When Barry Turner, a former “American Gladiators” performer nicknamed Cyclone, got tired of getting his protein from meat and egg whites, he started making high-protein cookies and brownies.
He started selling them to bodybuilders at Gold’s Gym in Venice and that led him to start Lenny & Larry’s Inc. That was 21 years ago.
The Northridge company’s baked goods have since become used by pro and collegiate athletes, and Lenny & Larry’s last month signed its first sponsorship deal with a pro team: the Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings.
“We’re big sports fans. I have gone to a lot of Kings games over the years, going back to the ’70s,” said Don Croutch, the company’s president. “It’s good networking with other sponsors in the business community here in L.A.”
Lenny & Larry’s logo is shown on the Staples Center scoreboard at games, and the company will sponsoring push-up contests at 21 Kings home games this season. Financial terms of the one-year deal were not disclosed.
Croutch said that he expects to extend the deal for many years, and might seek deals with other local teams.
“We’re a grassroots company that started in every little health club and market,” he said. “Now we have distribution and we’re going to start marketing ourselves.”
Lenny & Larry’s already counts many professional and collegiate sports teams as clients. The UCLA athletics department and the Seattle Seahawks purchase Lenny & Larry’s baked goods for their athletes.
But the majority of sales of its protein-packed products are through health, grocery and convenience stores. And the company said that is has been expanding its list of retailers lately.
Starting next year, Sprouts Farmers Market will carry Lenny & Larry’s cookies in all 191 of its stores. The company’s products are also sold at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, 7-Eleven and even at the Hudson News stores at Los Angeles International Airport.
The company said that its revenue hit $7 million last year, up from $5 million the year before.
“Our company is growing by leaps and bounds,” Croutch said. “It’s exciting for us to do something a little bigger than what we’ve done in the past.”
– David Nusbaum
