Good Stuff

ASHEBORO — An opportune nap led Larry Presnell to an awakening. He could produce an American icon — peanut butter.

What began as a hobby in 2022 has become a source of retirement income for him and his wife, Renee. In fact, they’re calling their Good Stuff “the best tasting, all natural peanut butter. Perhaps in the universe!”

They’re producing their peanut butter in a converted garage behind their home south of Asheboro. While they started out giving their Good Stuff jars to family and friends, they’re now selling to retail stores and online.

Larry wrote an explanation of “How we got started.”

“One late night back in early 2022, I was watching youtube in my office on how to do some sheetrock repair. After a few boring videos, I fell asleep. 

“Sometime later, I woke up to a video that had cycled around showing a lady in a kitchen making peanut butter in a food processor. She made it look quick and easy, so I decided to try it myself. 

“I ordered a 30-pound bag of peanuts to start. My first few attempts failed badly plus I burned up my wife’s food processor. The trick was to have very sharp blades and only do a very small amount at a time. 

“Since I had 30 pounds to play with, I started experimenting with different ingredients to make an all-natural peanut butter that tastes really good, not the normal cardboard taste. I ended up blowing through multiple 30-pound bags until I had what I thought was a great flavor. 

“After that, we started giving out free jars to family and friends. People liked it and started asking for more. Pretty soon there was no way to make enough using only a food processor, so we started buying some real production equipment to do larger batches much faster. 

“Up to this point we only made one flavor which was creamy. Since people like choices, we went to work to make more flavor options. Currently we have five standard varieties if you count crunchy. For the holiday season we’re offering a special flavor called Chocolate Mint Crunch. It’s our version of Peppermint Bark but even better with peanut butter.”

Except for growing, shelling, blanching and splitting the peanuts, the Presnells do everything else to turn them into peanut butter. The raw product is called high oleic and comes in 2,200-pound totes from Golden Peanut of Georgia. Larry said they’re fortunate to get single totes since the company sells their peanuts by the truckload.

A 2,200-pound tote of peanuts will last the Presnells for three or four months. That’s because they produce peanut butter in small batches.

“We roast, grind and mix the product, fill the jars, label them and put them in the fridge before shipping,” Larry said. “In a day, we’ll do about 150 jars, depending on the flavors.”

Good Stuff Peanut Butter comes in Creamy, Crunchy, Cinnamon Roll Crunch, Choco Moche and Spicy Kick. And now, the seasonal flavor for the holidays, Chocolate Mint Crunch.

The Presnells often take their peanut butter to shows and festivals, set up a tent and offer samples. “People love them and clean them out,” Larry said.

Renee added, “Usually, if they try it, they buy it. They’ll say, ‘Oh my goodness, it’s tasty too.’ ”

She explained that consumers know that all-natural peanut butter has oil separation that has to be stirred back into the solid butter. But the Presnells ship it fresh from the refrigerator before the separation has begun. “It’s very easy to stir the oil back in. But some people love the separation because they know it’s natural.”

Since they produce small batches of Good Stuff, the Presnells “cater to small businesses that don’t keep much,” Renee said. 

“And we ship more frequently,” Larry said.

He said they began trying to educate potential customers on the nutritional value of their peanut butter. “But only a few of them care. So we simplified our pitch.”

But they take pride in using peanuts that contain more of the heart-healthy “good” fat compared to regular peanut butter. That oil content, Larry said, “roasts up to have a nuttier flavor.”

All the added ingredients are natural, such as Vermont maple syrup, salt and other flavors.

“Larry spent a lot of time figuring out the ingredients,” Renee said. “Our four (adult) children were our taste testers. They’ve been great to help us out.”

“The Cinnamon Roll Crunch started with a very small sample that I tried to dial in,” Larry said. “Then I did a large-scale batch, and went back and tweaked it.

“The roaster came with zero instructions,” he said of the production-sized model. “I had to figure it out and they’re a small window (time-wise). The temperature drops when you dump the peanuts in and you have to build the heat back up. If it’s over-roasted, it has a burnt taste. 

“I’ve gotten good at it,” he said. “I’m pretty comfortable doing it. Any waste goes to feed the wildlife, but there's not a lot of spoilage now.”

Renee said the future of Good Stuff Peanut Butter is looking up. “We hope to expand sometime. It’s a simple process.”

Larry was more practical: “It started out as a hobby but we’ve spent a lot of money, so we had to make it work.”

Retail Stores in Randolph County that sell Good Stuff

Archdale

Cabin Fever Soap Company

Asheboro

Little Mustard Seed Boutique (formerly Blessed Boutique)

Picket Fence Interiors and Gifts

Salyer Chiropractic Clinic

Samson and the Lion

The Maker and Merchant at Asheboro Mall

Upstyled Goods and Salon in downtown Asheboro

Franklinville

Millboro and Co.

Randleman

Main Street Market and Gallery

Seagrove

B3 Artisan Wares and Studio

There are also Good Stuff stores in Troy, Thomasville, High Point, Greensboro, Lexington, Welcome, Midway and Hickory, for a total of 24.

Good Stuff Peanut Butter can be found online at www.goodstuffpb.com. There, you can find a store locator or place an order as a gift, which includes a note card with your short message and ship it directly to the recipient. They also offer discounts for corporate gift giving.

In addition to the normal 16-ounce jars, they offer a variety pack called a “Try-Pack.” You can pick any combination of three flavors from the standard varieties. The Try-Pack has three 9-ounce jars in a custom gift box. People buy this just to try different flavors. The Try-Pack is only available through the website.