For many people, eating healthier in the new year equates to cutting out desserts and high-sugar foods, a temptation hard to resist after the holidays. To college students and beyond, everyone is always looking for a healthier alternative to their favorite snacks and treats without taking the blow from the “bad stuff.”
Two Cal Poly seniors are here to help.
Nibble, co-founded by agriculture business seniors Josh Van Tassel and Alex Pope, is a freshly born company dedicated to bringing “guilt-free” dessert snacking to the Central Coast, specifically in bite-sized form, or “nibbles.”
The idea stemmed from an agricultural entrepreneurship class the duo took about a year ago, which tasked them with creating a traditional dessert food product.
“We were put into the theme of an impulsive indulger, so we had to come up with a product and essentially figure out all the marketing points if we were to bring a product idea to an actual business,” Van Tassel said.
Frozen cheesecake bites was the result—a normal version without any ingredient substitutions or changes.
However, Van Tassel and Pope wanted to go above and beyond by pushing the product to become healthier. Their secret? Clean ingredients only.
“Why not make it harder on ourselves?” Pope said. “Let’s try to make something that kind of isn’t in the market at all.”
The frozen cheesecake bites use Greek yogurt, an ingredient that falls within their brand guidelines of bringing lower-calorie, higher-protein, macro-focused eating to people’s snack indulgences.
According to Van Tassel, they started working with Real California Milk last March to create their cheesecake bites, and the organization has played a large part in their Nibbles production. The collaboration has enabled the duo to build their brand only using clean ingredients and to gain new ideas for future products.
“First and foremost, we really do have to stick with that clean-ingredient base so whatever way we can, you know, produce this with it staying healthy,” Pope said.
Other ingredients found in Nibble frozen cheesecake bites are fair trade dark chocolate, organic fair trade cane sugar, and “what you’d typically find in cheesecake, all being organic,” according to Van Tassel.
He and Pope have also been experimenting with alternative sweeteners such as monk fruit and honey. Currently, the agricultural business seniors have developed two frozen cheesecake bite flavors: Naked Nibble or a plain vanilla, and a chocolate-dipped version.
With Nibble still in the development stage, the duo has been working hard to get their product where they want it—on supermarket shelves and in the homes of San Luis Obispo residents, for starters. The SLO community’s response to Nibble has been nothing but supportive, according to Van Tassel.
“So many people have offered to help and give us resources,” Van Tassel said. “I was honestly expecting zero, and so many people have offered help and want us to come and talk to them about it, they’ve even been like ‘Pull up to our party, we would love to have you guys.’”
You can find more information on Nibble, and order a bag of their first products at nibblefoodsllc.wixsite.com/nibble-1.
Fast facts
• Join art and wine lovers at the Cambria Art and Wine Festival from Jan 29. through Feb. 1. The four-day event will celebrate culture, creativity, and Central Coast wineries with art exhibits, seminars, food, wine, and prizes. For tickets and more information, visit cambriachamber.org/cambria-art-wine-fest.
• Bach Week is back for the Cal Poly Music Department from Jan. 22 through 24 both on campus and at the First Presbyterian Church in San Luis Obispo. Performances and presentations are focused on the work of Johann Sebsatian Bach and his contemporaries. Events include two master classes, a continuo workshop, a chamber concert with vocalists and instrumentalists on period instruments, and two finale concerts. The finale concerts will be performed at the First Presbyterian Church. Tickets are $22 for general admission and $12 for students. Find tickets and more information at bachweek.calpoly.edu. ∆
Reach Intern Fiona Hastings at ntintern@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Jan 22-29, 2026.