Welcome to our first edition of Meet the Maker! We are excited to launch this series where we sit down with local creators to learn about their craft.
First up, Seattle Granola Company!
A little about the company.
Emily Dean used to gift her granola to tons of people prior to it becoming a business. Everyone she gave it to raved about the flavors and texture. Her brother-in-law, Chris Field, was the first to encourage her to take it to market. Being a chef, Chris was constantly surrounded by food and knew the good stuff when he tasted it. No surprise that almost three years later Seattle Granola Company is going strong and making plans for future expansions.
What's the size of the operation?
Every week they make almost 1,000 pounds of granola. Emily's kitchen is one of the most delicious-smelling places we have ever set foot in. Like Christmas year round.
What are some secret or favorite granola uses/recipes people should know about?
The obvious, yogurt or almond milk are great. People also use it for sweets, crumbling it over ice cream, or on top of donuts. Emily even used it as a topping on her Thanksgiving sweet potato casserole. You can add it to a salad for some crunch or to your popcorn for more flavors. Or just snack on it, which Chris points out is one of the reasons their granola is the best, you can eat it plain, and it's just as delicious.
What about the ingredients?
The granola is all vegan and gluten free. The oats are from a special farm in Colorado where they don't rotate the crops, which means the only thing that touches the soil are the oats, keeping them free from any traces of gluten.
They also create their granola with a shelf life of 8 weeks, which is unique to their company. Most are much longer, but after extensive testing they realized that keeping it much longer decreases the crunch and sweet and salty flavor, and they only want their customers eating the best they can make.
Where can you buy Seattle Granola Company granola?
Lucky for us, they listed every location out on their website. They are in Central Markets and Town and Country markets around town, and you can also purchase it directly from their website. The first company to buy their granola? New Roots Organics, a Seattle delivery service. You can still find their granola in the bins of fresh produce and goodies being delivered around Seattle.
When interviewing food people we always have to ask, what are you favorite spots in Seattle to eat?
Chris landed on 2C Thai, which apparently has the best green curry with avocado and Palace Kitchen for the best burger in Seattle.
Emily, being a vegetarian, is not chowing down on the burgers at Palace Kitchen, but she does love Seattle Deli's Tofu Bahn Mi and is a regular at Pho 99. She even knows the veggie pho's number on the menu (#14B).
What is coming up next for SGC?
Currently SGC has two flavors of granola, regular and coffee, but Emily and Chris are about to launch their new No BS line of granola. It is made without the brown sugar, so if you want ultra-healthy granola this is the way to go.
Us? We walked out of the interview with 6 bags of the WITH sugar granola goodness, but if you want no sugar, we won't think less of you.
