Minnesota's Fit Butters rode better-for-you food trend to $5M in sales in five years

Fit Butters might not give its customers muscles like founder and longtime pro wrestler Ryan Bucki, but his so-called "treat without the cheat" still beckons enough fitness fans to make it a $5 million business.

Bucki and his wife, Danielle, have built up their Minneapolis-based nut butter business through the past five years by capitalizing on the better-for-you trend dominating food and beverage innovation.

Even at up to $14.99 for a 16-ounce jar, retail giant Walmart as well as grocery stores around the country keep restocking, while TikTok and Amazon sales keep picking up, too.

"At the end of the day, consumers, regardless of their economic situation, are willing to spend more on better-for-you, good-tasting items versus, you know, going ramen noodles on everything," said Bucki, a General Mills alum.

With toppings like cookie dough or Fruity Pebbles and added coconut oil and protein powder, Fit Butters checks a lot of boxes food companies need these days: indulgent flavors, low sugar and protein.

And, crucially, the company has been profitable for all five years.

"We're trying, as a small business, to think big and do big things without going broke," Bucki said. "The biggest thing is making sure that we manage cash flow."

At a time when major food companies are seeing sales slow as consumers keep spending in check, products with a health-and-wellness bent are on a tear.

Just last week, Kellogg CEO Gary Pilnick told analysts that even as cereal declines overall, the spendier health-focused brands are gaining favor.

"Some of our consumers are also willing to pay more. It's an interest in health and nutrition," he said. "We think this is something that is more than a fact: It's a trend going forward."

Sandy Douglas, CEO of Cub parent company UNFI, said on a recent earnings call the wholesaler is "seeing a very broad-based consumer trend toward better-for-you products."

While Fit Butters doesn't try to reduce the calories or fat naturally found in nut butters, the brand brings sweet flavors and diverse textures while keeping the sugar in check.

What started as a home kitchen experiment during the pandemic gained traction online before quickly attracting retailers. By the end of 2024, Fit Butters had sold its millionth jar.

Bucki said his is a similar journey as other young Minnesota businesses like SEEQ and Smackin', which have gone from social media darlings to Target shelves.

"They just did it the way we do: Just post, post, post," Bucki said. "But still, after five years, there's a ton of people who don't know who we are."

Teaming with Lakeville-based Post Consumer Brands created a big hit for the company when the Cocoa Pebbles and Fruity Pebbles Fit Butters launched last year, though Bucki is wary of doing too much co-branding. He wants Fit Butters to stand on its own and not live in the shadow of other, more established brands.

However, Fit Butters will likely require some help growing from $5 million in sales to the next level, a gap many food brands fail to cross.

"I think that the future for us would be finding the right equity partner that could help us scale to $50 million," Bucki said.

Inside the company's manufacturing operation at the We Are Nuts warehouse in northeast Minneapolis, a dozen workers roast peanuts, almonds or cashews, blend them with coconut oil and various flavored protein powders and dispense the nut butters jar by jar. Early on, the family behind We Are Nuts became minority owners in Fit Butters.

Even with all the modern equipment making quick work of the process, the toppings are still added by hand.

While many flavors have come and gone, Fit Butters has stuck with the same wide-mouth jar.

"It's been five years with the 16-ounce jar — just grow, grow, grow," Bucki said, but they are testing out single-serving pouches aimed at convenience stores.

This week, Ryan and Danielle Bucki are in Indianapolis for the Sweets and Snacks Expo, offering samples to grocery buyers and looking for even broader distribution.

Even as Fit Butters ships to thousands of Kroger and Publix locations, Bucki chuckles as he recounts the response the brand got from Target: "They said we're 'too disruptive.' "