Mid-Day Squares: How Jake Karls Built a Functional Chocolate Brand

Most functional-food brands sell the function. Mid-Day Squares sold the story. In a new episode of The Hospitality Hangout, co-founder Jake Karls explains how a chocolate bar built for the 2 p.m. energy crash went from a condo kitchen to thousands of grocery stores — powered by relentless storytelling, founder transparency, and a fan base that treats the brand like a movement.

What is Mid-Day Squares?

Mid-Day Squares is a functional chocolate brand designed as a better-for-you answer to the mid-afternoon slump — a snack that delivers the indulgence of chocolate with a cleaner nutritional profile. What started in a home kitchen has scaled into national grocery distribution, but Jake Karls argues the product was never the hardest part. Building demand was.

How did storytelling turn a snack into a movement?

Jake and his co-founders bet the brand on content. Instead of polished ads, they documented the messy reality of building a company — the wins, the founder drama, the setbacks — and posted it relentlessly on social media. That transparency made the brand impossible to ignore and turned casual buyers into loyal fans who felt like part of the journey. For operators, it's a case study in how founder-led content can outperform traditional marketing budgets.

How did Mid-Day Squares get onto grocery shelves?

The path from condo kitchen to thousands of stores came from pairing that audience with disciplined retail execution. Jake talks through building enough consumer pull that retailers wanted the brand, generating buzz (including Hershey chatter), and leaning on food influencers to keep momentum going. The lesson: distribution follows demand, and demand was manufactured through attention, not just trade spend.

What can restaurant and food operators learn from Mid-Day Squares?

The big takeaway for owners and emerging founders: a differentiated product needs an equally differentiated story. Mid-Day Squares shows how authenticity, consistency, and a willingness to be vulnerable on camera can build a brand that customers champion for you. In a crowded market, the founders who show up as real people tend to win the loyalty that paid media can't buy.

Why does the "2 p.m. snack" positioning work?

By owning a specific moment — the afternoon energy dip — Mid-Day Squares gave itself a clear job in the customer's day. That kind of occasion-based positioning is a powerful lever for any food or beverage brand: define the exact moment you want to own, then build the product, the messaging, and the ritual around it.

Want the full origin story? Give The Hospitality Hangout a listen and catch the full Mid-Day Squares episode with Jake Karls — candid conversations with the founders shaping food and hospitality.

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