Mainebiz Food Insider: GrandyOats, Wicked Joe waking up granola with new product
Courtesy / GrandyOats
GrandyOats' co-owners, from left, Aaron Anker and Nat Peirce stand next to the 288-panel solar array that powers their granola factory in Hiram. The company is partnering with Topsham-based coffee roaster Wicked Joe to make Grandy Oats Coffee Crunch Coconola.
Two Maine businesses known for their natural products, environmental awareness and business acumen have teamed up on a product that one says is “waking up” the granola category.
Organic snack producer Grandy Oats and coffee roaster Wicked Joe have combined on Grandy Oats Coffee Crunch Coconola. The product is part of the line of the Hiram-based granola producer’s grain-free coconut granola line, but infused with Wicked Joe’s First Track coffee.
Those watching their caffeine don’t have to be concerned — a serving of the product has 13 milligrams, a fraction of the 95 milligrams found in a typical 8-ounce cup of coffee.
The Coconola also has coconut chips, hazelnuts, pecans and seeds.
Both companies power their production with solar panels and have been recognized for organic products and sustainable practices.
Like Grandy Oats’ other Coconolas, Coffee Crunch is made in small batches and is organic, gluten free, paleo, kosher and non-GMO.
Wicked Joe’s coffee, roasted in Topsham, is made with 100% organic and fair-trade beans bought directly from farmers and cooperatives.
Aaron Anker, chief granola officer at Grandy Oats, said in a news release that the new product is part of the company’s continued evolution of granola. “Through our partnership with our Maine neighbors at Wicked Joe, we are waking up the category even further,” he said.
Bob Garver, founder of Wicked Joe, said that the new product is “rooted in our shared values and commitment to making the best products using sustainable business practices from field to family table."
“We love helping develop such an innovative product,” he added.
The product debuted in March at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, Calif.
Grandy Oats, which employs 29 and was on track for 20% business growth last year, got notice for both its product and practices.
Its original Coconola Coconut Granola was named 2017’s “best granola” by Delicious Living magazine. And last May, it also was recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency with an Environmental Merit Award for its sustainable practices.
Wicked Joe’s owners, Bob and Carmen Garver, were Mainebiz Small Business Business Leaders of the Year for 2017.
The company had a 25% jump in sales in 2016, $5 million as a coffee roaster and an additional $1 million at its coffee shop, Bard Coffee in Portland.
The company was also certified by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association in 2016 for being 100% organic and by the nonprofit B Lab for meeting rigorous social and environmental performance, accountability and sustainability standards. At the time it was one of only four Maine companies to attain B Corp status.
In February last year, Bard Coffee received a "2017 Good Food Award.”
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