Maker Spotlight: Utta Nutta

From a humble kitchen experiment to being stocked in farm shops across the country, Utta Nutta’s journey has been incredible.

We chatted to founder Katie Sargent about her transition from teaching to peanut butter making, as well as the best way to use Utta Nutta at home. 

What was the inspiration for starting Utta Nutta?

My son was at school, and in his geography lessons, he was learning all about palm oil and the impact it has on the environment, and he didn’t want to have anything with palm oil in the house. I tried to find peanut butter that didn’t have palm oil in, but my partner at the time didn’t like any of them, so I thought I’d try and make my own! 

I started roasting peanuts at home, crushing them, and then adding pink Himalayan salt, which gave the peanut butter a great kick. And it was just absolutely delicious, and as a result, I had to carry on making it. 

How did you go about turning it into a full-scale business?

I used to be an art teacher, but I wanted to do more of my own art and could never find the time. So I went down to four days a week at the school I was working at, but then instead of doing my art, I realised I was spending all my time finding out how to make and sell peanut butter. 

After I’d found the right recipe, I had friends and family knocking on the door to get a jar, and I thought “I could turn this into a business”. To sell a product like that to anyone, you need to be registered as a food business with the local council. So I did all of that – what started as a hobby making peanut butter for friends became a hobby figuring out how to start a business. 

Before I knew it, I was up and running, and I took the peanut butter to a charity food fair to start with – and then it sold out completely. At the food fair, I met a shopkeeper who wanted to buy it, so I had to get a brand sorted, a proper label, barcodes, and it just snowballed from there! 

It started getting a bit out of hand in the kitchen – every weekend and every Thursday, I was roasting nuts and it filled our tiny little house with the smell. Plus, my poor son had to be kept out of the kitchen! However, now I have a facility I work from, making peanut butter as my full-time job, but it happened very accidentally. 

If you had to pick a favourite from the range, which would it be?

We’ve got three products – a smooth peanut butter, a crunchy peanut butter and a cashew nut butter. The cashew nut butter is so nice, but it’s quite luxurious – it feels like a treat, so it’s not one for every day! However, they’re all great for different things. I really love the crunchy peanut butter on its own from the jar. Even though there’s no sugar, it’s amazingly a bit like fudge. But the smooth is so much easier to spread and eat absolutely loads of on toast. 

I have to weigh it, you know – I only allow myself 20 grams of peanut butter every morning. Because otherwise, I can literally eat it all day! 

What about taste testing and quality control?

Luckily there are so many people at the unit I’m on that are foodies, so I turn to them if I need an immediate taste test. There’s a vineyard nearby, and they are just connoisseurs of taste. They’ll tell me “oh, I can really feel the back notes on that”, or “yes, the Himalayan salt kick’s coming through now” because they’re trained in all those layers of flavour. 

I can also tell by the colour and the sound when the nuts are roasted to perfection and ready for blending – and I do take jars home with me for the next day. 

Whereabouts can you find Utta Nutta?

I’ve got a list of stockists on my website, and as well as being found in farm shops around Wiltshire and its borders, we’re stocked in quite a lot of shops in London, especially North London. 

However, some of my regular customers like to take a jar with them when they travel, so it’s ended up in the US, with people there asking if I can ship it to them – I loved that, because there’s so much choice when it comes to peanut butter over there. And there’s someone at the Frome market that stocks up and sends it across to his daughter in New Zealand. If anyone reading this ends up taking or sending a jar somewhere new, let me know!

What does it mean being part of a scheme like the Wiltshire Marque?

It’s been great to be part of so far. I really want to grow the number of stockists, so I’m concentrating on getting the range out there and growing that distribution – I’ve had some free mentoring through Fit for Growth, which was recommended by the Wiltshire Marque, and that’s been so helpful. 

It's also been fantastic for awareness – I’ve had people ringing me and making orders because they’ve seen Utta Nutta on the Wiltshire Marque website. 

Finally, the other advantage of being part of the Wiltshire Marque is getting advice from other members. We had a great lunch at Pythouse Kitchen Garden when the scheme started, and I was chatting to Stephen from White Horse Honey about where he sources his jars, how he processes his honey and things like that – it was fascinating, and really helpful! 

Finally, have you been able to do some more art for yourself?

Yes, I have! Since I’ve got the business, it’s allowed me a bit more freedom. One day a week, I stay home a little longer and do some art before heading in to the Nutta House and working later there, so it’s really flexible. Plus, when I’m making peanut butter, I get brain waves – it’s lovely to have something quite hands on to do that lets me keep my mind open.  

Utta Nutta is available from a range of farm shops in Wiltshire, including Marque members Stable & Wick and Wiltshire Makers. You can also buy the range online at Wilton Wholefoods.  
 

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