Some people say we look awfully young to have been baking granola for 25 years. Well, they’re right. To a certain degree. But really, the story of GrandyOats is one of two generations of “granolas,” two generations of business partners with the same spirit and guiding principles. Maybe, in essence, the same people after all…

Sarah and Penny
GrandyOats was born in the Farmington area in northwestern Maine in 1979 by two friends, Sarah Carpenter and Penny Hood. Finding life keeping them apart more than they wanted, Sarah and Penny started baking granola together for local health food stores as a pleasant activity they could do together. They began with a social baking hour once a week. Then, after a few years, their tiny endeavor blossomed into a full-fledged business. Soon, they were selling to stores all over Maine and as far away as Boston and New York City.

By the mid 1990s, Sarah and Penny had hired employees, made loads of granola, and had lots of fun with GrandyOats. Now they were ready to move on to other passions in their lives. However, they didn’t want merely to sell their creation to the highest bidder or any old granola company. They had begun GrandyOats on the principle of enjoying life—they wanted like-minded people to carry on their legacy.

Nat
At that time, Nat Pierce was running his local café and bakery in Bridgton, Maine, the Bountiful Berry. At the Bountiful Berry, Nat created vegetarian dishes as well as delicious breads and pastries. It was a good business; however, Nat had always aspired to something bigger, perhaps a wholesale business supplying stores in the area. He had even thought of granola as a possible product, which he mentioned to a faithful customer one day in 1996. As luck would have it, that faithful customer got Nat in touch with Sarah and Penny. The two women saw in Nat a kindred spirit—Nat purchased GrandyOats from them and moved the bakery from the Farmington area to Bridgton. There he continued to use their recipes and hand-made techniques and expanded the business incrementally as he could.

Nat and Aaron
As anyone in business knows, doing it alone is a hard way to go. Nat needed some help, and his college friend Aaron Anker came in to provide him that help. In the late 1990s, Aaron had moved to Maine after leaving corporate restaurant management and spending several years running a vegetarian and vegan bistro in Colorado. Here in Maine, Aaron began selling and promoting juice for the rapidly growing Fresh Samantha Juice Company (now Odwalla Inc.). After a couple of years, however, Aaron was ready for his own endeavor.

In the spring of 2000, Aaron joined Nat in GrandyOats, bringing his sales experience and marketing know-how. Immediately, the partnership clicked. Nat ran the bakery and Aaron promoted the granola. Over the next year, the two friends expanded the company’s sales base up and down the East Coast and dramatically changed their strategy to transition to all-organic products. In the fall of 2001, GrandyOats purchased a major New England competitor, Uncle Roy’s, which Aaron likes to say “made oatal sense,” and became a granola cluster.

The Barn
In the summer of 2002, Nat and Aaron moved the GrandyOats bakery to an historic dairy barn located in scenic Brownfield, Maine. It was a beautiful place to work and an ideal spot to make granola and create new products for the GrandyOats line. In fact, it was a beautiful place to live as well, and Nat and his family renovated and moved into the barn above the bakery.

The new space allowed Nat and Aaron the room and flexibility to expand GrandyOats even further. In the fall of 2003, Nat and Aaron announced a new line of organic trail snacks designed to nourish on the go, which they aptly named, Organic Trails. The new product is a variety of organic snacks sold in bulk and also individual packages. Nat and Aaron also immediately began using their new product to help promote social responsibility, donating a portion of all profits to outdoor trail organizations working to keep New England’s trails alive and healthy for its hikers, bikers, skiers, and paddlers. After years of eating trail mix and picking up others’ trash on the trail, it seemed like a great idea.

The GrandyOats Way
In 2004, GrandyOats sales reached over $700,000, up from $100,000 in 2000. As of 2005, Nat and Aaron have 11 people working with them and sell over 55 100% organic products across the country. The company has grown 85% through the first four months of this year and is projected to reach $1.1 million in sales in 2005.

Nothing about the soul of the company, however, has changed. Nat, Aaron, and the people that work with them are still committed to the practices of sustainable agriculture, recycling, social responsibility, and minimizing environmental impact. Nat still lives with his wife and son over the bakery near Brownfield, enjoying the gardens, the goats, and life in the country. Aaron travels with his wife and enjoys gardening, working on his house just outside of Portland, and kayaking off Maine’s beautiful coast. In essence, they follow the tenets of Sarah and Penny. With conscientious effort, they carry on the GrandyOats way.