Made in Georgia: Giving of gifts turns into a thriving metro Atlanta snack business

Kirkpatrick is a native Atlantan, and she likes to say her language of love is gifts, something she started at a young age, when she was experimenting with food and gave the results to family and friends. She took pride in the food, creating pretty packaging and the looks on people’s faces when they received her gifts.

When she married and had children, Kirkpatrick continued the practice of sharing homemade gifts. “I was a busy mom and always did a lot of volunteer work,” she said. “I wanted to let the people around me know how much I appreciated them.

“It was my roasted and flavored nuts that were getting the most response, with people often asking me to make more. I realized this could be a business, creating something other moms could be proud to give, a homemade product that looks nice and tastes delicious, but they didn’t have to make it themselves.”

The food industry was new to Kirkpatrick, so she took a year to network and take classes on starting a food business offered by the University of Georgia Department of Food Science and Technology. “It was like putting the pieces of a puzzle together, and I met a lot of great people along the way,” she said. “They hold your hand and take you step by step through what it takes to start a business.”

Credit: Handout

Credit: Handout

In 2017, she was ready to launch her business. One of the first things she did was enter the UGA Flavor of Georgia competition. It was someone in a UGA class who suggested she enter the contest, recognizing that cashews would stand out among the peanuts and pecans that typically were entered.

“Cashews are my favorite nut,” Kirkpatrick said. “My first flavor was herbs ’n’ nuts — whole cashews roasted in butter and tossed with brown sugar, spices and kosher salt. It’s still my bestseller.”

But, it was her next flavor — sugar and spice cashews, lightly sweetened and spiced with just a tiny bit of cayenne — that she entered in the competition. She remembers being dumbstruck when she heard her name called as the winner in the snack category. The business took off from there.

Credit: Stephanie Q. Little Photography

Credit: Stephanie Q. Little Photography

The third flavor she developed was key lime crunch, which she said receives many compliments, because it’s so unexpected. The three flavors, plus a simply salted version, are her current offerings, and she’s working on a new flavor that she expects to launch in 2024. A seasonal dark chocolate cashew bark also is available when it’s cool enough to ship chocolate.

Developing a new flavor is a part of the business that Kirkpatrick enjoys, with ideas coming from many sources, including the buyers at wholesale gift markets. “I listen to everyone, and then work on what I think is the most interesting,” she said.

Kirkpatrick sells through her online store and Etsy, and her nuts also are available at Lucy’s Market and Eden Fresh.

Additionally, on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, customers can purchase directly at her Defoor Avenue kitchen. Kirkpatrick and her crew usually are there, roasting 40 batches of cashews each day, then hand tossing them in bowls with their seasoning mixes.

After six years of selling cashews, she said that picking a favorite is like choosing a favorite child, but the original herb mix stands out. And, she has plenty of ideas for how to enjoy the cashews, whether as a snack, tossed into a salad, chopped and added to a bowl of morning oatmeal, or used in place of pecans or walnuts in a batch of cookies or brownies.

Elise Artisan Nuts. 2080 Defoor Ave. NW, Atlanta. 404-939-3082, eliseartisannuts.com

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