By STAN MADDUX
Indiana Correspondent PORTAGE, Ind. — It started as an annual fundraiser for a youth soccer club, but making gourmet peanut butter is now big business for an Indiana company bursting out of its shell. BNutty recently moved into a 17,000 square-foot production and packaging facility in Portage, near Lake Michigan. The old location about 15 miles away in Merrillville contained just 2,500 square feet. It was just five years ago that Joy Thompkins, who left her job as a nurse midwife to become a stay-at-home mom, began making peanut butter out of her residence. “People tried it. They loved it. They got excited about it and wanted it more than once a year,” said Carol Podolak, co-owner of the business. She said the peanuts are grown in North Carolina and Virginia. They’re honey-roasted before being delivered to the plant and turned into more than a dozen varieties of peanut butter. The top seller, Irresistible Pretzel, contains white chocolate-covered pretzels. Blueberry Bliss and Joyful Cranberries are among the other flavors. BNutty is available at Walmart, Whole Foods, and more than a dozen Strack & Van Til supermarkets in the northwestern corner of Indiana and at specialty stores. A good percentage of its sales are also from QVC offering the product online and on television. Podolak wasn’t sure offhand how many peanuts they go through during a year, but it’s definitely more than what they used to order. “At the beginning, it was buying a 25-pound box at a time, but now we take in pallets at a time,” she added. Thompkins was bored of selling the usual candy bars to raise money for the travel soccer program her son is in, and thought of peanut butter as a healthier alternative. She contacted a friend from her college days to help with recipe development, then Podolak – whose son is also on the soccer team – came on board with her experience in sales and marketing, and the rest is history. Eventually, Thompkins moved her operation into a shared commercial kitchen and started selling products at farmers’ markets. “We weren’t planning to go retail. People tried it and said, ‘Oh my gosh, I love this peanut butter.’ It’s just kind of grown from there,” Podolak said. She said their workforce of 15 has grown by three since the recent move. “We’re looking to hire five or six more right now, and then throughout the summer we’ll continue to add.” By 2021, the goal is to have 100 employees at the facility, with sufficient space to accommodate such growth. “Where we were we didn’t have the ability to continue to grow,” she explained. Close to $2 million was invested to lease, renovate, and equip the facility at the AmeriPlex business park along Interstate 94, according to the Indiana Economic Development Corp. (IEDC). It said up to $500,000 in state tax credits will also be provided to help offset the cost of the expansion as long as Hoosiers are hired for the new jobs. Thompkins and Podolak are still involved in their children’s travel league soccer program, but have shifted some of their previous obligations more toward the company. Podolak quit her job as a sales and marketing consultant to help grow the business. The cost is $8 for a 12-ounce jar of peanut butter. A 2-ounce travel size jar is also available for purchase. Find more online at www.bnutty.com “We’re having a lot of fun making peanut butter and still going to soccer games on the weekends,” Podolak noted. |
