Justin’s Nut Butter: Justin Gold. He Was Waiting Tables, Then...He Reinvented Peanut Butter.

Justin Gold transformed a simple kitchen experiment into the category-defining nut butter brand, Justin’s. After moving to Boulder, Colorado, in 2001, Gold began refining recipes using a food processor, eventually overcoming texture issues by using palm oil and introducing unique flavors like honey and cinnamon. His breakthrough came from identifying a market gap for portable, single-serve squeeze packs, which served as both an athletic fuel and a trial vehicle for his jars. Despite early struggles with retail distribution and the tragic loss of his business partner, Lance Gentry, Gold scaled the company through strategic partnerships and persistence. The brand’s eventual $280 million acquisition by Hormel in 2016 highlighted the success of his focus on high-quality ingredients and innovative packaging, leading to his recent return to help guide the company’s next phase of growth.