Entrepreneurial story behind De Pindakaaswinkel
The most frequently asked question to me is: “How did you come up with the idea to start a peanut butter store?”
This is my story, which started at the kitchen table (and where a lot of peanut butter was made). How from minimal resources, but with a lot of enthusiasm and time, De Pindakaaswinkel has grown into what it is today. 😊
The love for peanut butter
I love peanut butter! The short answer to the question is that everything originated from that. As a farmer's son, I ate peanut butter every day. It was (and is!) my favorite sandwich spread and I combined it with everything. When chocolate with caramel and sea salt came on the market, I fantasized about peanut butter with caramel and sea salt. That had to be delicious!
Back in 2015 I was already thinking about ten flavors of peanut butter. I thought: if I make ten flavors, there must be one that is really tasty. That would be great! With that flavor I could go to the supermarkets. That was my plan.
The first steps
A year before I opened De Pindakaaswinkel, I had already smashed quite a few pans of caramel (it turned out to be difficult to get the caramel out of the pan without a hammer 😊). But I didn't really follow through, partly because of the fear of previous failures.
Before De Pindakaaswinkel, I had started a fruit farm in Colombia and salad bars in Amsterdam with friends. Both of these ventures did not end well, and I still had a lot to learn. One important lesson I took away from that: whatever you are going to do, make sure people really like it! Good for the earth and healthy is important, but if it is not appreciated by many people, it will always be a struggle to make something successful out of it.
The Peanut Butter Shop becomes a reality
It wasn't until I got a place to live in Amsterdam that the idea of a peanut butter shop came to life again. This was in 2016. My apartment was located on a shopping street and was intended as an office/second home. With the support of my girlfriend at the time, I decided to turn this into De Pindakaaswinkel, with the aim of presenting peanut butter as a jewel.
Peanut butter seems very normal and can be found everywhere in the Netherlands, but it is actually extremely special: peanut butter is good for you, good for our planet and super tasty! That's why: The Peanut Butter Shop, where peanut butter is on the pedestal it deserves.
The big breakthrough
Everyone I told my plans to said “yes” or laughed, and I myself didn’t know exactly what to think of it. So, just to see, I stuck the name De Pindakaaswinkel on the window of the shop in Czaar Peterstraat.
At that time, De Pindakaaswinkel had two things that made us special:
- We were the first to offer peanut butter in multiple flavors.
- We were the first to have a real peanut butter shop.
This was quickly picked up by a big blog, and then it exploded. All the radio stations, newspapers and magazines knocked on De Pindakaaswinkel's door. Not a single jar had been sold yet, but we already had more than 5,000 followers on Facebook! At the time, Calvé had 6,000, so we were immediately at the top of the peanut butter list 😉. What also became clear: the Netherlands loves peanut butter!
The opening
At that time I had only finished seven of the ten recipes. I got to work on this like a rocket and a few months later, with help from all sides, the shop was opened.
No big agency helped think about De Pindakaaswinkel. Everything came from my family, friends and our followers on Facebook and Instagram. Think of the interior, the making of the shop and even the brand PINDABAAS .
The Peanut Butter Shop has become an ode to the peanut! 🥜