PTY Granola Company

A Tiny Homestead

Today I'm talking with Brit at PTY Granola Company. You can follow on Facebook as well.

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00:00
This is Mary Lewis at A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. If you're enjoying this podcast, please like, subscribe, share it with a friend, or leave a comment. Thank you. Today I'm talking with Brit at P&TY Granola Company. Good morning, Brit. How are you? Good morning. I'm so good. How are you? I'm great. You are where in Minnesota? Our kitchen is in Plymouth, and I live in Dayton, Minnesota.

00:30
Okay. I wasn't sure which was which, so I thought I should ask at the beginning. Yes. Okay. So I went and looked at your website this morning because I'm a dumb ass and hadn't had a chance to go look at it and found out what P&TY stands for. And I just giggled. So can you tell me about yourself and your company? Cause I can't wait for you to share your story. Absolutely. So I'm Brit Williams. I started P&TY Granola Co. five years ago. And it all started

01:00
I was making granola bars for my husband because he was eating a granola bar and I looked at it and I was like, Trevor, there's no nutrition in this granola bar. He's like, yeah, but it tastes good. I was like, well, let me see if I can do something better. And so I started making these bars and I would take them at the time I was an event planner and I would take them on the road with me for my staff. And one of the events that I did was for Whole Foods Local.

01:29
And Whole Foods staff there was like, you got something different with this recipe. It's not like what's on the shelf. I think you should do something with it. And that was April of 2019. And by June of 2019, I sold my first granola bar and it was all by Insta story. And I just was having people test it out and everything. And as I was doing that, I was thinking about the fact that there's like 50 million granola bars out there. And.

01:58
How do I stand out? Something has to catch them before they get to the taste. So if it tastes so good and they want to keep going after it, how do I get them to do that? And at the time, I had my son who's seven years old now, he was two or three, and I was teaching him manners. And he would yell at me like a toddler does and he would yell, no. And then I was teaching him about no, thank you.

02:27
And so then he goes, no, thank you. And I was like, Oh, so there's something to this manners, right? Like there's something like it hits differently when you consider someone, even if it's coming from a toddler. And so that's what got me to think about what does, what does my company stand for? What do I want people to think about when they have a granola bar? And that's where P and T Y comes from. Please. And thank you. So granola bars that say please and thank you.

02:57
So it's this message, this fueled by respect. Every time you have a bite of our granola bars or you go and grab them, I want you to just be reminded about the power of manners. I wanna think outside of myself. I wanna think about other people and how I can make them feel and how I can make myself feel by treating myself with respect as well. So that's where PNTY came from and it...

03:27
My hope, my dream is that our granola bar tastes so good that every day you have a little bite and you're just reminded about the power of manners and how that can make an impact in the world. I love it so much and I'm gonna tell you why. I always say please and I always say thank you to the point that when my dog does something I ask her to do. I say thank you Maggie. Yes.

03:54
And excuse me is a big one in my house. You know, we don't say, we don't say get out of the way unless there's a reason we say, excuse me, to the point that I say, excuse me to the dog as well. And everyone who listens to the podcast knows that I love Maggie beyond life itself. So of course I'm going to talk to her like she's my kid. And I have been talking to my kids like little adults since they were born.

04:19
And thank you and please and excuse me and all those wonderful things that let them know I care about them have been part of my vocabulary with my kids forever. So I'm just so impressed with the fact that you put that much thought into naming your business. Well, it makes a big impact, right? I'm sure your dog appreciates being acknowledged and respected, right? And so does our kids and whoever they interact with and whoever you interact with.

04:49
consideration factor and I think humans just need a little bit of a reminder of that like we're all doing our best right just have some consideration and and treat each other well. Yes patience goes a long way and that's part of consideration so yes I love it I love what you're doing. You asked me when I messaged you if the fact that you're not a cottage food producer mattered and I said nope.

05:14
But the thing is you were a cottage food producer, so you do fall under the headings of my podcast topics. And you're one of those people that gives the current cottage food producers hope. Because it's not easy to go from being a person who cooks yummy things in your kitchen and sells them to friends and family and people at the farmers market to having a full-blown business. Right. That is a journey.

05:44
So how hard was the journey? Was it pretty good for you or did you hit roadblocks along the way? I would say that I just tried to take one step at a time and I think the cottage food license is an amazing license that gives you, especially if you wanna grow, an amazing opportunity to try things with a lower overhead.

06:12
You don't have to follow certain rules. You obviously have to follow the license rules, but there's some leeway and there's some opportunity to take in feedback and adjust quickly to the feedback that you're getting from your customers. So I started as cottage food. And

06:33
I made everything out of my kitchen. You know, I have two kids and I was making granola bars in the morning before they got up and then I would drop them off at the neighbor's house in like a bag or a box or something. And they would pay me in Vemo and then I got into farmers markets and you could talk to people and learn what the rules were that were coming up next in a way that was less risky.

07:03
to kind of start that way, get your bearings, get a foundation, get the feedback, be able to adjust along the way and then say, yeah, I know I got a product that if I license it, I could actually grow this and I know what I'm going to take on in the next round of growth. And so after, so I had the cottage food license for a year and a half probably.

07:32
went to enough markets, got enough feedback, and I was like, I think I can do this in a commercial kitchen, get licensed for that. And then I moved into different packaging and then I got the nutritional stuff. So I took it one step at a time. There's roadblocks along the way, but roadblocks that I dealt with at that period in time are much different than this period in time.

08:02
I, yes, it was hard, but it was the right type of growth and the right speed in which to grow. And that's why I love that cottage food license. It just gave me the opportunity to take a little bit of risk, but to learn along the way. Yeah. And I'm going to say this, like for the record, because I talked to one of the ladies that is part of the cottage food place.

08:31
from Minnesota and she was very clear that it's not a license, it's a registration. There you go. So, so I try to, I always try to say cottage food registration, not licensing because she was like, it's not technically a license. And I'm like, yeah, no, I get it. Yeah, that's very fair. That's very fair. Yep. And the other thing is, um, I was going to go somewhere here. Oh, with the cottage food registration stuff.

09:00
It gives you a chance to really stretch and play with what you're making too. And I, I have mine. I have my registration. My husband has his because he makes a really fantastic yeast breads. And he keeps saying that he's going to sell them to the farmers market, but he seems to run out of time to make these threads in the summer because, you know, he was growing stuff in the garden and selling things. Yes. But, uh, I made granola.

09:28
You know, not granola bars, but granola, the first year that he was at the farmers market. I didn't do it this past year because I was too busy doing a podcast this year, but people really liked it, but I had made it with raisins and almond slivers. Someone said to my husband, they were like, could your wife just make it plain, like without the raisins and without the almond slivers? And he was like, I'll check with her when I get home.

09:57
And so I started making the plain granola and the plain granola actually sold better than the granola with stuff in it. So it's really nice, you're right, to be able to get the feedback and the questions and the things that people like and dislike so you can pivot or you can change. Yeah, and you can get enough of that feedback in an honest way because you're the one talking to them face to face. And if you get enough feedback going one way or the other, then you know, for sure.

10:25
make the change and stuff. So that's really cool. I've gotten similar feedback too. So I have, I have granola as well. And I sold it in two different ways, one with stuff and one without stuff. And the, the one without the extras has one out and that's what, that's what we make now. So it's pretty interesting because people always want to add their own stuff.

10:48
Yeah, and I mean the reason I put granola slivers, not granola slivers, almond slivers and raisins in the original batch is because that's how I like it. And I was like, well, if I like it, other people will like it. And then I was like, oh, well, maybe I'm just weird, huh? Okay. You're not weird. I think everybody likes stuff in theirs. So it was really neat and I was astounded.

11:11
at what people would pay for granola. And then I realized how much you're paying for granola at the store with a whole bunch of stuff in it that doesn't need to be in it. And I was like, I'm okay with what we're charging for my granola. Mm-hmm. So, so what do you, what do you sell as granola bars? What do you, what is the stuff that you put in your granola bars? So all of our granola bars are gluten-free and dairy-free.

11:38
We use a locally sourced honey, so we are actually licensed by Minnesota Grown as well. It's oats and cinnamon and vanilla, and then we make our own nut butters that we use in them too. Four of our granola bars, four out of our five granola bars have nut butters in them. There's a peanut butter, a hazelnut spread, and an almond butter. The fifth one is actually nut free, so dairy free.

12:07
gluten-free nut free and it's called the you're welcome because it has all of the Allergens taking care of so it's kind of like that. You're welcome Care of the you're the allergens So we make our own nut butters and then each of them have a different type of flavor So the golden rule is chocolate white chocolate coconut the part in me is chocolate dry cranberry Sharing is caring is dry cranberry coconut almond the thank-you bar

12:36
is our peanut free bar and that one has an almond vanilla flavor and then that last one I just talked about the you're welcome is dates and pumpkin seeds. Nice, and you're making me think of the Care Bears. You remember the Care Bears? Yes, I do. And they're all in the different colors too. Yeah. Nice. I love that. Okay. So when I was looking at your Instagram page.

13:03
I looked at the packaging for the granola bars. It looks very professional. So I'm assuming you're not printing that yourself. No, I actually worked with a local Minnesota marketing firm or designer back probably three years ago. And I found this company called Replace and they support small business and they were willing to grow with me. And they've been my design company ever since.

13:33
I met with them and we came up with the colors and the branding, the granola buddies that we have. And then so they design everything. And then I work with a printer that prints all of the wrappers for us. Okay, cool. Isn't it great when companies want to work with you? It just makes it so much easier.

13:57
It means the world and especially as a small business, if there's companies that are willing to start small with you, like if there's less minimums or they're coming in with a lower hourly rate and they're willing to stick with you and they can see that you're going to grow and you know you're loyal back to them because they have good business, then they're willing to grow with you and that means the world is a small business when

14:27
cash flow is not as big when you're smaller and you're just trying to get to that next step. So it has always meant the world to me and Minnesota has a ton of those people that care a lot about Minnesota food, the industry, CPG industry. It's just a great community to be a part of.

14:56
very, very touristy state. I mean, half the people that live in the state of Maine cater to the tourist market from Memorial Day to Labor Day because people go to Maine for the trees and the ocean and the experience. And I moved to Minnesota about 30-something years ago, and Minnesota is so Minnesota-centric. Like the great state of Minnesota.

15:26
I hear it all the time. And I heard the great state of Maine when I was growing up, but it wasn't like the news catch phrase. And at first it really threw me. And having lived here for this long, it really is a great state. It is a really great place to live. And when you meet people who want to give you a leg up or a hand up, they mean it.

15:53
They absolutely mean it and they stand behind it. And so for the people that have helped you along the way, I think that there's a big thank you there. And so the please and thank you part of your name, I think that thank you goes a lot further than just the name of the company. Absolutely. My whole dream is can I be the people that helped me grow and get to the next level? How else can I share my knowledge

16:23
And talking with people that are willing to say like, hey, I believe in what you have going on. I have this resource. Let's tap into it and see where you can take it. And I actually just had someone, you know, I had a conversation with another entrepreneur on Monday night at, you know, 10 p.m. because I ran into an issue and he's like, I got somebody, I'm going to give them a call. Let's figure out what we can do next. He's like, this is where he even said it.

16:53
I couldn't always do this before, but now I'm in the position where I can help somebody else and I go, I'm going to be you in a few years so I can help somebody else too. So it's just this really cool community of us trying to help each other answer these wild questions that we all have. Yes. And when I meet people who I really admire, I have this thing that I say, I always say, I want to be you when I grow up and I don't want to be them.

17:21
But I want to be like them. And I still say it and I'm 55. So I'm never growing up. I'm going to be a kid for the rest of my life in my head. And I think that's what you're talking about. You want to be, you want to be able to be like them when you grow up. Absolutely. And it's just, you know, giving back and bringing it forward. And, um, I think Minnesota, like you said, has a, an amazing community of people that do that and actually mean it on the backside.

17:51
Yeah, and I don't want to imply that people in Maine don't mean it, but I just want to know. It sounds like I got to go to Maine. It sounds beautiful. It is very, very pretty. It is also very expensive to live there, which is why we didn't move there when we decided to move four years ago. We talked about it and I looked into it and I was like, well, we could afford land and a house, no problem, but can we afford to eat after we do that? So we decided to stay where we were.

18:19
And I love where we live, so it's all good. But yes, anyone who has not visited New England needs to go. And you need to go like the end of September, 1st of October, because the bugs are not as bad and the trees are starting to change and the temperatures aren't as miserable. Cause it's hot in Maine in the summertime. It's really muggy, kind of like Minnesota. Yeah. We'll note it. So go visit.

18:47
Go, it's really fun. And the food, oh my God, try everything. What's your favorite? Lobster, because I can't get it here worth a damn. Yeah, lobster in Minnesota is probably not the best, huh? I don't, I had someone bring me a lobster roll as a surprise gift from a decent restaurant at one point. And I will fully admit that I was in

19:14
incredibly not gracious about it. I said, I said, thank you. And I bit into it and it wasn't quite the lobster roll that I expected when I thought of lobster roll. And I chewed up the bite and put the thing down and said, I really appreciate this, but I can't eat this. Oh, that's funny. You gave me your best shot.

19:39
The friend that brought it said, why? And I said, because this is not really a lobster roll. This is some not great lobster in a not great bun. And they put stuff in it that shouldn't be there. And they were like, oh my God, I'm so sorry. I'm like, it is not your fault. You didn't know. Now you gotta bring that friend to Maine so they can experience what a true one is. Yes, and I mean, I am terribly spoiled. The last lobster roll I had had before that unfortunate experience.

20:09
was literally on the coast at the lobster shack, I think in South Portland, Maine, outside at a picnic table with a gingham tablecloth on it. I had picked out the lobster in the tank that I wanted the whole experience and it was lovely. No way. You get to pick the lobster that you're going to eat? Oh yes. All right. Oh yes. I can picture this. I like it.

20:38
They pull the live lobster out of the tank. They take it back. They put it in the hot water. They cook it. They break it up. They do the thing. And the funniest part about that whole story is my second son, well, my first son of my body. Long story, I have a daughter. I have a stepson. I have two sons after the stepson. Second- You got a full family. Yeah, first son of my body was like four or five at the time. And he saw the lobsters in the tank and he thought that was super cool.

21:08
And I said, so you're going to try eating lobster? And he said, I'm not eating those big red bugs. I was like, well, fine. You don't have to eat the big red bugs. I will eat your share. So it was very, big red bugs. Yes. But anyway, go to Maine, eat all the foods. It's amazing. Um, okay. So we're at 21 minutes. What else can I ask you? Oh, you said you make, you make like breakfast granola too.

21:37
Yes. Yep. Okay. And is it the same flavorings as the granola bars or is it different? It's slightly different. So this one is a cinnamon almond flavor. We make a hazelnut spread and we melt that down and use that as our coating. And then it's got extra cinnamon flavor and some almonds and some pumpkin seeds. It's a really, really good...

22:02
granola for like yogurt in the morning. Lots of people love to put it on their vanilla ice cream at night too. And it comes in like clusters almost. So you can just, you know, put your hand in the bag, grab a little chunk and eat it like a potato chip. But it's better because it's yummy granola. And it's called Yes Please. So it's like granola trail mix. Yeah, there you go. Nice. Very nice. I was going to ask you back before we got onto the whole main thing.

22:32
The packaging that you use, you're very aware of your customers and the gluten-free and the nut-free and the dairy-free. What's the packaging made of? It is a post-consumer recycled material. So it is made from recycled material on the front end and then you can specialty recycle it on the back end if you want. But

23:00
Being on the trend of CPG, single use packaging, and doing that in a way that doesn't take away from the earth was really important to me because we're all running around, right? We're all trying to grab that convenience snack and it has a wrapper because it's supposed to keep the food safe and share all the information, but then it just gets thrown away, right? So I hope that we can stay on this trend of.

23:30
Not only is the packaging made from recycled material, but then eventually the technology will catch up with us in which it can then be recycled on the back end while keeping the food safe and keep the shelf life safe. Because that's the other thing we have to think about is if the packaging doesn't support the food and the safety or the shelf life of it, then we're creating food waste. And so it was a, it was a

23:59
learning experience to go from my bars are always in compostable packaging, but my bars only lasted for six weeks in compostable packaging. And that's not going to work in the long run. So then I got into opaque packaging that I'm in now that's made from partially recycled material, but then keeps my food safe up to nine months. And so now I'm extending the shelf life without changing what's

24:29
And so what's really important to me is can my packaging be just as good for the earth as we would hope any packaging is and we don't add to the earth, we help it. So that's a long-winded answer to my packaging is made from post-consumer recycled material.

24:53
That is a perfect answer and I expected absolutely nothing less. I figured with everything else you were considering, that was probably the answer I was going to get and I'm so glad it was. Yes. And now that we're looking into new machinery, I need to get into new packaging and so I'm having my packaging company do a lot of research around. How do we stay on that trend?

25:20
make sure that the packaging is small enough to make it through the machine, but it's still made from post-consumer recycled material, but it keeps the food safe. And what's interesting about now going into a flow wrapper is we have less material for the packaging. So it's actually

25:44
less waste that we're going to be using and I think we can continue with the post-consumer recycled material with this new packaging. So that'll come out next year when I get new machinery. But it's something that I think about and I think it's really important to stay on that trend and help the technology evolve. Absolutely. You are the person that is going to change the world. You already are doing it.

26:14
I'm so pleased that there are people in the world like you who are really considering all of these aspects of having a business because the world is not the healthiest place right now, the planet. And I want people like you to be being ingenious and brilliant and putting your stuff in the world so that everybody else sees that it can be done. I appreciate that. And thanks to people like you that

26:41
like to talk about it and spread the word and ask all the questions because there's lots of us out there that are thinking about it and we just need people to be interested in it and like care about that too because when you go into those types of packaging ideas or the ingredient ideas and you lean into high quality, there comes a cost with it, right?

27:10
about how it's being produced and the care that goes into it, they're more okay with paying a little bit more, right? So if my bar is on the shelf and it's 50 cents more than somebody else, if you look into that and you ask the questions, well, it's a small business. They don't have the economies of scale or they're paying attention to packaging or they're paying attention to nut butters.

27:40
more okay with the cost difference, right? And so it's people like you that are asking the questions and helping people understand, and that's really cool. I'm trying real hard to ask the really important questions. And when people say things to me that I'm not quite sure of, I definitely ask them to clarify and I'm like, I'm going to push you a little because we need deeper, bigger answers than what I was just given.

28:08
And I feel bad about it sometimes, but I'm like, yeah, this is what I do. This is what I'm supposed to be doing. Absolutely. And then you can, you can dig into, is that actually a real answer? Is it not a real answer? Yeah. And I haven't had anyone yet be offended. So I'm just going to keep trying to ride that wave of not offending, but making sure that the answers are what I need out of it. Yes, absolutely.

28:37
because I don't want to offend people. I want people to feel safe talking to me. Well, you're really fun to talk to. I'm having a lot of fun. Good, and I don't want to hurt people's feelings either because that just hurts me too. I don't, I never feel good coming away from a conversation where I'm like, I think I might've hurt their feelings. I feel bad about that. Because not only did I hurt them, I hurt me in the process. So I try really hard not to do that.

29:06
To end this interview on a really fun note, I have a story about my foray into making granola bars. It's not very long. I tried making granola bars years ago and I used honey and vegetable oil and biggest mistake was chocolate chips because I did not realize that if you put chocolate chips in an oven to bake granola bars, the chocolate's going to burn.

29:36
So I ended up throwing away an entire pan of granola bars, which never made it to the bar stage because they smelled so terrible. We had to open all the windows and open the doors. So is there a secret to making granola bars? I mean, I want you to give away your trade secrets, but how do you do it so that you can have the little chocolate chips or whatever in them? So the ones that have chocolate chips in them are actually no bake. So four of my bars are no bake bars.

30:06
Um, we make them and then press them down, cool them down, and then we cut them and package them and they, they don't need to be baked and, um, they meet all the requirements of, of shelf life. The only one that is baked, um, is the, you're welcome. And that's what the dates and what we do with that one is we reduce the water activity in it so that the shelf life is longer. But that's the only reason we baked that one. So, um,

30:35
Four of the bars are non-baked, and then the granola is baked for that cluster, that crunch, and then the Your Welcome is baked so that we reduce the water activity in it. Okay, well the recipe I used must have been faulty because it said, I did everything it said to do, and I will never ever do that again because my house smelled like burnt chocolate for two weeks. There you go. And the baked ones sometimes are a little bit more crunchy, right? Our bars are a lot more chewy.

31:05
They're softer to the touch. And so they just have a much different texture than what's out there. Yours are the kind that I really like. I don't like the hard ones. I don't want them to break teeth. I don't want to break teeth. I really don't. So all right, awesome. Brit, this was so much fun. Back at you. And thank you so much for your time today. This was amazing. Thank you. I appreciate it. All right, have a great day. You too. Bye.