GrandyOats picks up award from Specialty Food Association

Courtesy/ GrandyOats GrandyOats won a Specialty Food Association sofi award for its Turmeric Ginger Cashews snack.

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By Staff

GrandyOats, a Hiram-based maker of organic granola and snacks, won a Specialty Food Association sofi award this week for its Turmeric Ginger Cashews snack, a year after it won a sofi for its Coffee Crunch Coconola.

The Turmeric Ginger Cashews, which blend turmeric, ginger, lemongrass and cayenne, are organic, vegan and gluten-free, and can be consumed as a snack or in salads, stir fries, and desserts.

GrandyOats received a bronze award in the savory snack category.

“What started as a grandiose idea has turned into 40 years of product innovation,” said Aaron Anker, the company's co-owner and vice president of marketing and sales, in a news release. “We’re excited to continue spicing up the snack category with our Turmeric Ginger Cashews.”

Asked why he thought the cashews won, he told Mainebiz it was because "they are a delicious snack. I think the fact that turmeric is also on trend helped."

He added: "We made this product as a way to grow our roasted nut varieties. We already made our famous maple-roasted cashews and our garlic herb cashews along with other flavor-roasted nuts, so it was a great addition to our roasted nut offerings."

GrandyOats, which has focused on the bulk market since it was founded in 1979, is also counting on its latest award-winning product to spur more bulk purchases.

"We love producing organic bulk products, because bulk allows customers to buy as little or as much as they want, it saves on packing, and it allows customers to use their reusable containers," said GrandyOats CEO Rob Maxwell.

The company will showcase the Tumeric Ginger Cashews and other products at next month's Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City.

Based in Hiram, GrandyOats' bakery is powered by 288 solar panels that generate enough renewable energy to produce millions of pounds of granola and offset more than 145,000 pounds of greenhouse gases annually. Anker and co-owner Nat Peirce were named by Mainebiz as 2015 Next List honorees for having grown the company from $115,000 in sales in 2000 to $5 million in 2015. A year ago, the company reported having 29 employees and had achieved 20% business growth the previous year.

With a mission of sourcing the most wholesome organic ingredients, GrandyOats says it partners with local and organic producers to "create the taste that nature intended."

Cofffee Crunch Coconola, released last year, resulted from a collaboration with Wicked Joe Coffee of Topsham, owned by Mainebiz 2017 Business Leaders of the Year Bob and Carmen Garver.

The couple, who won in the small business category, also own Bard Coffee in downtown Portland.