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Peanuts with a Twist


((PKG)) ARTISANAL PEANUT BUTTER MAKER
((TRT: 07:26))
((Topic Banner: Peanuts with a Twist))
((Reporter/Camera: June Soh))
((Map: Reston, Virginia))
((Main character: 1 female))
((NATS))
((Radhika Murari, Owner, OmMade Peanut Butter))
I normally make about 120 to 150 jars of peanut butter a
day. So right now, I am getting the spices ready for the Chai
Nirvana peanut butter. We start with cardamom. Then we
add a little bit of cloves, and just a touch of
cinnamon. And then last, we add a little bit of ginger.
((NATS))
So, we put all the peanuts in there, add the spices at the
same time, so they all get ground together. And then we
start.
((NATS))
((Radhika Murari, Owner, OmMade Peanut Butter))
I actually absolutely love being in the peanut
butter business, even though I never envisioned that I would
be selling and making peanut butter for a living.
((NATS))
((Radhika Murari, Owner, OmMade Peanut Butter))
My name is Radhika Murari. I live in Reston, Virginia. And I
founded a company called OmMade Peanut Butter.
((Courtesy: OmMade Peanut Butter))
I started making peanut butter when my son was about five
or six years old. He is 14 years old now. He is a swimmer
and he wanted easy to eat and tasty protein, which normally
peanut butter is. But a lot of the peanut butter in the
marketplace has many unhealthy ingredients, including a lot
of chemicals and added oils. And so, I
((Courtesy: OmMade Peanut Butter))
started to make my own peanut butter, which is really
delicious. It’s all natural and it’s really healthy and my son
loves it.
((Radhika Murari, Owner, OmMade Peanut Butter))
And then one day, someone was helping me do
a fundraiser, and she tried my homemade peanut butter,
and she said, “You need to start selling this because you're
sitting on a gold mine.” And so, that's how the business
began.
((NATS))
I have a home-based kitchen that's been inspected by the
state of Virginia. And they come routinely to do
inspections. And we have a list of procedures we have to
follow.
((NATS))
So now, all we do is pour it very carefully into the gift jars.
((NATS))
((Radhika Murari, Owner, OmMade Peanut Butter))
So, that's it. We just made Chai Nirvana peanut butter. I
know it seems very simple but when you have good
ingredients, you can just put them together in a good ratio
and you'll have magic like Chai Nirvana.
((NATS))
But it starts with good peanuts and Virginia peanuts are the
best peanuts out there.
((Radhika Murari, Owner, OmMade Peanut Butter))
We have 10 different flavors right now. I am of
Indian heritage. I am actually an immigrant to America. And
so, I took a lot of the influences of cooking Indian style when
I was a kid, and I just combined them. So, I just love peanut
butter and I love everything to do with peanuts. So, I took
the chai spices from my Indian culture. I make Vibrant
Turmeric. I took that from India as well.
But the bestselling peanut butter is not my idea. My friend
kept telling me, “Put coconut in your peanut butter. Put
coconut in your peanut butter.” And I didn't listen to her for
many months and then I finally listened to her. And I came
up with Coconut Bliss and that one is my best seller.
((NATS))
((Radhika Murari, Owner, OmMade Peanut Butter))
My business has been quite successful. And people outside
my community always say, “Oh, Radhika, you’ve done such
a good job.” And I always say, “This is not my
business. This is a business of a village
of people, especially women behind me.” In fact, even the
name of my company, OmMade, my mother came up with
the name because she said, everything I do is homemade,
and then she put the Indian symbol Om in front of it. So,
even down to the name, it’s other people’s great ideas, and
they give them to me, and I implement them.
((NATS))
((Courtesy: OmMade Peanut Butter))
((Radhika Murari, Owner, OmMade Peanut Butter))
I sell my peanut butter through the Whole Foods chain of
grocery stores, and through some select museum stores in
the Washington, D.C. area, and also online through our own
shop.
((NATS))
((Radhika Murari, Owner, OmMade Peanut Butter))
Until COVID struck, one of our main places to sell was in
farmers’
((Courtesy: OmMade Peanut Butter))
markets in this area, and actually my son and
his friends, because they grew up eating the peanut butter,
they are some of my best employees.
((Courtesy: OmMade Peanut Butter))
They run farmers’ market booths. And they're very
enthusiastic about having other people share in their love of
the peanut butter.
((NATS))
((Radhika Murari, Owner, OmMade Peanut Butter))
Because we are in the middle of the pandemic and so many
people are stressed out, I am seeing more and more orders
from people who want to use this as a gift to comfort their
family or their friends or, in this case, their neighbors.
So, during COVID, I am even more grateful that I am running
this company.
((NATS))
((Radhika Murari, Owner, OmMade Peanut Butter))
We have actually sent our peanut butter to 41 states in
America so far. And we’ve also, on special order, shipped to
three countries internationally. So first, I would like to hit all
50 states, and secondly, our online business is really robust.
((NATS: Radhika Murari))
Have a good day. Thank you.
((NATS))
((Radhika Murari, Owner, OmMade Peanut Butter))
Recently, the state of Virginia and Fairfax County, which is
the county I live in, gave me a grant to support the
agriculture industry in Virginia. And all of my peanut butters
are made from locally-sourced Virginia peanuts. And the
grant is for 50,000 dollars and it's to start a storefront and a
commercial production facility within Fairfax County. And
through that grant, we are also going to create jobs in Fairfax
County and have a storefront in front of our
commercial kitchen, so that we can sell our products and
also have pop-ups for other small businesses to get
exposure to potential customers.
((NATS: Customer))
A perfect peanut butter. I cannot stop eating it and I never
liked peanut butter before.
((Radhika Murari, Owner, OmMade Peanut Butter))
Some of my customers send me videos. It makes me really
happy to see these videos and the customers loving the
peanut butter.
((NATS))
((Radhika Murari, Owner, OmMade Peanut Butter))
I measure my success in two ways. One is, of course, a
business-oriented way. And since I founded the company,
our sales have increased 80 percent year-over-year. But the
true measurement, for me, of success is the joy that my
peanut butter brings people. Today, I am delivering peanut
butter to the grocery store.
((NATS: Radhika Murari))
These are heavy.
((NATS))
((Radhika Murari, Owner, OmMade Peanut Butter))
In five years from now, I hope my business is a roaring
success. I hope we’ve created lots of jobs inside
Virginia. And I hope we’ve sold peanut butter, not only
across America, but around the world.
((NATS))

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