Rheem Gourmet Granola – a brand of granola made in TT – has just been added to the concessions at the TCL Chinese Theatre.

What's so special about that?

Well, every year, the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, welcomes an estimated four million visitors, making it one of the most popular sites in the city.

Since its opening in 1927, the theatre has premiered blockbuster Hollywood movies and has hosted three Academy Awards ceremonies. In 1968, it was designated a historical landmark in LA.

Business Day recently spoke with Steven M Taylor, a co-owner of the Rheem Gourmet Granola, about how the brand came to be and its journey from TT to the historic LA theatre.

[caption id="attachment_898178" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Steven and Rheem Taylor with a display of their range of Rheem Gourmet Granola health snacks which will now be available at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California.
- PHOTO BY ROGER JACOB[/caption]

A film director and special effects makeup artist, Taylor is the owner of Steven M Taylor Film Limited. The company produces things like music videos and commercials, for example.

In October 2019, after a visit to the doctor, Taylor was diagnosed with high cholesterol. To bring his cholesterol levels down, he had to improve his diet. He hired a health coach who put him on the prowl for healthier food and snack options.

“One day, my wife suggested that I should start eating granola and nuts," Taylor said.

“But the granola and options we were getting were less than tasty…they were dry, they were hard, they were processed, they contained dry fruits and not real fruits.

“If you were getting granola, it has one raisin and one peanut in it.”

Less than impressed, Taylor, and his wife, Rheem, researched how to make granola and began experimenting with the formula for different granolas.

In a few weeks, Rheem had come up with a homemade granola blend Taylor enjoyed.

This happened shortly after the first round of covid19 lockdowns last March, so Taylor and his wife began to stock up on their homemade granola.

To store their haul, the pair recycled old glass jars at home like jam jars and kombucha bottles.

With time on his hands, Taylor decided to do something to thank his wife.

“In a show of gratitude, I went into our little home office to create a label (for the jars of granola).

“I put her name on it and I wrote ‘Rheem Gourmet Granola: Feed Your Heart’ because essentially that it was the granola was doing for me, it was feeding my heart.”

[caption id="attachment_898181" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Rheem Granola is made of 13 gourmet ingredients including pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, coconut shavings, agave, roasted peanuts, olive oil, cranberries, and sea salt. - PHOTO BY ROGER JACOB[/caption]

In September, the couple toyed with the idea of selling the granola.

Taylor posted on Instagram that a jar of the granola was available for sale,