. Is there a Jewish story behind Goldy’s that you haven’t told yet?
Daniel Carson
Yeah, the two owners are Jewish. Obviously, we’re both Jewish. Schreiber is also originally from Israel. a great connection there. But a funny story I can tell you in regard to Goldy’s and the Jewish connection is that, obviously we do a lot of consumer trade shows and trade shows for the industry. And Goldy’s’s was based on the idea of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and finding that “just right” oatmeal or porridge or just right product.
But regardless of where we are, anytime somebody comes up to us at one of these shows and says, “Oh, who’s Goldy?” We always know that they’re part of the tribe because Goldy is, you know, inherently a very kind of like traditional, beautiful Bubby Jewish name. And so, we get to have these connections with people all the time. And we see it right when it happens. “Oh, who’s Goldy?” And we’re like, “Okay, they don’t see Goldy as our Goldilocks. They see her as, you know, my Polish bubby”. So, it’s always nice to have those conversations at these awesome trade shows. And that’s where we, really make a connection.
Daniel Schreiber
We should have called it Golda’s.
Daniel Carson
That’s our next brand!
Daniel Schreiber
Yeah, Golda’s.
Ellin Bessner
But in terms of like the Jewish legacy in space, there have been, as our listeners will know, sadly, two Jewish astronauts who died in space, but others who successfully brought a Torah or they brought a menorah that came into space. So where do you see your product now in this timeline?
Daniel Carson
Yeah, I mean, it’s funny. We weren’t so familiar with, who’s been up there and who hasn’t until we really started kind of getting deeper into this mission as we got more information from the Canadian Space Agency and NASA. But, you know, when you put it like that, you’re right. If there are these amazing Jewish astronauts who’ve been heroes in their own right throughout history, we can now say that a Jewish product has gone up there too and has joined the timeline as strong Jewish brands that have made an impact. I mean, obviously, our impact is very small compared to the astronauts, but we still like to think…
Daniel Schreiber
We don’t know that yet! We may find out from Jeremy Hansen that he ate this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day, because it’s the only thing that satiated and satisfied him. We have no idea.
Ellin Bessner
Let’s ask you about that. So, you were there for the launch.
Yes.
Ellin Bessner
But have you heard yet if they actually ate it?
Daniel Schreiber
So, we, between ourselves, we decided to give the Canadian Space Agency a few weeks just to come down off the literal high of being in space. And then, we have, we have follow-up questions for them, such as what you just asked. Was it actually consumed? How much of it was consumed? Was it just Jeremy who ate it? Did he share? Because sharing is caring.
Ellin Bessner
Does it taste the same in space? That’s something I was wondering, because here on Earth, it’s different than up there, from what I’ve read.
Daniel Schreiber
Yeah, your palate in space can change in the same way that your physiology and appetites can change. What we learned is that space food is an extremely important element for NASA and the CSA, where they invest a great deal of resources and capital because what happens is with, if God forbid an astronaut loses their appetite in space, that coupled with food that is not tasting so good would mean that the astronaut is malnourished.
So first and foremost, and again, we appreciate the inherent compliment in it, first and foremost, space food has to be super tasty. Which is why they provide the astronauts the opportunity to taste it and choose what they want to go on their menu prior to launch. And then Jeremy Hansen tasted all of our flavors and then he chose strawberry lavender as the
Daniel Carson
choice for the menu. We have to assume that he ate it because we also were told that, as most people probably know, space is limited. And so, they’re not bringing up, selections like maybe I’m feeling this today, maybe I’m feeling that today. They had to be very, you know, particular with the choices that they brought on the ship. And so, we have to assume they ate it. And then on top of that, my aunt sent me a video today. She was, you know, she’s watching all the news. She’s excited for us. And she sent me a video today of Jeremy eating something in space. And obviously, it’s not in a brand bag, but I’m telling you, it looked exact. It’s how they would have eaten our product.
Daniel Schreiber:
Send it to me
Daniel Carson
Yeah, I’ll send you it. I mean, it’s my aunt sending it. So, the camera is, you know, facing half of her nose for the first two minutes, but eventually I got a good shot of it.
Ellin Bessner
We think of the package that you see in the stores or on your website, but I’m pretty sure that it doesn’t look the same. It’s like in a freeze-dried clear bag. We saw what the Canadian Space Agency showed us. It looks like, I don’t know, dog poop in a bag. No offense, right? Like it doesn’t.
Daniel Carson
It’s not really appetizing.
Ellin Bessner:
So, is that correct, that it wasn’t what you would get in the store if you want to buy it?
Daniel Carson
Yeah, from a packaging perspective, no. But from a product perspective, yes. I mean, our Super Seeds cereal, and we have a few different lines of products. So, we have really delicious oatmeals. We don’t use any refined sugars. Powder, our kids love it. We love it. It’s, you know, beloved by all our customers. But the super seed cereal really is used often by our customers as like a yogurt topper or in a smoothie or you bake with it. It’s just great seeds, great flavour, great fibre, great protein. And you can kind of use it any way that you like. The way that they ate it in space is a very like neutral way to enjoy it, which is just adding water, letting it expand for a couple of minutes and then enjoying it. So, it’s not necessarily the way that most people eat it. And if you do eat it like that instant chia seed pudding style, usually people add their choice of milk to make it a little creamier. So, he ate it in the bare bones kind of way, but he tried it in that way when testing it and he liked it. So, eat it the way you’d like and we’re happy to support.
Ellin Bessner
I read that it’s going to be also part of our next Canadian astronaut in line is selected it as well when he goes to the International Space Station for six months. But they get their water from recycled urine and breath and other things, which made me kind of sick,
Daniel Carson
It just adds to the flavour.
Ellin Bessner
All right, back to the Jewish angle. I noticed that you thanked Arlene Dickinson, who everyone knows as an entrepreneur from Dragon’s Den, and I’m wondering what part of her support did you get? And are there also Jewish people who have supported you financially, Jewish community?
Daniel Schreiber
So Arlene Dickinson owns Venture. Venture Park is the facility, the shared kitchen food-safe manufacturing facility, where we first were manufacturing our product when we launched, prior to a co-packer.
The person that validated us and supported us from day one is Jewish, and his validation and… support, me and Carson spoke about more than once, allowed us to have the confidence and the determination to keep on going and moving forward. This Jewish individual went to work for Olivia Chow’s office.
Ellin Bessner
Coming up, how the co-founders dug deep into their Jewish pride while receiving an award from Toronto’s Mayor Olivia Chow.
Music
Ellin Bessner
It was on your social media that we saw and hers the other day that you got a certificate. Our community has a sort of, how can we say it kindly, “controversial” relationship with Mayor Chow for what’s happened after October 7th. TBut here was no question you weren’t going to go, right? You were going to go.
Daniel Carson
Yeah.
Daniel Schreiber
That’s right. Yeah.
Ellin Bessner
How did you navigate that?
Daniel Carson
You want to go, Schreiber?
Daniel Schreiber
I mean.
Daniel Carson
I mean, for us, obviously we have our personal thoughts, feelings, political, agendas, and what we follow. But we were there representing something bigger than us. And the city hall represents something bigger than Mayor Olivia Chow. We’ve been Toronto residents our whole lives. And it was the city that was, giving us this amazing honour.
Daniel Schreiber
But also, it wasn’t our place to fight it.
Daniel Carson
Much like business in general, you’re going to work with people you love, people you don’t like, people you don’t agree with. But we looked at the bigger picture, and the bigger picture was a great honour from the city. My mom used to work in City Hall all the time when I was a child. So being there in some of the places that she used to walk, just felt really great. And so that was kind of how we rectified that thought process. And we really kind of separated, quote unquote, “church and state” with that, because it was an honour for all the great things that we’ve been working hard on. And that was just a good, you know, final, final close to this amazing mission that we’ve been on ourselves.
Daniel Schreiber
But also like as Jews, I truly don’t believe that. Right? Like, I’m not going to not take an opportunity for Tikkun Olam, right? This is an opportunity for that.
For me personally anyways, the way that I live my life, all we know of the way the Jewish community feels is what’s out there in the news and in the press and in fact, for me, what I hear third hand. I wanted to go and meet her in person. I wanted to go and give peace a chance. I think it was an excellent opportunity for Tikkun Olam, if not in the grand scheme of things, at least in the micro, in what is in my heart and, what I have to deal with on a daily basis.
Ellin Bessner
Do you wear anything or… not wear anything?
Daniel Carson
So, me personally, I’m always wearing something. I have [a tattoo]. Schreiber you’re the Israeli. You can read it for everybody who’s watching out there.
Ellin Bessner
Here, our listeners won’t see it, but we’ll put it on video. You have a tattoo, Am Yisrael Chai. When did that happen?
Daniel Carson
It happened after October 7th. I mean, I have a few Jewish tattoos. I have a Jewish star on my arm with a little sword and a crown, but I’m always wearing something. Funny enough, I don’t have a Jewish star necklace or anything, so I didn’t remove anything or add anything for this. And again, I wanted… I really wanted this story from a third-party perspective to be really focused on Goldy’s from everybody in Canada and beyond.
Ellin Bessner
What about you, Daniel S? You told me you were going to wear gigantic Magen David, but I don’t know if you did.
Daniel Schreiber
Every time I had an idea of what I’m going to do, my wife reminded me that the business is still indebted to me and that I’d be better off creating an opportunity to earn that money back than to fight the world. So, she’s just: “Go be nice, accept it, smile, do it for the Instagram”.
Ellin Bessner
And you said the business is indebted to you. I want to ask you. Financially, does NASA or the CSA pay you to get your products up there? Or do you have to pay them? How does that work financially?
Daniel Carson
So, the orders came, directly through our website, one package at a time. We offered early on, as soon as we got the first order, we’re like, what are you ordering for? Like, we will send you cases, like, we want this! And they’re like, no, we are, you know, a government agency. We can’t just take free product. We have to use the right channels. We’re going to continue ordering online.
And so, every month we get, you know, $30 here, $60 here, $20 here. So no, they didn’t, they didn’t, you know, pay us to go up there except for what they purchased. And we didn’t have to pay them anything, except we had to pay for our own accommodations to get down to Cape Canaveral, but it was worth its weight in gold, because that was such an unbelievable experience.
Ellin Bessner
How much product is up there? Was up there?
Daniel Carson
Yeah, we know.
Daniel Schreiber
I know what they purchased, which was 110 units. But that was split between the ISS and Orion [name of the capsule on Artemis ll].
Ellin Bessner
The incident with Nutella happened.
Daniel Carson
Yes.
Ellin Bessner
Would you kill for that publicity?
Daniel Carson
I mean, it would have been cool. We made jokes about it on different shows, but it could never have happened for us because our packaging was transferred, so there was no way. But yes, in the perfect world or outer world, that would have been the next-level amazing. My mind would have blown.
Ellin Bessner
Okay, question now. We want to know what’s next, from your product and bigger things.
Daniel Carson
From a space exploration perspective or just in general?
Ellin Bessner
Well, that’s one angle because I’ve read that you have a contest coming.
Daniel Schreiber
From the space angle, we do want to continue the relationship with the Canadian Space Agency. So, we do want to be aboard their next and foreseeable manned missions. So that’s on the space side. You know, we’d love for, you know, ultimately our seeds to go to Mars. But that’s a long time from now.
The competition: is something very unique and very special to Goldy’s. What it is, it’s a creative illustration competition where the theme is Goldy and Bear travel to space. The idea is Grades 1 through 8 would make the illustration to their best of their little abilities and submit it online.
And the way that it would work is the 8 winners, Grades One through 8, each will have one winner, will then have their illustrations printed in a limited-edition booklet. That limited- edition booklet would be inserted into a limited-edition flavour of oatmeal. The entirety of this campaign touches on a lot of things from inclusivity to literacy and creativity to school children and space and reaching for the stars and healthy eating and eating like an astronaut. All of it. It’s very well-rounded and it should be a lot of fun.
So we are hoping that if everything goes according to plan, that we would launch this competition for September 1st, back to school, and have a winner announced for the end of the year, ideally with the first run of boxes with booklets on the shelf for January 1st to then promote kind of like New Year, New You. If you haven’t yet, then start eating healthy in 2027.
Ellin Bessner
You’ll let us know when kids can start entering, I think.
Daniel Carson
And we’ll let you draw something as well. We’ll put that in there if you’d like.
Ellin Bessner
Okay.
I had chia on my yogurt this morning, as a matter of fact, as I do every day.
Daniel Carson
So, there you go.
Daniel Schreiber
Nice.
Ellin Bessner
But I’m thinking I’m old, so I think of the chi-chia, you know, the chia pets.
Daniel Carson
That’s what we grew up.
Ellin Bessner
I think of that too.
Daniel Carson
Trust me. We say that every day when we’re like packing bags and stuff. We’re just singing that song. Yeah. “Chi-chi-ch-chia.
Ellin Bessner
Folks of a certain age, they will know, or the painter Bob, what’s his name, that had the hair?
Daniel Schreiber
She had a Bob Ross chia pet!
Daniel Carson
That’s amazing.
Daniel Schreiber
That was legendary.
Ellin Bessner
Lastly, you know, I’m not sure if you know, my producer sent this to me: There’s like A Chabad teaching about Goldilocks and the Three bears story, which is so beautiful.
Daniel Carson
Didn’t know that.
Ellin Bessner
it’s more about finding your place. For example, he said, when God gave the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai wasn’t the highest mountain, and it wasn’t a valley. It was just right.
Daniel Carson
It was sort of tall enough, tall enough.
Daniel Schreiber
Love that.
Ellin Bessner
And not like too imposing, you know, but also not too humble.
Daniel Schreiber
He needed to be above the people to speak to them, but not so high that they couldn’t hear him.
Ellin Bessner
Pride, but humility.
Daniel Carson
So, Mount Sinai was the perfect spot and was just right.
Ellin Bessner
And I just thought that was so beautiful because, you know, these people that have gone to space, these heroes. Oh my God, the farthest that anybody’s ever gone. And you have a part of this. And so, you’ve come from the Jewish community, Daniel C., you know, with Magen Boys and with Camp Robin Hood and then Daniel S., of course, in your way too. Did you get a little kind of religious feeling watching this? Or kind of a spiritual feeling, a Jewishy-feeling with the liftoff?
Daniel Carson
It absolutely felt spiritual. It was nothing like we ever felt before. I’m personally not a big crier, so to speak, but there’s been a few times post liftoff where I’m sitting by myself, just like thinking about this impact, thinking about what we’re a part of, where I’m getting, yeah, emotionally connected. And is that a Jewish thing? I mean, it comes from that. That’s where my roots are staked, and that’s kind of where I, where I live and breathe and eat on a daily basis. So, it felt very, very spiritual. And my uncle, who’s passed away recently, he lived in California. He’s spoken at NASA a few different times. It was connected to the Jewish world, in conversation. And being there, it was pretty, you felt that connection, you felt that energy, you felt that light. So absolutely there was moments that you can feel it kind of coming through and radiating through.
Ellin Bessner:
I’m sorry for your loss.
Daniel Schreiber, anything for you?
Daniel Schreiber
I would say something different. I would say that for myself, and it’s just the way that I was raised in my family is, that I am hyper aware and I try to be hyper aware of Jewish and Israeli accomplishments. And so, for me, this is another one, another proof of concept of the value the Jewish people bring to the world, the accomplishments that Jewish people can achieve, you know? The underdog story.
Again, with Tikkun Olam, it’s us doing something because it’s the right thing to do. Not thinking about the politics of it or the social impact of it. So, for me, it’s an extreme point of pride to know that the iPhone that shot the photograph on the spaceship had Israeli components, and so did his breakfast!
Daniel Carson
It’s a good connection.
Ellin Bessner
No one’s had that comment before. I’m very honoured that you gave it to me. And where did you guys meet? Because you said you were best friends. Did you guys go to CHAT?
Daniel Carson
So, we didn’t. We never went to Jewish school. We always were public school kids. We grew up in Thornhill. We went to York Hill Elementary School together, and then we went to Thornhill High School together. Then we went to, you know, obviously Robin Hood, and Schreiber went to Wahanawin for a little bit as well, as a staff. Yeah, we did summer tours, of course, with the Mandel days. So, we grew up in Thornhill, and we were there most of our lives and now I’m just north of Thornhill and Schreiber’s just slightly southwest of Thornhill.
Ellin Bessner
It’s been an honour to meet you guys. I’m so thankful that we got to talk about this sort of niche Jewish topic because we’ve got to represent, right?
Daniel Carson
Totally. Yeah, next time for Artemis 3, I totally have to represent.
Next for Artemis 3, we’re going to ask the next astronaut if he’s willing to not just eat our cereal but wrap tefillin in outer space. So, we’re going to see if that happens!
Ellin Bessner
Oy? The Chabad would go berserk on that one. Thanks so, much.
Daniel Carson
Thank you.
Ellin Bessner
And that’s what Jewish Canada sounded like for this episode of North Star, made possible thanks to the Ira Gluskin and Maxine Granovsky Gluskin Charitable Foundation.
You can learn more about Goldy’s and about other Jews in space, including one from Chomedy. Visit the links in our show notes.
This episode was produced by Zachary Judah Kauffman. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer, and Alicia Richler is The CJN’s editorial director. And thanks for listening.
Credits
Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner )Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director)Music: Bret Higgins
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