A 52-year-old man left his job and purchased a struggling snack company for $250,000, which now generates $103 million annually.

Charles Coristine cherished his job at Morgan Stanley, relishing the fast-paced environment, even waking up in the middle of the night to trade in the Tokyo and London stock markets.

In 2011, after almost twenty years on Wall Street, Coristine became exhausted. He attempted various solutions: adopting a vegetarian lifestyle, practicing meditation, and pursuing an MBA. However, none of these strategies were successful.

At a barbecue, Coristine encountered the owner of LesserEvil, a snack company, who expressed interest in selling his "flatlining" business. Although Coristine lacked experience in the food industry, he was drawn to the prospect of a new beginning and appreciated the company's name, which aligned with a healthy, mindful lifestyle.

In November 2011, Coristine purchased LesserEvil for $250,000 from his savings, along with a future payment of $100,000, according to CNBC Make It's review of documents. Coristine admits that the decision to buy LesserEvil was impulsive and not well-researched. At the time of purchase, LesserEvil was losing money and bringing in less than $1 million in annual revenue, the company estimates.

Under Coristine's leadership as CEO and president, the Danbury, Connecticut-based company experienced significant growth, achieving annual gross sales of $103.3 million in 2023, including $82.9 million in net sales. Additionally, the company's products were successfully distributed to major retailers and corner stores across the U.S.

Since 2021, the business has been profitable and made $14.4 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, last year.

"Coristine, 52, admits that she didn't know anyone in the food industry to ask if she was crazy or not, but she believes it's probably a good thing. She also acknowledges that if she had done more research and looked into the probability of success, she would have realized it was low."

Here's how Coristine is making LesserEvil into a household name.

A 'scrappy' reinvention

At the time of his acquisition of LesserEvil, Coristine was employed at TD Bank and simultaneously pursuing an MBA at Cornell University Graduate School.

In 2012, he earned his MBA and began working as LesserEvil's CEO. His initial actions included hiring Andrew Strife, his graduate school friend, as COO and CFO, and his wakeboard instructor as head of marketing.

The team, consisting of the previous regime's accountant and a small group, worked from an office in Wilton, Connecticut, to update LesserEvil's branding and establish their own production line. The outdated branding was not attracting customers, and the company was spending approximately 20% of its revenue on co-packers who assisted in the production and shipping of the snacks, according to Coristine.

Coristine's savings were depleted, so the team obtained an undisclosed amount of money from friends and family, and secured additional funding through a connection Coristine had at a bank, according to Strife. In 2012, they leased a 5,000-square-foot factory in Danbury and filled it with used equipment purchased at auctions.

The team formed friendships with welders nearby who were able to weld wheels and popcorn shoots onto the machinery, according to Strife. They painted the factory's exterior black and added a yellow "LesserEvil" logo to the side of the building. Coristine remembers that drivers would often pull off the road and enter the factory, asking if it was a strip club.

As we went along, everything needed to be reinvented and was scrappy, according to Strife.

New branding and an unconventional ingredient

In 2014, after a neighboring carpet factory vacated its space, LesserEvil demolished the wall and expanded its operations by 2,000 square feet and a production line.

Coristine's personal nutritionist recommended using coconut oil to pop popcorn for a healthier snack option. Despite his initial skepticism about the oil's freshness in a snack bag, Coristine conducted a shelf test by placing it on the top of a hot fridge for three months.

In 2014, LesserEvil launched a reformulated product with a new laughing Buddha logo, called the Buddha Bowl. It brought in roughly $2 million that year, accounting for a third of LesserEvil's annual revenue.

In 2015, Kroger became the first major retailer to sell LesserEvil's products. This partnership helped fund another move for LesserEvil in 2017, to a 20,000-square-foot factory, according to Strife.

The company received its first outside funding, which was approximately $3 million, from InvestEco, a sustainable food and agriculture investment firm, a year later. With the funds, Coristine and his team added production lines to the new factory and updated LesserEvil's packaging. Each product now features its own "guru," including the ancient Greek poet Homer and Henry David Thoreau.

The rebrand and new products helped push the brand into profitability, and Coristine began receiving a salary from LesserEvil that year.

'It doesn't feel like work'

Coristine explains that LesserEvil distinguishes itself from competitors by using non-standard ingredients such as extra-virgin coconut oil and avocado oil in its products.

The investigation by Consumer Reports in June discovered "alarming levels of lead" in two Lil' Puffs snacks made by LesserEvil for children. The company has apologized and announced that it will relaunch the snacks, without the cassava flour that contained lead, later this year.

The company bought out prior investors and opened a new factory in New Milford with $19 million in funding from Aria Growth Partners, resulting in $62 million in net sales during the first half of 2024.

The company currently has 280 employees. Coristine's short-term objectives include expanding and introducing new products. In the long run, he aims for the company to become a lasting brand, according to him.

Coristine has been helped by LesserEvil in resolving a more personal issue, he states; he now works fewer hours, from approximately 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and feels more content since leaving Wall Street.

Coristine says, "It feels joyous, so it doesn't feel like work."

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