How Justin Gold Reinvented Nut Butter and Built a $281 Million Brand

Innovation might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of peanut butter. Yet Justin Gold, founder of Justin’s, an organic nut butter company, saw huge potential in this everyday grocery staple.

The Beginning of Justin’s

In 2004, Gold, an avid mountain biker living in Boulder, Colorado, was searching for protein alternatives. Nut butters were a natural fit, but the options in stores were uninspiring and often loaded with unhealthy ingredients. Driven by curiosity, he began experimenting with his own nut butters using a food processor.

Turning a Passion into a Business

Gold’s homemade nut butters were a hit with his roommates, which led him to wonder if his passion could become a business. Lacking a formal business background, Gold looked for guidance in Boulder, a hub for organic and natural food companies like Celestial Seasonings and Rudi’s Organic Bakery.

Using a commercial kitchen to manufacture, the local farmer’s market became his testing ground, where he introduced peanut and almond butters in flavors like cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and honey. The feedback was instant, and Gold quickly learned what worked and what didn’t.

The Tipping Point

Despite early enthusiasm, selling nut butter at local stores and farmers markets wasn’t enough to sustain the business. Gold continued working part-time jobs in retail and waiting tables to make ends meet. 

Then, while on a mountain bike ride, inspiration struck. As he was eating an energy gel, Gold came up with the idea of a peanut butter squeeze pack. After some research, Gold found that there were two companies that make squeeze packs for everyone, however they refused to process tree nuts in their facilities. So to bring the idea to life, Gold borrowed $75,000 from a roommate’s parents and purchased an old squeeze pack machine of his own and began production in 2006.

The idea paid off. Serving in squeeze pouches with a variety of flavors differentiated Justin’s from the market enough to gain traction. What's more, once the squeeze packs were in stores, sales of jars saw improvement too because the pouches effectively gave customers the chance to buy a small sample. Once jar sales started to pick up, everything kept growing from there. Gold was able to raise money from angel investors and develop a brand unique to his personality.

Gold puts this early win down to two trends: people were no longer afraid of (healthy) fats in their diets after realizing the scientific benefits to plant-based fat sources; and customers were tired of peanut butter and turning to almond butter. When the two trends merged, Justin’s was in the right place at the right time.

Scaling the Business

Orders started pouring in from chains like Whole Foods, Wegmans, and eventually larger retailers like Target. In 2011, Justin’s expanded its product line to include chocolate nut butter cups, further boosting its appeal.

Justin’s began to secure the coveted ‘eye to thigh’ product placement on shelves in supermarkets. Gold claims the premium product placement was earned through building solid relationships with his buyers, being able to demonstrate high velocities (the time a product spends on a shelf before being sold), and supporting placement with lots of demos and sampling. By 2015, the company was generating over $50 million in annual revenue.

That same year, when seeking the best way to repay his investors, food giant Hormel came knocking with a purchase offer. After some time and another offer, he accepted with one condition: the business had to stay in Boulder, and no employees could lose their jobs. Hormel agreed, and in 2016, Justin’s was sold for $281 million.

The Secret to Success

Gold credits his success to a combination of hard work, strategic thinking, and luck. He put in a lot of work, but admits there was a small window of opportunity where he was able to disrupt a category that held previously untapped potential at the time.

Gold eventually left Justin’s in 2021. He transformed an everyday product into a premium brand, proving that even the most ordinary items can become extraordinary with the right approach.

Gold’s advice to entrepreneurs is simple: “You never want to build something to sell it. You want to build something that somebody wants to buy.”