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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 19 O C T O B E R 5 , 2 0 1 5 when a friend recommended GrandyOats. Peirce met with Carpenter and Hood, learned their system and, within six weeks, bought the company. GrandyOats benefi tted then and continues to benefi t from the original owners' relationship with Bread & Circus, which had stores in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and was at one time the largest natural food retailer in the Northeast. Whole Foods Market acquired Bread & Circus in 1992, but con- tinues to rely on GrandyOats as a supplier. "As Whole Foods grew, we grew," Peirce says. " at was the biggest asset of GrandyOats when I purchased it. [Carpenter and Hood] had been selling to Bread & Circus since Bread & Circus opened. Because of that, we've been selling to stores in Boston for 35 years. ey have the same classic granola in their bulk bins today that they did then." In 1998, Peirce reconnected with a friend from college, Aaron Anker, who also graduated from the hospitality program. Anker was work- ing in sales and marketing with Portland-based Fresh Samantha, an organic juice company later acquired by Odwalla. ey ran into each other at a concert in Portland and decided to join forces. ey gave themselves tongue-in-cheek corpo- rate titles: Peirce, as "head honcho," and Anker as "chief granola offi cer.' " ere was symmetry in the sense that he had the organizational capacity to run the facility and I had the sales and marketing mind," says Anker. "He was already established in Whole Foods and had started conversations with Hannaford, so it was easy for me to build on." Today, GrandyOats products are in in 200 Whole Foods stores, as well as Hannaford and other supermarkets. In addition to granola, GrandyOats sells trail mixes, roasted nuts and hot cereals. Products are sold in bulk bins and pre-packaged. GrandyOats has also developed food service clients such as universities and restaurants. And it continues to service small customers. " at's one of the things that sets us apart," says Peirce. "We work with large distributors, but we also deal directly with small accounts. We're pretty fl exible because that's the way we've always done it. We still make the product the same way, in the same batch size that's always been done. We just make more batches. So the product integrity is always intact. We're not a big machine in a big fac- tory, even though we put out a lot of material. We just employ more people." GrandyOats sweetens its products with honey, maple syrup, agave syrup or fruit juice. e company never uses products that contain antibiotics, syn- thetic hormones, toxic pesticides or GMOs. It was certifi ed organic in 2004 and non-GMO in 2014. "People who know what they're looking for, if they read a label, they say, ' is is the real deal,'" Peirce says. In 2013, Peirce and Anker realized they had out- grown their 6,500-square-foot barn in Brownfi eld. "We've been out of space for a while, yet still managed to keep growing 25% to 30% a year," says Peirce. "We're putting out at least 30 times the product than when we started." By mid-November, they should be relocated to the 10,600-square-foot former Hiram Elementary School, about 15 minutes from the current site. Constructed in 1979, the school was vacated in 2009 during Maine's school consolidation. ey built an additional 2,000-square-foot warehouse and installed a custom- designed solar system on the grounds, consisting of 288 photovoltaic modules, to generate more than 95,000 kilowatt hours and power 100% of the company's energy needs, powering ovens, computers, fork lifts, lights, heating and cooling. It's expected to off set over 145,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions each year. e owners say this will make GrandyOats the fi rst net zero food production facility in New England. ey'll continue to hire sales people and the production team will continue to grow, Peirce says. " e staff grows no matter what, because we're growing," he adds. L aUr i e S C H r e i be r, a w r i te r ba s e d i n B a s s Ha r bo r, c a n b e r e a c h e d a t e d i t o r i a l @ m a i n e b i z . b i z GrandyOats 349 Center Conway Road, Brownfield (until mid-November) 34 School House Road, Hiram President: Nat Peirce Employees: 20 Revenue: $5 million Contact: 935-7415 www.grandyoats.com nhdlaw.com • Portland (207) 774-7000 • Lewiston (207) 777-5200 We're ready to help you get ahead. When our community needs us, we're there too, as sponsors and volunteers to more than 25 area non-profits. WHEN YOU NEED US, WE'RE HERE. Since 1877 we have been committed to your local insurance needs. 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