Community Highlights: Meet Rachel Johnson of The Mitten Peanut Butter company

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Johnson

Hi Rachel, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
a few years ago me and my husband were working retail jobs we hated. we wanted a change but didn’t know what to do. we saw an ice cream shop and wondered if we could purchase it. long story short we took over that ice cream shop and changed our lives. I started to make home made ice cream. which at the shop had not existed. I figured out ways to do everything. creating my own unique flavors. in making ice cream I found that I really hated the peanut butter available to me. I made so many different peanut butter flavors for ice cream that there had to be a better option. everything available was either full of chemicals or full of sugar and oils that did not belong. and I found my self asking why these ingredients are in here. so the only solution was to make it myself. I took all the junk out and added real ingredients. it. was a huge hit for my ice cream. everyone loved the peanut butter. people asked to be able to take it home and could I jar it. truth is I couldn’t make enough for the ice cream and for toppings to keep up, let alone think of being able to jar it. so a few years goes by and we decide to sell the shop and move to Michigan. my husbands family is from here, and we missed them. I took the peanut butter machine with me to Michigan. we start to get settled in and I think to myself I am going to start making peanut butter again and bring it to farmers markets. all with the intention to take the junk ingredients out. I then started to mess around with flavors like I did ice cream. truly that’s where the real fun came in. and now were in a bunch of different farmers markets and we have a website. its been a crazy year.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
trying to navigate where peanut butter fell for health department was a nightmare. was I cottage food or did I need a commercial food license. I worked back and fourth with someone from the state for months that told me I needed a commercial kitchen and that all my product had to be stored in a certified kitchen. they told me peanut butter was not under cottage food law. so I panicked where was I going to make the peanut butter. I thought back to my knowledge and thought about a food truck being a commercial kitchen. so I purchased a food truck. I thought ok now I can get started. so I went to get the food truck certified by my county and they ask what I am going to do with the truck and I told them make peanut butter for the markets and they were baffled. they explained to me that I did not need this truck I was able to make peanut butter under the cottage food law. to get started as long as I was selling person to person I could make it in my home. so I started right away and my first market was in Chelsea Michigan this past spring 2024. the food truck was a total waste. moral of the story always get a second opinion.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about the mitten peanut butter company ?
The Mitten Peanut Butter Company makes really awesome peanut butter. We specialize in unique flavors, with real ingredients and great taste. our main objective is to keep the ingredients list low and our quality of taste high. We use a glass recyclable jar to be environmentally friendly. We grind, flavor and jar all by hand. some of our flavors include, strawberry, chocolate, cardamon date, cinnamon and honey, habanero, Dill pickle and many more. we also have tree nut butters such as, Almond butter and cashew butter. i am the most proud that I make everything myself everything is tested by me before being jarred. we keep quality control at top priority. I have no interest in being in big box stores I like to keep things small and high quality. talking to customers at farmers markets is the best part of my job getting to know everyone and sharing our love for peanut butter.

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
I had just opened my ice cream shop when covid happened. to me it felt like there was a loss of community. now a few years later you can really see at the farmers market that community is thriving. again. people meet up to see each other. people talking to the people who grew or made their food. its a place where we all missed during covid. its really a beautiful thing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mittenpbco.com
• Instagram: themittenpb