Our mom is a fantastic baker. Growing up, I remember her making cookies and breads for every holiday (and lots of “just because” days, too!) But at Christmas, she made these mouth-watering spiced pecans. They had just the right amount of sugar and spice to melt in your mouth without overwhelming the nuttiness of the pecan. Perfection! Now that I do a lot of my own cooking, I’ve come to appreciate even more my mom’s baking skills because that’s one area of cooking that I stay away from. I’m more of a “pinch of this and handful of that” type chef, than one who precisely measures ingredients. I’ll let you in on a little secret – if you’re attempting to make cookies and decide to just throw in a handful of flour, you’re not going to end up with cookies! I tend to stick to grilling and smoking meats, so it was an awesome surprise to discover the American Nut Company makes spiced pecans (and so much more) year-round that taste just like our mom’s pecans at Christmas.
The American Nut Company was founded in February 2017 by Lisa Robitaille. With just two flavors of nuts – Cinnamon Vanilla and Rosemary Bar Mix – she soon grew the company to over 40 flavors of nuts, popcorn, popcorn balls, bark, and gourmet snack blends. If you think being surrounded by the aroma of aged bourbon barrels every day is ideal, just imagine for a second what her shop smells like! Your stomach starts growling from the parking lot! Although Cinnamon Vanilla pecans are still the top seller, Peanut Butter Cookie peanuts and a medium-heat blend called Piri Piri are also customer favorites.
So, by now you might be wondering what the heck do nuts have to do with Columbus Barrel Co?? Well, our partnership started a couple years ago when Lisa saw a kiosk we built in the Polaris Mall for a shirt company. She liked the design and decided our modern-rustic style fit well with her branding. We built her first retail kiosk in the mall, and then two years later, built her current shop in the North Market. Custom projects like this really allow us to stretch our creativity and innovation in order to best meet the needs of our customer. We knew how delicious Lisa’s spiced nuts and popcorn were, but now we had to build something that would show them off to people who didn’t know her products.
As we worked with Lisa to bring her design dreams to reality, we came to know her as a phenomenal entrepreneur and businesswoman. It’s always exciting when you find other local small businesses that operate with a "customer-comes-first" mindset, and who take pride in offering high-quality products. Thanks Lisa for seeking us out years ago, congratulations on your successful new venture in the North Market, and cheers to many more years of collaboration!
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