A novel new cereal.

I don’t think I’m alone when I say I’m in awe of the two guys behind Back to the Roots.

Nikhil Arora and Alejandro Velez had just graduated from the Hass School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley when they turned their backs on lucrative job offers in investment banking and business consulting. Instead, they turned their attention to starting their own business — creating DIY mushroom-growing kits using spent Peet’s coffee grounds.

That single product launched them at Whole Foods and other major retailers. Next, their Back to the Roots company devised a Water Garden, a self-cleaning fish tank that grows fresh herbs in a compact aquaponics system.

Now, they’ve set their sights on the cereal industry. The result is Organic Stoneground Flakes ($4.99 for an 11-ounce container), which bills itself as the first U.S. grown, 100 percent stoneground cereal on the market. It’s made with only three ingredients: organic, non-GMO stoneground whole wheat from California, sea salt from the San Francisco Bay, and a touch of organic cane sugar from Florida.

I recently had a chance to try a sample. The cereal, shaped almost like orecchiette pasta, is super crunchy. I can picture kids eating this like Cheerio’s simply because of the cute shape.

What you notice immediately is that this cereal is barely sweet. Instead, you taste the actual wheat, with just a back note of honey flavor. It’s kind of like eating plain popcorn — you get to enjoy the purity of the main ingredient all on its own.

One cup of the cereal has only 160 calories. It also boasts 6 grams of protein, 36 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams cholesterol, and a mere 0.5 grams of total fat.

The cereal is great with yogurt. Truth be told, I like eating it just out of hand, for times when I want a quick, crunchy snack to tide me over. I’m already mulling over how I might use it in baking, perhaps in cookies with dried fruit or coconut.

The cereal comes in a resealable, recyclable cardboard carton that even lists the type of paper, lining and ink it uses.

The cereal is available at Whole Foods and Costco stores, as well as online on Amazon.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see what Arora and Velez come up with next.