It started
with a ritual
Rip Pruisken grew up in the Netherlands, where a treat has a ceremony. You rest a stroopwafel on a warm mug of coffee or tea, let the steam soften the caramel, and eat it slowly. On purpose.
When he got to Brown University, he brought stroopwafels with him. His friends devoured them. By junior year, he and co-founder Marco De Leon were back in the dorm at 3am, making hundreds by hand and selling them for a dollar each on the campus green.
We sold out. Every time.
Rip Pruisken grew up in the
Netherlands, where a treat has
a ceremony. You rest a
stroopwafel on a warm mug
of coffee or tea, let the steam
soften the caramel, and eat it
slowly. On purpose.
When he got to Brown University, he brought stroopwafels with him. His friends devoured them. By junior year, he and co-founder Marco De Leon were back in the dorm at 3am, making hundreds by hand and selling them for a dollar each on the campus green.
We sold out. Every time.
The Problem They Set Out to Solve
Rip and Marco loved snacking. What frustrated them was the tradeoff. Treats that tasted great but weren’t made thoughtfully, or “better-for-you” options that sacrificed the whole point.
So they went back to first principles. Deconstructed every component: the dough, the filling, the coating. Rebuilt each one from scratch with fiber-forward formulations and no synthetic fillers. No compromises on taste. Just the good stuff, done right.
So they went back to first
principles. Deconstructed
every component: the dough,
the filling, the coating. Rebuilt
each one from scratch with
fiber-forward formulations and
no synthetic fillers. No
compromises on taste. Just
the good stuff, done right.
The Problem They Set Out to Solve
Rip and Marco loved snacking. What frustrated them was the tradeoff. Treats that tasted great but weren’t made thoughtfully, or “better-for-you” options that sacrificed the whole point.
So they went back to first principles. Deconstructed every component: the dough, the filling, the coating. Rebuilt each one from scratch with fiber-forward formulations and no synthetic fillers. No compromises on taste. Just the good stuff, done right.
“We were tired of the same old
snacks and frustrated that big
cookie brands weren’t doing
anything about it. So we set out
to build something better.”
Rip Pruisken & Marco De Leon, Co-founders
Not one product.
A whole new way
of making treats
Today, Rip Van offers seven distinct treats: stroopwafels, wafers, cookies, confections and beyond. Together they form the largest better-for-you assortment of sweet snacks in the US.
Not substitutes. Not compromise snacks. Treats worth slowing down for.
Today, Rip Van offers seven distinct treats: stroopwafels, wafers, cookies, confections and beyond. Together they form the largest better-for-you assortment of sweet snacks in the US.
Not substitutes. Not compromise snacks. Treats worth slowing down for.
Anything
CORN SYRUP
PRESERVATIVES
SWEETENERS,
COLORS OR FLAVORS
INGREDIENTS
CORN SYRUP
Trans Fats
tl;dr
Milestones
tl;dr
Milestones
2010
Dorm room
bake sale
300 stroopwafels in 1 hr. Brown University
campus green. Sold out. Kickstarter-funded,
started selling in campus cafe’s.
2012
Spread to
colleges
Rip and Marco launch officially, funding through
Kickstarter and driving cross-country in a Volvo
to deliver stock themselves.
2013
West Coast
expansion
Rip Van heads west, landing in Silicon Valley
and getting their wafels into the hands of
the tech crowd.
2016
Starbucks,
nationwide
After years of building, Rip Van launches in
Starbucks locations nationwide. Both founders
named Forbes & Inc 30 under 30.
2017
Up in
smoke
Setup the first stroopwafel factory in the US,
which caught on fire causing irreparable
damage almost tanking the business.
2019
Cracked
the code
After 3 extremely heavy years and some
existential searching, the business recovered
and Rip Van cracked the low sugar code.
2020
Pivot &
survive
Covid hit, business pivoted to online and Costco
just in time, loosing its entire foodservice
business at the time.
2021
Beyond
the wafel
The wafel that started it all gets a new sibling.
Rip Van expands beyond wafels, introducing their
signature wafers.
now
20,000+
stores
From Whole Foods to Costco, Rip Van is now
in over 20,000 stores across the country.
Seven product lines and counting.
