By Mara Dresner - The Connecticut Jewish Ledger  September 26, 2003

The next time you're munching on a snack food, you may be enjoying a treat developed by a Groton physician -Awesome Almonds.

The all-natural, certified kosher flavored roasted almonds are the brainchild of Dr. Ken Lankin, a board certified physician in family practice.

A Philadelphia native, Lankin first came to Connecticut as a Connecticut College undergrad. He returned to the Nutmeg state July 2000 after living in Japan for a few years.

Lankin, who treats people of all ages, is on staff at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in New London. Dr. Lankin holds an MBA degree from the University of New Haven (UNH) and completed the Physician Management Program at Yale University.

Lankin first became interested in the health benefits of nuts while reading an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in January of 2002, while on a work-related trip to San Diego.

Lankin started researching the health benefits of nuts- lowering cholesterol, reducing the risk of colon cancer, reducing heart disease -and was impressed by the fiber and vitamin E that some nuts contain.

Lankin began to think of developing a product that would promote the health benefits of nuts, first experimenting with walnuts, before settling on almonds.

Classmates at UNH were his market research group. The flavors that they enjoyed the most are the three that his company, Dr. Lankin's Specialty Foods, LLC produces: cinnamon-vanilla, orange-vanilla and cocoa java. As a class project, they also developed a marketing plan for the fledgling business.

Lankin was influenced by the events of Sept. 11 and by the untimely death of his father, both contributing factors in his decision to start the new business.

"It was a jarring reminder of how short life can be," he says simply. He launched the company last summer with the first Awesome Almonds being sold at Raspberry Junction in North Stonington.

Today, Awesome Almonds are made in 600-pound batches in California, and are available in 40 stores in seven states, as well as on-line. Lankin says he gets mail from customers all over the world. He plans to participate at Kosher Fest this October in New York. Lankin uses the services of CW Resources, headquartered in New Britain, to package and ship the product.*

"We are a vocational rehabilitative organization; that means we employ disabled individuals. Our workers have the ability to work in real jobs and earn a real paycheck; we're a real work force," explained Alix Capsalors, vice president of production and sales for CW Resources. "What Ken Lankin is doing, quite frankly, is giving employment opportunity to persons with disabilities. We are a business. We don't look for the handout. We're not looking for donations. By the way, our workers happen to be disabled. We want people to come to us because our quality is there, the service is there, the price is there."

Dr. Lankin's Specialty Foods also supports a number of charities, including the Groton Food Locker and the National Sports Festival for the Disabled.

For more information, including a list of stores that carry Awesome Almonds, visit www.AwesomeAlmonds.com.

* at the time of the article