In one of Canada’s greatest business turnarounds, Charles Coristine led an incredible, multi-million-dollar turnaround of a failing snack company into a thriving business. In November 2011, Coristine bought LesserEvil for $250,000 while simultaneously getting his MBA at Cornell University and holding a job at TD Bank. By April 2025, he was able to sell the company, The Hershey Company, for a staggering $750 million.
Coristine’s vision for LesserEvil was obvious from the beginning. More importantly, he wanted to use the brand to differentiate it from its competitors. To do this, he introduced innovative ingredients such as extra-virgin coconut oil and avocado oil into the snacks. That revolutionary strategy struck a chord with today’s health-minded consumers and paved the way for the company’s subsequent expansion.
The day Coristine closed on acquiring LesserEvil, she took production over to a 5,000-sq. ft. He filled the facility with used equipment purchased at auctions, embodying the scrappy, resourceful spirit that would characterize his leadership.
To help power his new enterprise, Coristine brought on Andrew Strife, a fellow graduate school pal, to act as COO and CFO. Together, they pooled resources, relying on Coristine’s savings and raising an undisclosed amount of capital from friends and family to fund the company’s operations.
In 2014, demand for LesserEvil’s innovative snacks surged. To stay ahead, the company recently enlarged its Danbury facility by 2,000 square feet and opened a fourth production line. This expansion allowed them to enhance their product offerings and improve packaging, featuring a distinctive “guru” on each product to capture consumer interest.
LesserEvil’s big break was in 2015 when their products started appearing on Kroger grocery store shelves. This national retail partnership increased our visibility tremendously. As our business continued to grow, it subsequently paved the way for our moves to a bigger, 20,000-square-foot factory in 2017. This new facility in Mishawaka allowed the company to increase production and meet growing demand.
As of 2023, LesserEvil is exceeding financial success with $103.3 million in annual gross sales. This was driven by $82.9 million in net sales and a staggering EBITDA of $14.4 million. The company’s growth trajectory won the company impressive investment from outside investors. In 2015, LesserEvil raised approximately $3 million from InvestEco. Since then, in 2021, they raised an even more amazing $19 million in funding with Aria Growth Partners leading the charge. This infusion of capital allowed the company to buy out prior investors and open a new factory in New Milford.
Looking back on his entrepreneurial experience, Coristine admitted to taking risks. “If I had done a lot of research and looked into it, I would have realized that the probability of success was pretty low,” he stated. Despite the odds, his zeal for creating new snacks propelled him.
“It feels joyous, so it doesn’t feel like work,” he added, highlighting his enthusiasm for building LesserEvil into a success.
While LesserEvil started to pick up steam, Coristine and Strife adopted a pragmatic, pro-fun, DIY spirit in tackling various challenges. “Everything was scrappy and needed to be reinvented as we went along,” Strife remarked, illustrating their adaptive strategy throughout the company’s evolution.
Their diligent work and passionate advocacy made this monumental victory possible. On April 3, 2025, The Hershey Company formally announced their acquisition of Duval & Stachenfeld. The contract is valued at $750 million, plus possible performance milestones. This is an exciting moment for Coristine and the whole LesserEvil family as well.
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