Chocolate coconut peanut butter.
Vanilla espresso almond butter.
Sugar cookie peanut butter.
Organic honey sunflower butter.
Cinnamon raisin peanut butter.
PROTEIN vanilla almond butter.
Cashew SUPER BUTTER with Honey, Chia & Flax x3.
Need I go on? OH, and ALL of these flavorful butters are not only delicious but free of preservatives and additives, non-gmo and natural. Wild friends is my go to butter for smoothies, snacks and basically any combo I can whip up.
So when Erika, co-creator of Wild Friends, agreed to let me interview her, I jumped at the opportunity! Check out my Q&A below with my favorite brand!!
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Q: First and foremost, how did you come up with the idea of starting Wild Friends?
Erika: Wild Friends started when Keeley and I were college students and we ran out of our favorite food — peanut butter. We both love to cook, so instead of going to the grocery store to buy another jar, we decided to try making our own! We started experimenting and couldn’t stop at just peanuts and salt. We combined foods we already ate with peanut butter like chocolate, coconut, and honey and came up with unique flavors we loved. We realized that what we had created was unlike anything we could buy at the store and we set out to get our products on shelf. Since then, our customers have asked us to make classic flavors as well – and now our best-selling products include our classic creamy peanut and almond butters, as well as unique varieties.
Q: Wait, back up a second. This is a full time job. Did you quit college?
Erika: We decided to take the plunge and quit college after we filmed our segment for the ABC show Shark Tank! Being on that show made our little Farmer’s Market business seem like a much bigger idea than we imagined when we first started making jars in our college apartment. It gave us the confidence to take our business seriously and we felt there was enough excitement and interest in our brand to take it to the next level. We knew that leaving school was necessary in order to give our fledging company the time and energy it deserved.
Q: Since the brand has exploded and is an uber success, how do you balance the responsibilities of the brand?
Erika: Hiring a team has been the key to supporting our growth. We ran the business for almost 4 years alone and reached a point where hiring people was necessary in order to help us maintain the growth we were experiencing. Cultivating our team has been one of the most rewarding aspects of running our company! We are lucky to have a strong, supportive, hard-working team that is aligned with our vision for Wild Friends!
Q: I can’t believe you ran the business for 4 years with no help! What advice would you give to wannabe entrepreneurs who are looking to tap into a business.
Erika: Don’t get caught in the comparison trap — there might be someone else with a similar idea or an existing company doing want you want to do. Just remember your idea is different and unique because of YOU. Use that existing business or idea as inspiration to make yours even better.
Start early — you don’t need a business degree or business plan to start pursuing your idea. Keeley and I had neither and it hasn’t held us back one bit. We started Wild Friends when we were 18 and 19 years old with no prior business experience. What we did have was a lot of passion and enthusiasm and I think that’s the reason we’ve been able to accomplish so much is so little time. When you have an idea your passionate about, don’t waste time with the “what-ifs.” Take advantage of your excitement and start pursuing your dream!
Q: I LOVE that advice. Where do you see Wild Friends in the Future?
Erika: We see Wild Friends as a nut butter snacking company, with products across the aisles of the grocery store, and we’re currently working on new product innovation that will start to make that vision a reality. Our mission of Making Food Friendly includes making healthy food more delicious, fun and convenient. We’re excited to continue doing that by introducing our brand to new customers outside of the nut butter aisle!
I hope you all enjoyed this Q&A with Erika of Wild Friends, now RUN (don’t walk) to your local supermarket to pick up some of their new SUPER butters! It comes in two flavors: Almond Cashew Super Butter and Peanut Cashew Super Butter. You can order them online at wildfriendsfoods.com or find them in select Kroger stores nationwide including: Kroger, King Soopers, QFC, Fred Meyer, Ralphs, Fry’s, Dillon’s and Smith’s. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway on my instagram page!
xx Erica
