A note from our Chief Squirrel Pip, on our 5th Birthday
First of all I’d like to say thank you. Thank you to all our fans who have gone and bought one of our products. 5 years ago today I launched Pip & Nut onto the shelves of Selfridges, our very first customer, after almost two years of hard graft getting the products ready for market. Since that day I can honestly say that watching Pip & Nut grow and seeing so many of you love our products has been one of the most rewarding and, hands down, the proudest things I’ve ever done. In that time we’ve gone from being sold in just 1 store to over 5000 around the UK and Ireland and launched over 40 new products (with a few that sadly didn’t make it all the way - hey it happens!), including our latest creation our Nut Butter Cups. So I wanted to take this moment to say a big thank you to every one of you who has supported the business – in doing so I hope our products have brought you a little bit of joy every day as you put your dollop of almond butter onto your porridge or spread our peanut butter generously on your toast.
Now, if you were to scan down our Instagram feed you might think it’s been an easy experience getting to where we are today but let me tell you now it’s been quite the journey. I’ve had rejection from investors, problems with incorrect packaging, countless ‘Nos’ from retailers, failed products, delayed productions, been scarily low on cash and we’ve even had one of our containers filled with our products broken into whilst shipping it from our factory! But despite all those sleepless nights, panicked phone calls and tough decisions, not once have I lost faith in what Pip & Nut stands for, nor have I regretted the day, back in July 2014, where I walked into my boss’s office and quit my job. Since that moment I’ve learnt so many things, from how to make a brilliant product, to how the retail landscape works and what makes a great team member. But mostly I’ve learnt there really are no limits to what you can do, you just need to be prepared to roll up your sleeves, dig deep and be open to learning from as many people as possible.
With all that in mind I thought I’d share my top 10 highlights from our journey so far:
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The FIRST ever jar to roll off the production line - I was so proud when I finally held this little jar of almond butter in my hand.
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Forever a pinch me moment seeing Pip & Nut in Selfridges but seeing them there for the first time ever was absolutely crazy:
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The first Toast Bar we did was at Nike’s We Run London in Victoria Park – we made over 4000 slices of toast that day despite the toasters fusing every 5 minutes (stressful to say the least!!):
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This was the whole team at the time - me, Tom and Ella- jumping outside of a Sainsbury’s store because they’d just launched our products into 400 stores nationwide. Can you tell that we’re happy?!
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Our first limited edition flavour was Crunchy Maple Peanut Butter. The only Limited Edition to be added permanently to our range!
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Writing over 70 nut butter filled recipes might sound easy but a lot harder than I initially thought. Nevertheless I managed it and the Pip & Nut Nut Butter cookbook was born:
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Hitting 100k followers on Instagram! Still to this day it makes me so happy seeing all your creations (and odd Pip & Pet too!) when you tag us in your posts & stories
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I spent at least an hour lurking on the platform at Marble Arch watching people to see if they’d notice our posters on the tube- I think people thought I was a bit strange!
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My proudest Pip & Nut achievement to date, certifying as a B-corp. We’re committed to being a business that balances both our Purpose and Profit and using business as a force for good:
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Nut Butter Cups landing. They’re just so damn tasty.
Without you, our squirrels, it would not have been possible, so thank you again for making this one hell of a ride. Here’s to the next 5 years and what they might bring.
Pip x
p.s check out the Ultimate Peanut Butter Lover Cake I made with Liam Charles to celebrate our birthday. It is delicious!