Justin’s Nut Butter: Justin Gold. He Was Waiting Tables, Then...He Reinvented Peanut Butter.

Justin Gold grew up in western Pennsylvania, studied to become a lawyer, but instead moved west — first to Northern California, then to Boulder, Colorado in 2001, where he began waiting tables. A vegetarian with a sweet tooth, he noticed the stark contrast between the vast variety of jams and jellies on store shelves versus the limited options in the nut butter section. This observation, combined with his habit of mixing peanut butter with honey or jelly, sparked a curiosity about why flavored nut butters didn't exist commercially.

Over four to six months, Justin experimented in his apartment with a food processor, testing dozens of formulations of flavored peanut butters and almond butters. He kept detailed journals numbering each jar and recording ingredients and percentages. He discovered early on that water content was the key challenge — ingredients like honey would cause texture degradation over time. He spent nearly a year writing a business plan, using the University of Colorado's library and connecting with local food entrepreneurs, professors, and angel investors for guidance. His first company name was 'Paragon Peanut Butter,' but friends kept calling it Justin's, and the name stuck.

With $35,000 raised from family — including his parents, uncle, sister, and grandmother's inheritance — Justin purchased a refurbished Urschel grinding machine for $3,250 and partnered with a shared commercial kitchen in South Denver, working overnight shifts while still waiting tables and later working at REI. His roommate John Ickebone became his first collaborator. He launched with three products: honey peanut butter, honey almond butter, and cinnamon peanut butter. His first retail customer was Great Harvest Bread in Boulder, followed by local co-ops and specialty stores.

At farmer's markets, Justin learned two critical lessons: he couldn't please everyone so he had to commit to his formulations, and consumers actually wanted a 'classic' unflavored version more than specialty flavors — which became his best seller. He also used palm oil to solve the oil-separation problem that plagued natural nut butters. Selling door-to-door to Whole Foods stores, he personally stocked shelves and ran in-store demos, leveraging relationships and memorizing staff names to build trust store by store. He eventually got into UNFI distribution and expanded to about 25 stores.

The pivotal innovation came around 2006-2007 when, during a mountain bike ride eating an energy gel, Justin wondered why no one made peanut butter in a squeeze pack. He discovered contract manufacturers refused due to nut allergy liability concerns, which he reframed as a competitive advantage — if no one else could make it, he should. He purchased a refurbished single-use squeeze pack machine for $30,000 (funded by his roommate's parents with a $75,000 loan) and co-shared a kitchen facility with Bobo's Oat Bars founder Beryl Stafford.

The squeeze packs initially failed when placed in the energy bar aisle — consumers didn't understand what they were. By moving them next to the jars in the nut butter section, sales took off. Justin discovered the top reason consumers bought squeeze packs wasn't portable protein (his original intent) but as a trial-size vehicle to try almond butter before committing to a full jar — which then drove jar sales as well.

To scale, Justin brought on Lance Gentry, a former Izzy Soda executive, as president. The business landed a major deal with Starbucks for their bistro protein plates, which required upgrading to a fully certified manufacturing facility. Justin's also expanded into natural peanut butter cups, positioning them as the premium, natural food store alternative to Reese's — a move that increased product velocity and brought new customers into the brand.

In 2010-2011, Lance Gentry was diagnosed with brain cancer and passed away within a year, leaving Justin to lead the company alone through a critical growth phase while also becoming a new father. He subsequently raised $47 million from VMG Partners, a San Francisco-based private equity firm with experience scaling natural food brands. Peter Burns, former Celestial Seasonings executive, was brought in as co-CEO to manage investor relations and operations while Justin focused on quality, culture, and marketing.

In 2016, Hormel acquired Justin's for $280 million. Justin stayed with the company for five years but found the brand stagnated under Hormel — not due to ingredient changes, but because it didn't receive the strategic focus it needed within a large corporation prioritizing brands like Spam and Skippy. Justin was eventually let go during COVID, which he described as disorienting but ultimately liberating.

More recently, Forward Consumer Products acquired a 51% controlling stake in Justin's from Hormel and brought Justin back as an owner and board-level founder. The goal is to grow the brand to its full potential — potentially doubling or tripling its size — before finding it a better strategic home. Justin reflects that his success was roughly 50% hard work and 50% luck, crediting the Boulder ecosystem, key mentors like Lance Gentry, the mountain bike ride inspiration, and Reese's having trained consumers on the peanut butter cup format.