After launching on Kickstarter in April and raising more than $10,000, Milwaukee startup Pintful is gearing up for a commercial launch this summer to bring its high-protein peanut butter to the market.
Pintful, an all-natural, vegan, dairy and gluten-free peanut butter, has 12 grams of protein per serving. The founders Sam Lepak and Evan Laird claim it’s healthier than other leading brands, like Jif or Smucker's, and for vegan or gluten-free individuals, it could be one of their only options.
The protein in Pintful is partly made up of from peanuts, but the other part is derived from organic sprouted rice as opposed to whey protein, which is made from cow’s milk.
“That’s our key differentiator when we look at competitors,” Lepak said. “We really have a higher-quality protein.”
But the downside is that rice protein is way more expensive to harvest than whey. A 16-ounce jar of Pintful costs $14.99.
“It’s definitely more expensive than whey, but we feel like it’s absolutely worth it,” said Laird, who came up with the recipe when he was in college at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. “I’ve been obsessed with peanut butter since I was a little kid, eating peanut butter sandwiches on the daily with no jelly, solely because I needed room for more peanut butter. I would literally put peanut butter on everything.”
But during college, Laird said he began focusing on his health and fitness, and soon realized that many of the peanut butter shelf brands weren’t fitting into his new diet. They were full of sugar, preservatives and oils.
“From there, I decided I’ve got to do something about this," Laird said. "I decided to whip up my first batch of peanut butter in a one-cup food processor, and that’s when it all started."
He then teamed up with Lepak and at that point, launched the Kickstarter campaign. They had more than 200 backers who ordered about 500 jars of peanut butter. Though the commercial launch isn’t until July, Pintful, which is manufactured in Wisconsin, can be pre-ordered on their website right now.
They eventually want to expand to grocery retailers, especially those in Milwaukee, like Metcalfe's and Woodman’s. They also hope to sell Pintful on Amazon and in Whole Foods.
Pintful isn’t the only high-protein peanut butter on the market. Protein-packed foods have been a popular diet trend recently as more people are switching to plant-based regimens.
Nuts’n More and Naturally More also have significant amounts of protein in them, with 12 and 10 grams per serving, respectively. But Pintful’s founders say their product not only has as much protein, but is also made with all organic and vegan ingredients.
“Everyone is a lot more informed about what’s actually good for them and what’s not,” Laird said. "You can easily find scientific studies that will help guide you along your health and fitness journey. Having that information readily available is making everyone more conscious about what they eat and what they're using to fuel their body."
