Today we’d like to introduce you to Sam Trohman.
Sam, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I founded NOSH with my wife, Lauren, and it was initially born out of a desire for more unique nut and seed butter combinations – stuff we couldn’t find at our neighborhood grocery store. It began with a single Cuisinart food processor and a pantry full of nuts in our home kitchen in Cleveland. We basically started blitzing up nuts, seeds, and spices, and testing it on ourselves and our friends and coworkers. Our first successful recipe was the pistachio almond butter that is still part of our product line.
I have a business background and Lauren studied nutrition and public health, so developing our business model, our recipes and all of our operations became a really fun way for us to marry our skills. Once we realized the business had legs, we quickly went from producing nut butter in our home kitchen to renting space at a shared commercial kitchen. At first, I was at that kitchen every weekend, building up inventory to take to local markets. A little under a year later, in 2018, I decided to make NOSH my full-time job. We now have our own kitchen space and a retail store where we sell all types of local pantry food items alongside our own products.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We’ve made steady progress but I’d be lying if I said there haven’t been bumps along the way. As with the startup of any small business, there’s been a lot of uncertainty. We decided early on that we’d take things six months at a time to see if we should keep moving forward. Despite the difficulty of the last two years, we’ve continued to say yes – we should keep going, this is still viable. But there were times during the last couple years of the pandemic when we thought, are we going to be able to source packaging and ingredients? Are our costs going up too much? Will we be able to find and retain employees? The list goes on. Fortunately, we’ve adapted, problem solved, and are more resilient as a specialty food maker. I think the fact that we’re still here is a testament to our endurance and the quality of our products, but we also have an incredible community that has helped bolster us.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Ohio-based NOSH Butters produces small-batch craft nut butters and nut mixes. Natural Originals to Satisfy your Hunger are what we do best. Our butters are perfect for snacking, baking, drizzling, scooping, spreading, whatevering. All of our products are plant-based, gluten-free, dairy-free, palm oil-free, protein-rich, wholesome, and delicious.
At NOSH, we believe food is the key to connecting people, and that our small, family-run company can be used as a vehicle for creating positive change in the world. We are committed to continuously improving our environmentally and socially conscious business practices, including:
Offering a glass jar reuse program to minimize waste
Partnering with local suppliers to improve healthy food access and keep our local economy strong
Helping to support causes and organizations we care about
And starting in 2021, contributing 1% of our sales to climate and social justice efforts
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
Lauren and I feel really lucky to be based in Cuyahoga Falls. There is so much love and appreciation for the people, businesses, and city as a whole. NOSH wouldn’t exist without the support of our community. Our friends and neighbors have helped us with graphic design, building construction at our kitchen and retail shop, getting the word out, even stepping in to babysit our toddler son when we needed a hand. It’s the perfect place to start a small business.
I want to see more local restaurants and food producers prosper here. It’s a big deal for people to have access to healthy, affordable food, and a large part of that involves investing in the local economy, building that local food system and innovating to develop new food products. I also think the barriers to starting a food business are too high for most people, and it would be great to break those down to make this goal more achievable.
Pricing:
- 12oz Nut Butters $11.99
- 4oz Nut Butters $6.99
- 4oz Nut Mixes $5.99
Contact Info:
- Email: sam@noshbutters.com
- Website: http://www.noshbutters.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/noshbutters
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/noshbutters
