Nate's Raw Harvest - A Single Family Business

Here at Nate’s Raw Harvest, we take great pride in our products and the business that we have built since 2010.  When most people think of a family-owned business they often envision a single-family business with mom and dad working away while raising their children until they’re old enough to start helping out.  Everyone’s happy and it’s a warm, inviting environment to be around with solid quality products that all enjoy.

           In reality, a family-owned business is a marketing ploy aimed at persuading customers to envision the small, single-family owned business in order to convince them that their hard-earned dollars are going towards supporting that family and the growth of their business.  In reality, most family-owned businesses are very large operations with employees and lots of capital to back them up.  And yes, there is a family that owns the company, but they are long removed from making their product or putting in the “work”. This allows them to market their products or services very effectively and build the customer perception that grows their sales, therefore hurting small family businesses further and making the very real struggle of keeping their small businesses alive that much harder.

            As far as my research can tell, Nate’s Raw Harvest is THE ONLY single-family business in the sprouted, organic nut industry.  When I started Nate’s Raw Harvest in 2010 there were only three or so major producers in the entire country, no one knew what sprouted or gluten-free was, and there just wasn’t much money to be made.  I started making my hand-made organic, sprouted snacks because people need good food and I knew how to do it right. I was a single-father at the time and I had no idea what I was doing or what would come from it, but I was determined to make a product both myself and my little family could be proud of.

            Now, there are far more companies in the business of gluten-free and sprouted snacks, driven by both the increase in demand and the larger opportunity for financial gain. Many of the companies claiming to be small businesses have tainted the consumers image of exactly what that means. In truth, most of these companies have between 5 and 100 employees, are mass producing, and have access to their ingredients at a far lower cost (which should mean that their pricing is substantially lower, right?). While I believe it’s great that these companies have this ability, I do think there comes a point where transparency about their “single-family” business is essential to exposing the reality of exactly what that really is.

         Our single-family business is just that. My wife and I work side by side in production, marketing, accounting, clean-up, delivery, quality control, and customer service. We spend long hours making product, working the farmer’s markets, fulfilling orders, answering emails, consulting, delivering to and getting to know all of you amazing people that support us time and time again. We don’t have mass production or numerous employees, but what we can provide is quality, hand-made, personally-inspected products. When you have a question, there is no rerouting to your soonest available customer service rep, but instead, you are directly in touch with US. When a problem needs to be solved, we are up late hours of the night to make sure that you are as satisfied as can be and when you make a purchase with our company, your money is not just a drop in a bucket, but the roof over our head, the food on our table, and the smiles on our children’s faces throughout the year.

            I’m writing this not to put a negative light on other companies, but to instead bring to light all the wonderful things you, as a customer, can benefit from when buying from a TRUE single-family owned business. We love the ability to work not only for ourselves, but for all of you. Through this business, we’ve made great life-long friends, helped many of you find healthier alternatives to snacks, educated you on better nutrition and raised three incredible little boys to understand the value of hard work and the pride there is to be found in putting love in what you do.  Without all of you, we would not have the very blessed life I believe we do, and your continued support is what keeps us going when things get tough (as they often do with small businesses). Thank you for allowing our little family to serve yours.