Justin's nut butter.

• Author: Peterson, Eric
• Position: [small biz] COLORADO COOL STUFF - Brief article

"It basically started with a food processor in my kitchen," said Justin Gold of Justin's Nut Butter origins. The vegetarian and avid mountain biker had a constant hunger for protein, but was unimpressed with the selection of nut butters on the retail shelves.

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He started selling jars to Whole Foods in 2003 but soon had a breakthrough in figuring out how to make squeeze packs of to-go peanut butter in 2005.

"I created the product for very selfish reasons," he said of his original target market of hikers and mountain bikers looking for quick energy. But parents have turned out to be his top customers.

Now Gold makes six varieties of peanut and almond butter available in...