Like so many Pittsburgh entrepreneurs, Sarah Kaminski did a pandemic pivot at the end of 2020.
Certified as a holistic health practitioner by the Health Coach Institute in 2018, the Fox Chapel native was in the process of building an online health coaching practice when COVID-19 hit that March, putting the brakes on spending.
“You panic and think, ‘What am I going to do?’” recalls Kaminski, a West Virginia University grad who taught at The Environmental Charter School at Frick Park and Commonwealth Charter Academy before leaving the profession full time in 2017.
By August, she’d found the answer in her kitchen.
A child of the standard American diet of processed meats and refined grains, Kaminski, in her mid-20s, vowed to make healthier food choices after watching Robert Kenner’s 2008 documentary “Food, Inc.,” which shined a light on America’s unhealthy food consumption habits and environmentally harmful and abusive agribusiness.
The plant-based and allergen-free diet the 41-year-old adopted eight years ago and had developed recipes for by 2019 included a vegan, organic granola her family loved. They loved it so much, in fact, she often shared it with clients once she started coaching.
Sensing a pandemic-friendly, online opportunity, she told her husband, Chris, maybe they should package and sell their granola as a business.
He agreed, and before they even did any market research to confirm they had a product people wanted, they did exactly that after getting the proper certifications to make and package individual bags of their Best Ever Granola in their Pine Township kitchen.
“We were like, just put it out there and we’ll figure it out as we go,” Kaminski recalls with a laugh. Their primary goal, in fact, was to “get it out to the world” before the holiday shopping season.
Their first online sale that November was to gluten-free baker Lauren Marts of Baked True North in Ross, after which word quickly spread. By New Year’s, they’d made more than 200 pounds of granola in their tiny three-rack oven and the demand was such that the couple was looking for a commissary space in which to grow the food business.
One big surprise was the granola’s wholesale appeal, with eight local food companies, including Harvie, Square Cafe, Wild Purveyors and Three Little Birds Cafe in Allison Park, forming partnerships with the company in its first six weeks.
In February 2021, Kaminski moved operations two days a month into a rented commercial kitchen in the basement of Temple Sinai in Squirrel Hill, and started the hard job of creating brand visibility for the granola with events.
“We didn’t just sit back,” she says. “We wanted to create visibility in every part of the city.”
It worked. Today, the business has grown to where the mother of three and her all-female staff of four now bake, portion, package and box upwards of 400 pounds of various granola every Thursday in the Forbes Avenue kitchen. That’s 68 commercial-sized trays each and every baking day during school hours.
She attributes the products’ growing appeal to its quality ingredients. The base recipe includes organic rolled oats and raw seeds from Texas-based Terrasoul Superfoods, while the coconut is toasted in organic cold-pressed coconut oil. Also, instead of sugar, it’s sweetened with pure Pennsylvania maple syrup.
All the ingredients are mixed by hand and dry-tossed in stainless bowls with the sweeteners before being evenly spread on trays and popped into the oven, “over and over again,” says Kaminski.
The two core flavors include a Good Food Award-winning dark chocolate chia granola made with unsweetened cocoa powder, cacao nibs and a toasted cinnamon brightened with salt. They also offer several limited-edition, seasonal flavors that incorporate edible flowers like English lavender and bachelor’s buttons from Mighty Small Farm in Richland as well as vanilla, thyme, citrus and unsweetened dried blueberries into the mix.
“We nailed it,” says Kaminski.
Some might balk at paying $8.50 for a six-ounce package or $14.75 for 12 ounces, especially since a bag can easily be gobbled in one sitting. “But if you’re conscious about what you eat, you’ll see why,” she says.
And yes, it’s fairly calorie-dense at 150 to 200 calories per serving. On the plus side, Kaminski argues Best Ever Granola is a healthful fuel that will give you staying power throughout the day.
While the company doesn’t bake to order, its inventory is never more than 4 to 6 weeks old, “so it’s always super fresh” to eat with your morning yogurt, fold into cookies or eat as a snack, she says.
Just this month, Best Ever Granola partnered with Market District and it’s also now available in MOM’s Organic Markets in the eastern half of the state, in addition to around 75 coffee shops and small markets around Pittsburgh.
While her husband still helps with the heavy lifting of oats and maintains the company spreadsheets, he now works as a hard-goods buyer at Public Lands.
“But he’s a constant sounding board” for the woman-run company, says Kaminski, adding, “We make it work.”
Gretchen McKay: gmckay@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1419 or on Twitter @gtmckay.
Granola Cookies
PG tested
These chewy cookies are crafted with granola instead of the more traditional rolled oats. A pinch of flaky Maldon salt sprinkled on top makes them irresistible.
1 cup flour of choice
½ cup sugar of choice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon flaky salt
2½ cups Vanilla Lavender Best Ever Granola
⅔ cup coconut oil or butter, melted
1 egg or 1 flax egg
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie tray(s) with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and granola.
Add oil or melted butter, egg and vanilla, then stir to mix well.
Spoon batter onto parchment-lined cookie trays, 8 per tray.
Bake for 8-10 minutes. Top with an additional pinch of flaky salt as soon as they come out of the oven, if desired.
Allow to cool completely before diving in.
Makes 1 dozen cookies.
— bestevergranola.com
Iced Coffee Mocha Smoothie
PG tested
This low-cal smoothie gets a nutritional boost from frozen riced cauliflower, which is a good source of fiber, vitamin C and magnesium. I added a teaspoon of honey to sweeten it. I used a little less milk and more coffee, and blended it completely smooth.
1 cup frozen riced cauliflower
2 ice cubes
1 cup unsweetened oat or soy milk
½ cup chilled coffee
⅓ cup Dark Chocolate Chia Best Ever Granola
Blend cauliflower, ice, milk and coffee in a high-speed blender, agitating as needed. Add more or less milk to desired consistency (we love a thick smoothie bowl that requires diving in with a spoon too!)
Top with granola and continue to live your best life!
Makes 1 smoothie.
— bestevergranola.com
First Published: August 30, 2023, 9:30 a.m.
Updated: August 30, 2023, 3:11 p.m.