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Justin's
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryFood production
Founded2004; 20 years ago (2004)
FounderJustin Gold
Headquarters
Boulder, Colorado
,
U.S.
Products
Number of employees
30+ (2015)
ParentHormel
Websitewww.justins.com

Justin's is an American brand of natural and organic nut butters and peanut butter cups. The Boulder-based company manufactures and markets jars and single-serve squeeze packs of nut butter, along with various kinds of organic peanut butter cups. Justin's peanut butter cups are USDA-certified organic and use Rainforest Alliance Certified cocoa. Both the peanut butter cups and nut butters are distributed through stores such as Whole Foods Market, Wegmans, Sprouts Farmers Market, Starbucks, and Target in the United States.[1][2][3][4]

History

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The company was founded in 2004 by Justin Gold, a 2000 graduate of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Gold majored in environmental studies, at Dickinson, before he moved to Colorado in 2002.[5] Gold was a vegetarian and active outdoors-man when he began making nut butters for himself to meet his protein needs and fuel his adventures.[6][7] After countless occasions of roommates eating his protein creations, Gold decided he should sell his nut butters and began selling at the Boulder Farmers' Market followed by Whole Foods Market agreeing to stock his product.[1][8][9] Gold initially raised capital from friends and family and officially launched Justin’s, named after the labels he used to include on the jars of nut butters he’d make for himself and roommates.[10]

In 2006, Justin's introduced its portable squeeze packs and was the first nut butter brand to market the single-serve squeeze pack.[7][11] Since then, Justin's has also introduced its organic dark, milk and white chocolate peanut butter cups,[3] as well as several other flavors of spreads, including its chocolate hazelnut butter and maple almond butter.[12] In 2011, the trade magazine Progressive Grocer named Justin's peanut butter cups one of the best roll-outs of 2011.[11]

By 2012, Justin's was selling 25 million squeeze packs and 1.6 million jars of nut butter.[6] Its revenue growth placed Justin's on Inc. magazine's Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing companies in the country.[13]

By 2014, the company had 30 employees[14] and was generating triple digit growth[8] with its seven flavors of nut butters and three kinds of peanut butter cups.[15][16]

In 2016 the company self-published a cookbook entitled Justin My Kitchen containing over 50 recipes using Justin's products.

In May 2016, Justin's was sold to Hormel for $286 million.[17]

Philanthropy

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Justin's is a founding member of the Whole Planet Foundation's Microloan-a-Month program, a foundation established by Whole Foods that supports micro-financing institutions across the globe. Justin's provides a microloan-a-month to an entrepreneur in the developing world.[18]

Justin's has also partnered with Conscious Alliance to promote awareness of severe hunger issues[19] and participates in annual company trips to volunteer on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota to help support hunger relief efforts.[20]

Recognition

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Justin Gold was named Entrepreneur of the Year for consumer products by Ernst & Young in 2013.[21] That same year, Justin's nut butter received a 2013 Clean Choice Award from Clean Eating Magazine.[22] In 2014, the company was included as one of Prevention magazine's "100 Cleanest Packaged Foods."[23] Justin's has also been included on Inc. Magazine’s Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest growing companies,[24] as well as the editors' pick for Gourmet Retailer Magazine[25] and press pick from the Natural Products Expo in 2015.[26]

References

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  1. ^ a b Robin D. Schatz (25 June 2013). "From Farmers' Market to Whole Foods". Inc. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  2. ^ Monica Watrous (May 28, 2014). "Q&A: A 'lot of runway' for Justin's Nut Butter". Food Business Network. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  3. ^ a b AC Shilton (November 7, 2014). "Why You Need to Be Eating Gourmet Nut Butter". Outside. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  4. ^ Curtis Vreeland (November 26, 2014). "One-on-one with Justin Gold from Justin's". Candy Industry Magazine.
  5. ^ "40 Under 40: Justin Gold". New Hope 360. July 23, 2008. Retrieved May 6, 2015.[permanent dead link‍]
  6. ^ a b Locke Hughes (August 30, 2013). "The Faces Behind 10 of Your Favorite Health Food Brands". Shape. Archived from the original on May 4, 2015. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  7. ^ a b Nathan Chan (4 April 2015). "How Justin Gold Turned His Kitchen Hobby Into a Multi-Million Dollar Peanut Butter Powerhouse". Foundr Magazine. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  8. ^ a b Elaine Watson (May 5, 2014). "Justin's CEO: When you start out, you say yes to every opportunity; as you get bigger, you have to start saying no". Food Navigator-USA. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  9. ^ Chris Meehan (October 28, 2014). "Justin's Nut Butter CEO Shells out on Building a Business at Jake Jabs Center for Entrepreneurship's Best of Colorado Speaker Series". University of Colorado. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  10. ^ Esther Goth (March 2015). "Success story: How Justin Gold Turned his Kitchen Hobby into a Peanut Butter Powerhouse". Foundrs Magazine.
  11. ^ a b Margaret Littman (April 1, 2012). "A Not-So-Nutty Business Idea". Entrepreneur. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  12. ^ "Justin's Nut Butter to offer chocolate flavors". Denver Business Journal. June 23, 2009. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  13. ^ Mark Harden (August 21, 2012). "Colorado companies make 2012 Inc. 5000 fastest-growing list". Denver Business Journal. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  14. ^ Melani Dizon (29 September 2014). "Changing Boulder: Meet Justin Gold of Justin's Nut Butters". Your Boulder.
  15. ^ Berne Broudy (May 27, 2013). "Justin's Nut Butter". Outside. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  16. ^ "Justin's versus Theo Peanut Butter Cups: Gluten-Free Taste Test". Chicago Now. September 9, 2014. Archived from the original on May 10, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  17. ^ FoodNavigator-USA.com (17 May 2016). "Hormel buys Justin's Nut Butter for $286m: 'It attracts a younger, more health conscious on-the-go millennial consumer'". Retrieved 2016-07-14.
  18. ^ "Salah foundation gives to Excelsior, Colo. Youth at Risk". Denver Business Journal. September 30, 2011. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  19. ^ J V Crum III (July 29, 2014). "From Peanuts to Making a Big Difference". Huffington Post. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  20. ^ Jane Porter (September 15, 2012). "Spotlight: Justin's Nut Butter's Justin Gold, Entrepreneur of 2012 Finalist". Entrepreneur. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  21. ^ "EY announces Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2013 Award winners in the Mountain Desert region". EY. June 20, 2013. Archived from the original on March 29, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  22. ^ "Clean Choice Awards 2013: Best Butters". Clean Eating. 6 June 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  23. ^ Mandy Oaklander (February 20, 2014). "100 Cleanest Packaged Food Awards 2014". Prevention. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  24. ^ "Justin's Nut Butter". Inc. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  25. ^ "Introducing TGR's Editors' Picks". Gourmet Retailer. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  26. ^ "Expo Awards". Expo West. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
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