Who ever thought that Mayor Bloomberg’s decision to ban trans-fats in New York City would play such a significant role in the success of Healthy Brand Oil. As the owner of the Jason-Rose, a manufacturer representative company located on Long Island, Brad Green had been representing a manufacturer of frying oils to broadline distributors and wholesalers in the greater New York City Metropolitan area in 2000. Seeing an opportunity to expand the frying oil segment of his business, Brad met and hired Jason Thomas who was previously working at Marcus Evans, a Fortune 500 hospitality company. 

Shortly after Jason’s hire in 2001, two major changes were about to happen in the edible oil industry, one being New York Mayor Bloomberg’s charge to ban trans-fats in New York City eating establishments and the other being the edible oil industry passing through a wave of consolidations. Brad and Jason saw this as an opening, understanding that the market now would be looking for more healthy edible oil solutions and already having a customer base inspired the launch of Healthy Brand Oil in 2004.

Moving forward, they opened up a manufacturing facility in 2004 on Jackson Avenue in Long Island City with their first employee, Kim Glockner who still works for the company. Quickly, they developed a line of Trans-fat free and Kosher Certified oils under the Classic brand name. These oils included Soybean, Canola, Corn, Creamy Liquid and Liquid Shortening. The new line allowed them to hit the ground running while giving them more time to develop healthier on trend trans-fat free based frying oils.

“Our greatest advantage was that we already had customers and we knew what types of oils they would be seeking once the trans-fat ban took effect. It gave us the insight and confidence needed to start Healthy Brand Oil,” says Brad Green.

Now, with the business firmly entrenched, Healthy Brand Oil is one of the only independent companies left in the edible oil trade. Because of their hands on approach and willingness to work directly with their distributors in creating custom solutions for their clients has been a key component of their success.

“We consider ourselves in the people business. We make sure we see our customers face-to-face to make sure they are not only happy with our oils but with us as a company. Our goals from day one has always been how to best serve our customers and how do we make better tasting and healthier oils,” adds Jason Thomas.

Healthy Brand Oil launched a pair of premium Non-GMO Project Verified oils to help foodservice operators meet their growing demand for Non-GMO products. The two oils include Prime Non-GMO Project Verified Expeller Pressed Canola and Excelle Non-GMO Project Verified Expeller Pressed Soybean.

The Prime Non-GMO frying oil is OU Kosher and has Zero Grams Trans-Fat per Serving. It extends frying times without the use of additives. Prime is made by using the traditional extraction method of expeller pressing. This natural process increases stability, and lowers overall supply and labor cost. The Excelle Non-GMO frying oil is OU Kosher and has Zero Grams Trans-Fat per Serving. Excelle is made by using the traditional extraction method of expeller pressing. This natural process extends fry times, increases stability, and lowers overall supply and labor cost.

Understanding the trends in the edible oil category has been paramount for Healthy Brand Oil’s continued success. Recently, Healthy Brand Oil introduced a new oil, Fryer Fuel Advantage which has proven to be a success with our customers. This new oil showcases the R & D Healthy Brand Oil can bring to the market.

Fryer Fuel Advantage is a high oleic soybean frying oil that extends fry life 2 times longer verses commodity soybean oils and is excellent for high-temperature applications. Fryer Fuel Advantage is OU Kosher certified, provides a clean neutral taste, has Zero Grams Trans-Fat per Serving and reduces polymer build-up for easy cleaning.

“Both our Non-GMO and Fryer Fuel Advantage are the types of oils that bring the most value to our customers. It’s these types of oils that continue to stimulate our growth now and well into the future,” says Green.

Today, Healthy Brand Oil has hundreds of customers, a new manufacturing facility in Long Island City and their oils are helping New Yorkers and consumers across the U.S. live healthier lifestyles through their oils.

Looking back, Brad and Jason could not have imagined that Mayor Bloomberg’s decision to ban trans-fats in New York would play so much of a role in the success of Healthy Brand Oil.