WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-A better butter?

Stowe, Vermont - February 19, 2010

It's not quite re-inventing the wheel, but what a small company in Stowe is trying to do is make a better butter -- a better peanut butter. "I've always loved peanut butter," beams Chris Kaiser.

Kaiser started developing what he calls gourmet artisan recipes in 2008 as a sideline from his financial planning job. He launched production under the Vermont Peanut Butter Company label just last year. "'Made in Vermont' is synonymous with quality," Kaiser explains.

The ski patroller and avid outdoorsman's idea is that organic peanut butter, with no chemical ingredients and no excess sugar or salt, will stick in health-conscious consumers' minds. "I think we've created a 'superfood,'" he says.

"Super" because some of his peanut butters have extra protein added. It is whey protein, meant to power athletes through their hikes or ski trips. Production manager Ali Fredette says, "I don't eat meat, so I'm psyched about the vegetarianism of our product."

The brand also adds other ingredients like cherries, banana, flax and pumpkin seeds, dark chocolate, and more into eight flavored varieties. They are substantial but not too sweet. Good old-fashioned plain peanut butter is also on the menu.

Production methods are top secret because the small team says it uses proprietary machines to grind the nuts and blend the coarse or creamy butters in small batches of sixty jars. In just a matter of months, the company has landed in dozens of Vermont stores and has deals in the works to expand throughout the northeast.

Internet sales go far beyond the region. Fredette chuckles, "There's somebody eating peanut butter in Arizona and I made it!"

But customers must swallow premium prices, between $6.50 and $9 a jar. Reporter Jack Thurston asks, "People don't complain about paying $8 a jar when they would get three jars of Jif or Skippy for that?" Kaiser responds, "No, no."

He continues, "You can get ten sandwiches out of an $8 jar. You go to a deli and you pay $8 for a sandwich and you're done!"

He's already working on new containers: single-serving sizes to compete with energy bars. The Vermont Peanut Butter Company wants to be the state's next big food brand. "Like Ben & Jerry's," Fredette says. "I feel like it's going to be something like that."

High hopes for this company and its "Made in Vermont" peanut butter.

"I'd like to build something that will last for generations here," Chris Kaiser says, smiling.

Click here to visit the Vermont Peanut Butter Company's website.

Jack Thurston - WCAX News - Made in Vermont