Our family has always had a slight obsession with nut butters – on apples or bananas; in a smoothie; on toast with sugar/syrup/bacon; mixed together with ice cream & milo; or even just out the jar as a little pick me up (yes, by the spoonful!). In fact there are probably at least 10 other ways that I would recommend eating it – but all this talk of food is making my tummy grumble.
Recently I scanning the ‘Gram (as one does when wasting time or needing to see whats going on), & I saw this page. I immediately commented on the pic & Keagan reached out to me within 10 minutes. I loved his passion for his trade, his business & all things nuts!
Keagan drove through to my house so we could chat about what he has on offer (there are 10 different nut butters that he currently makes – TEN!!!!) & I could sample these. He has started this business all on his own & I love the fact that they don’t have preservatives or any added nonsense – I am really trying to eat food as natural as possible so my poor body doesn’t have to try process more crap than necessary. Keagan has a true passion for his business, for people, & for wanting to bring the best product possible. Here is a bit more about him & his business.
Your name: Keagan St John Blaauw
Your business name: Nut Butter Mafia
How did you get started: One night about 3 months ago I was lying in bed thinking about what I spend a lot of my money on each month. And peanut butter was the first thing that came to mind! As I used to go through an 800gram jar with 2 to 3 days!
So the next morning I googled how you make peanut butter from home, I read over a couple recipes and then headed to the shops. I bought a cheap food processor, some peanut oil, and some peanuts. I then came home and started messing around with different flavours and ingredients. I started out just making it for personal use until a few of my friends had a taste and said it was really good!
With this small motivation I decided to start making to sell, I found a wholesale supplier of nuts, upgraded my food processor and started to look for markets to sell my Nut Butters. In the beginning I just had 2 flavours – Peanut Butter and Peanut & Raisin Butter (Which was an absolute hit from the start)
I then ordered an Industrial Peanut Butter Machine (Which arrived about a month ago) and started to put 100% of my energy into the business, and I started to try different nuts with different flavours. And I now have 10 different flavours of Nut Butters in stock!
What are the different flavours you have: I have 10 different flavours:
- Peanut Butter
- Peanut & Raisin Butter
- Peanut & Cranberry Butter
- Almond Butter
- Almond & Cranberry Butter
- Macadamia Butter
- Macadamia & Cranberry Butter
- Cashew Butter
- Cashew & Cranberry Butter
- Hazelnut Butter
Which is the most popular one so far: The Peanut & Raisin Butter has been a hit from the start, because it is very unique and different, giving you what tastes like an expensive Nut Butter at the same price as Peanut Butter. My new creation ‘Cashew & Cranberry Butter’ has been a hit with lots of people loving this flavour … But to be honest they are all really yummy if I must so myself! lol
What is different about your nut butters to others: I feel that my nut butters are different because I only use the best ingredients, I do not cut corners to make extra profit. The honey I use is natural blue gum honey from a farmer who I met at one of the farmers markets I attend. If I add oils, I use Macadamia oil which is really tasty and adds a really delicious flavour! And I only use the best grade of nuts from my supplier.
I do not add any preservatives or stabilisers – All my nut butters are 100% natural, healthy, packed full of protein and fats for a guilt free treat. This was the reason behind all my butters, because I am a health freak and I have always wanted a guilt free treat without feeling guilty. And that’s what I have created with Nut Butter Mafia – giving my clients the ability to still enjoy some yummy flavours that are healthy & guilt free and curb those sweet tooth cravings!!
I also put a lot of effort, care, dedication and love into each jar! And no matter how big my company gets this will always be the principle I will work by! The customer always comes first and they deserve to have the best product possible.
What did you do before this: So I was originally an aircraft mechanic working on helicopters (I did this for about 2 years) until I had an accident at work which left me in ICU with a severe head injury. I felt like this was a sign that I needed to make changes in my life and I started to build a new life for myself one step at a time, and I literally became a new person. This was definitely a life changing event for me!
I then had an opportunity to start a social media company, so I resigned and went full in on the social media company, which I still run at the moment. I work on my social media clients in the mornings and then in the afternoons and weekends I work on Nut Butter Mafia.
I am also a manager at a nightclub in Illovo which I do on Saturday Nights to help fund Nut Butter Mafia!
Is there anything else you want to add for the public to know? Hmmmmm…. My goal is to really take the market by storm , but I do know that this is not a quick process so every sale counts in Nut Butter Mafia moving forward and making progress.
So I am starting to do deliveries to homes and to offices. So if anyone is interested and can’t make a market that I do attend, I will gladly make deliveries (you can see on my
Facebook page which markets I am at for the weekend)
This is definitely going to be a staple in our grocery cupboard going forward – currently we have Peanut & Raisin; Cashew & Cranberry; & Macadamia. But it was tricky trying to choose which ones were my favourite so I know that I will have to order the other ones soon. Keagan, I wish you all the very best with your business & I can’t wait to see what else you come up with.
Ok, now I’m off to snack on some Macadamia Butter on toast – too much talking about this yumminess & not enough eating it!
