University sophomores Keeley Tillotson and Erika Welsh are self-proclaimed “peanut butter connoisseurs.”
“We were roommates in the dorms last year and we used to trade off for who had to buy the jar of Adams (peanut butter) for the week, because we ate so much of it,” said Tillotson, a journalism major. “We have a really deep history with this food.”
But that routine suddenly changed on a night three weeks ago when they ran out of peanut butter to eat with their celery sticks. With no spare jars in their apartment, Tillotson and Welsh used a bag of raw peanuts and their brand-new food processor to try and make their own peanut butter. After several attempts that night, they found a recipe that worked and their “peanut butter revolution” began.
“After we made the peanut butter, we were so impressed by what had just happened in the food processor,” said Welsh, an environmental studies and Spanish major. “I remember turning to Keeley and saying, ‘This is amazing,’ and as we looked at each other, we were like, ‘We can do this!’”
After distributing samples to their friends, Tillotson said they received enough positive responses and words of encouragement to start their own business. Today, their business, Flying Squirrel Peanut Butter, is seeing gradual success, and Welsh said the business “has just grown exponentially since that day.”
Tillotson said their peanut butter is unlike any typically found at a neighborhood grocery store. Flying Squirrel currently offers three types of homemade peanut butter combined with a variety of different ingredients: Sneaky Cinnamon (cinnamon, raisins and agave nectar), Bright-Eyed and Bushy-Tailed (coffee, agave nectar and cocoa) and Nutty-Buddy (honey and sunflower seeds). Flying Squirrel’s peanut butter is sold for $4 for an 8-ounce jar and offers free shipping for Eugene residents.
“It’s really an untapped area of peanut butter,” Welsh said. “It’s funny, because when you go to the store, you see all these brands of peanut butters, but they only offer chunky or plain options. We have always put stuff in our peanut butter and we do whatever we want with it, but it’s surprising that no one else has caught on.”
Tillotson also said people are usually skeptical when they are first introduced to their peanut butter, but often enjoy it once they try it.
“People are really surprised by the ingredients, but once they try it, their reaction is, ‘Wow, I would have never thought to combine these flavors,’” Tillotson said. “What we have are basic ingredients — everyone has heard of coffee, honey, chocolate and sunflower seeds — but never thought about putting it into an existing product, which is what we have done, and I think that’s why people really like it.”
Tillotson said all of the peanut butter is made in the pair’s apartment kitchen. They are hoping to expand Flying Squirrel’s line of peanut butter products as they experiment with more flavor combinations.
Although Tillotson and Welsh aren’t business majors, they said they had to learn basic practices quickly over the past month as they executed their business plan, registered their business and started up the business’s website, www.flyingsquirrelpeanutbutter.com. Since its debut five days ago, Tillotson said the website has received more than 1,800 views and more than $100 worth of orders from around the country, from Eugene to Pennsylvania.
“We received more orders than we could have ever expected,” Tillotson said. “We’re really confident about where this company is going.”
Welsh credits the success of Flying Squirrel’s website to the networking potential of Facebook, which allowed the pair to share its business with friends and other users of the social networking site.
“It was like a viral video on YouTube,” Welsh said. “That’s how we’ve been getting the word out, so we really wouldn’t exist without Facebook.”
Tillotson and Welsh said they eventually hope to sell their peanut butter at a booth near the EMU Fishbowl and at local venues, including Eugene’s Saturday Market and University’s biannual ASUO Street Faire. Although making money has been a benefit, Tillotson said the whole endeavor has been an enjoyable learning experience.
“I think if we were doing this because we wanted to make money fast, then this would be a horrible plan,” Tillotson said. “But, we’re definitely loving it and having fun with it. We’re learning so much from running this business; I feel like I’ve learned more over the past two weeks than I have over the past two years that I have been in school.”
Welsh also said she takes pride in their products and likes seeing people enjoy them.
“Everyone that has tried it has loved it so far, so when people eat it, I get really happy because they’re enjoying it,” Welsh said.
University freshman Leah Greenspan, a religious studies major, said she likes Flying Squirrel’s Sneaky Cinnamon peanut butter and appreciates its affordability and locally produced quality as well as its all-natural, healthy ingredients.
“It’s really, really good, which was surprising, because I usually hate peanut butter,” Greenspan said. “I never enjoyed peanut butter, but they found a way for a person who hates peanut butter to enjoy it. It’s really good; it’s almost like candy and is very delectable.”
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