Raw Magic: Witzi's Granola

Amy Witzigreuter's youngest child was only seven days old when she and her husband learned that their little boy would require a liver transplant before he turned one, and a kidney transplant sometime after that.

With his gastrointestinal issues, it soon became clear that he was unable to tolerate many foods, so Amy rose to the challenge of preparing food that he actually could eat and that the rest of the family would enjoy. It took a lot of trial and error and many failures, but Amy kept at it, ultimately creating favorite recipes that were hits with her immediate family and friends and relatives as well.

The biggest hit of all was her granola, a unique and healthful blend of organic nuts, seeds and fruits. Amy uses the same basic recipe today in her line of Witzi's Raw Granola, which is 100 percent plant-based and free of gluten, grain, dairy, corn, sugar alcohols, or added oils.  The nuts are presoaked and dehydrated slowly at low temperatures instead of baked in hot ovens.

She launched the business in 2018 with the mission of providing job skills training to students with autism. In this episode, hear about the lessons Amy learned on the way to becoming an entrepreneur, including perseverance and empathy, and the importance of trusting yourself. 

Her Cleveland, Ohio-based business has grown a lot in its five years of existence. To order one or more of Witzi's seven flavors, visit the company online. Right now, the granola also is available in 60 stores in Northeast Ohio and Columbus.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to The Gale Hill Radio Hour!

The show is available in Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify and other podcast directories. Also on Substack and YouTube; Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Transcript

[00:00:25.410] - Kate

Hello, and welcome to The Gale Hill Radio Hour. I’m your host Kate Jones, here with Amy Witzigreuter, the creator of a healthy granola that's been on the market since 2018. Welcome to the show, Amy!

[00:00:37.930] - Amy

Thank you for having me.

[00:00:39.870] - Kate

Well, you know that I'm a big fan of Witzi's Raw Granola. I can't count how many bags I've purchased.

[00:00:49.610] - Amy

That is true.

[00:00:50.660] - Kate

Just one of those things! So if you would, please talk about how Witzi’s is different from a lot of granolas out there.

[00:01:01.330] - Amy

Well, the biggest difference is that our product is mostly nuts and not oats, and we use fruits and seeds and spices, so it's different from that perspective. It's also soaked and dehydrated, which is very rare, and we like to think that distinguishes us from all the other granolas.

[00:01:28.990] - Kate

Okay. And no added sugar, right?

[00:01:34.110] - Amy

So we do add a little maple syrup. No sugar alcohols, no highly processed sugars, no added oil. And all organic ingredients.

[00:01:45.500] - Kate

And it's not too sweet. Even the Chocolate Honeyberry, which I have a bag of right here. You'd think a chocolate flavored thing would be sweet, but it's just perfect. It's just not too sweet at all.

[00:02:03.750] - Amy

Yeah, we like to think that the spices and the fruits speak for themselves. So a little salt and sweetness help enhance those already fabulous flavors.

[00:02:17.600] - Kate

Yeah, definitely. So when did you start making your own granola? And why?

[00:02:25.470] - Amy

So I started making it in 2008, 2007 or eight. And I began making it because my son had a lot of health issues and I was determined to find healthy foods for him to eat. So when he was born, he had medical issues from the start and had two organ transplants. And even after he was functioning fine, from a liver perspective, he just could not tolerate a lot of foods and had just a lot of GI issues. So when we started to learn more about gluten and the intolerance to gluten, it seemed very clear that this is what was happening. And at that time, there wasn't that much knowledge about gluten free. There weren't gluten-free sections in the grocery store. There were no functional medicine doctors putting people on elimination diets like they do today. So it was really kind of navigating based on intuition and experimenting. So when we started to remove gluten and other highly processed foods and some other allergens, his belly settled down. And not only that, a lot of other things changed for the better. So I was just busy in the kitchen. I had an interest in creating snacks that were healthy.

[00:04:06.570] - Amy

And what I was finding in the stores had too much sugar, had gluten, a lot of ingredients that I don't even know how to pronounce. And I just wasn't going to use those as nutrient-dense options for my son because they were not. So I just started experimenting with soaking nuts and seeds and drying things in a dehydrator on my kitchen countertop and trying to come up with healthy snacks. And a lot of things didn't work out. I had a lot of failed recipes that I shared with my family, but the granola was a hit. And it wasn't just for people that were avoiding common allergens and gluten. It was a hit with everybody. So people loved it. And so I would make large batches and share it with friends and family. And I did that for years. And I always did kind of wonder, why isn't anybody making their granola this way, the way it should be made? But it wasn't until many years later that I put that all together. But that's really why: It was for my son. It was to give our family an alternative healthy snack that tasted good, which was also hard to do because at the time, any healthy food wasn't always good.

[00:05:36.860] - Amy

Some of the bars that were out there weren't very flavorful or had just horrible aftertastes. So this was easy because it tasted great. It was just a real food.

[00:05:48.400] - Kate

It took some trial and error, though, didn't it?

[00:05:53.560] - Amy

Yes, quite a bit. It sure did.

[00:05:54.320] - Kate

Were you working full time outside the home?

[00:05:58.770] - Amy

So I wasn't. At that time, I had worked for eight years in medical sales, and then I stayed home after my second son and expected I'd go back. And when my youngest was born with health issues, that was totally derailed because we were in and out of hospital so much and it was clear that that was not an option. So I didn't go back to work until many years later, once he was sort of stable.

[00:06:33.010] - Kate

Okay, so you kind of thought that somebody should do this: make this kind of snack or granola, but what spurred you on toward creating a business?

[00:06:49.970] - Amy

Well, so I did end up going back to work, and it was a very stressful environment and job and travel, and it just didn't feel like it was something that was resonating with me. I felt like there was more that I should be doing. I didn't know what it was, but I just knew that there was more. And I'd always wondered and still made the granola and thought, there's so many brands, food brands popping up. I mean, you see it all over the place, new foods and stuff on “Shark Tank.” And I was really sort of ready for a challenge, and I thought I could do more with it. I knew I could make a better granola, but I thought I could do more with it and involve our family in some way that would be really meaningful and long term. So that's what I did. I formed an LLC and just began to test it and learn about sourcing and get feedback from people. And one thing led to another, and people loved it. I mean, people loved it, and I was really pleased with that. And then it was just a matter of how I make this affordable because organic nuts and seeds and fruits are not inexpensive, and it would definitely stand out from other granolas if it was four times the cost.

[00:08:28.210] - Amy

But I was ready. It was time. I feel like all of the experiences I had leading up to the formation of the business were in my life for a reason and were kind of all coming together. So it just felt so right.

[00:08:44.790] - Kate

You have taken a really hard situation, your son's health issues, and have figured out how to help others — help him and help others. So what have you learned and how have you grown over these past years?

[00:09:00.350] - Amy

Well, it's so satisfying to be doing something that is meaningful. Now, I'm not saying my other jobs weren't meaningful or there wasn't some value, but this is different. This is so personal. And I think food is so important, and I've seen it firsthand change my son's life and our family too. So it's so rewarding to do good and put good out there. And it just motivates me to want to continue figuring things out and growing it in a way that's also going to be able to help more people and not just from a food perspective, but in other ways too.

[00:09:42.460] - Kate

Yes. You have a great mission with Witzi's Raw Granola, and it has to do with autism. Would you talk about that?

[00:09:51.790] - Amy

Yeah, sure. When I think back on my life, there's some big moments for sure, but the two biggest ones were when my son was seven days old and we knew he was going to need … we were told he was going to need a liver transplant before he was one and a kidney transplant at some point. And that was a huge, pivotal moment. I mean, nobody wants to hear that. Nobody expects to hear that ever.

[00:10:22.790] - Kate

And you had a regular, actually an easier pregnancy than your other two pregnancies?

[00:10:28.430] - Amy

Yes, it was great. It was great. I was involved in an exercise and pregnancy study with my best friend who was due at the same time as me, and we were monitored all the way through and everything was fine. He was born on time. The other two were late. I could hardly believe what they were telling me when we heard this news. And then two and a half years later was the moment when life would never be the same. And that was when he was diagnosed with autism. And having been a parent already, we knew there was something going on. And we had a lot of experts around us, these teams of people saying, give him time. He's had a very medically involved life. This is challenging for kids, but they typically catch up. Give them time, give them time. But my instincts and my gut was telling me there's more. And it took a few different physicians before we heard that he had autism, and I will never forget that moment either. And it was just a matter of like, well, now what do we do? But we found the Cleveland Clinic Center for Autism.

[00:11:50.920] - Amy

It was life-changing and continues to be. And I could never imagine him being a teenager. I would see the older students going inside the school and I thought, oh my God, I can't imagine. Can't imagine. Kept thinking that he would catch up and he'd go back to the district at some point because he'd catch up. And as time went by, he was not catching up. And he has a lot of skills, but he has a lot of impairment too. So then the challenge. First fear. Then there's a plan. Always first it's you're afraid and then you put a plan together, and you're not so afraid. But it was: what is going to happen when the school-based programs go away? At some point he is going to have to find a place to work, activities to do, and where is he going to live? All these questions started bubbling up and I knew that he could learn things. It's just going to take him a lot longer than other people. So if I could create a business that would involve him, then I know that there'd always be a place for him to go. And whether it was four hours a day or four hours a week, it would be some part of his routine.

[00:13:09.720] - Amy

And he can do something that's productive and feel good about it. And it's really important to us that he's involved. And if he doesn't want to make granola or he doesn't want to stamp the bags or heat seal and this is not something he loves to do, maybe he can take those skills elsewhere and he'll learn that you have to clock in. He'll learn that you get breaks. He'll learn that you have to follow these rules. He'll learn about hair nets and gloves and schedules and going to work and leaving work, all of these things. He's learning all this stuff. It doesn't necessarily mean he wants to be passionate about making granola, but I sure would hope so. He and other students from his class come to the kitchen with their teachers and they practice all these different skills and it's just the best. When I see the van pull in and I see them come in and I watch how much they've learned and how capable they are. And they're just pure joy, it's just amazing. So it just feels really right.

[00:14:16.450] - Kate

That is wonderful. Amy. In June, you were spotlighted as a JumpStart entrepreneur. What would you like to say about that?

[00:14:27.910] - Amy

Oh, just a big shout out to JumpStart. It's just been such a great opportunity to get to know the people of the organization and work with them. And I have relied on the advisors for feedback, recommendations. They've provided funding for me to move the business along and they'll be as involved with you as you want them to be. So I learned a lot of lessons from them. Elevator pitches, cash flow. The financial component has been really big. So just really truly understanding your costs and forecasting and things like that. But not even just that. Just knowing that there's like this team of people that are willing to help and connect you to other people. And we have offshoots of this group. We have a small Women in Food group that's just forming that's been so helpful. So it just helps to stay connected to what's up and give you sort of that support and confidence that you're on the right path. They've been great.

[00:15:45.230] - Kate

It's so important to have some people at your back.

[00:15:50.050] - Amy

Exactly. You do feel sort of alone. We have a very small team, so you do it all. And I could go days without talking to anyone but people from Witzi’s and my family. So it's nice to have other people that you can bounce ideas off with.

[00:16:13.060] - Kate

For you, definitely. Well, what has changed in the five years since you've been running Witzi’s? I know you've added more flavors and I imagine more outlets. I don't know about that. And I know it's available at witzisrawgranola.com because I go there.

[00:16:34.670] - Amy

Yeah, so there have been a lot of changes. I will say the recipe hasn't changed at all. And you're right, we do have seven flavors now. We only had one at the beginning and now there are seven. We have more ways to purchase it. We're in over 60 stores in Cleveland, Akron, Columbus area and it is available on the website. There is a little presence on Amazon and that was sort of out of necessity during the pandemic when people weren't going to the grocery store. There was a little fear there. So we thought maybe we should have a presence. But that's not a huge focus of ours. But I think our operations have changed significantly. I mean, we were literally in my basement with dehydrators that you could buy on Amazon and my Cuisinart. And then we moved to a shared kitchen and then now this space, while it's not completely ours, we have a dedicated part of this building downtown that is ours. And our equipment is much bigger. There were times when we were mixing things by hand because the batches got so large. And then we got this massive mixer and our packaging, oh my gosh, has come so far.

[00:18:03.220] - Amy

We started out with these little brown bags with a teeny window, and the original ones rolled down and had a twisty to close them. They weren't heat sealed. It was definitely a homemade good. And then we moved to a bag that you could heat seal, but it was still a brown, craft-looking bag. And we were printing gobs and gobs of labels, going through tons of toner, and it was just a really hard decision to make the leap and go to a designed bag because it was so expensive. The minimums were massive and it was so expensive. So now it looks great. It doesn't look like the little homemade granola, but it really still is. It's so simple. And although we are food producers, I don't call us a manufacturer because we don't make a food. We prepare these ingredients together that are all real. You know what I mean? That's nothing highly processed. There's no ingredient that has sub ingredients. It's all real stuff. So I feel like we're food producers, not manufacturers.

[00:19:28.590] - Kate

That's a nice way of looking at it.

[00:19:32.300] - Amy

Yeah. Thank you. I mean, it's just different now. We have a couple of distributors. We're working to get some East Coast distributors. We attended a big food show in July and made a lot of connections and just learned a lot at just every level, I think. You're kind of starting over again. But it's still fun. It's still the same product. I think we are going to have to get a handle on warehousing and things like that for the ingredients. And the kids are still involved, but we're just growing, so it's just bigger. Everything is kind of bigger.

[00:20:16.630] - Kate

Well, that's good because more people are getting it and buying it and it's so worth it. It is real food and I always feel good afterward. For the record, I know you know this, but I love your two new flavors: the Chocolate Honeyberry and the Lemon Raspberry. And the lemon raspberry, I have for breakfast every morning.

[00:20:49.070] - Amy

I love them too, and it's so hard to say which one I love the most because I get asked a lot and I have them all in my pantry always, and it really is just dependent on what I'm eating. But the Lemon Raspberry was launched last year at farmers markets, as you know, and people went crazy. And I think the timing was nice too, because they had gotten to known us and it was fun to introduce something. Plus, it was summertime as it is now, and when the berries are coming into season, it just pairs really well. So we love it and we're happy about it. It's so cute. It's like bright pink.

[00:21:30.630] - Kate

Yes. And bright and fresh tasting.

[00:21:33.790] - Amy

Yeah, I think so too. The zest from the lemon is great.

[00:21:37.730] - Kate

Yes.

[00:21:38.290] - Amy

And then I think the Chocolate Honeyberry is kind of almost opposing. We launched that in the winter, and it is made with cacao, so it's like a dark chocolate. It's kind of like, I don't know, makes me feel warm. And it goes really well with a cup of cocoa. Or it can be paired with ice cream or vanilla yogurt too, but it's just deeper and richer. It's so new, people are just discovering it now.

[00:22:06.400] - Kate

Yes. It's a great snack. I can vouch for that. A good after-lunch snack.

[00:22:17.130] - Amy

Oh, that's good. Yeah. And you're right, with the low sugar because of the fiber and the fats and the carbs, it's a nice balance, so it shouldn't spike anyone's blood sugar. It's just really even quality. It's not just one of those three elements, it’s a nice balance of the three. So it's a really great healthy option.

[00:22:42.040] - Kate

Yes. So is there anything else you'd like to add?

[00:22:46.550] - Amy

Well, I think I've learned that it's important to really trust your gut — not like the actual functioning of your gut, but your intuition. I knew that I wasn't doing the right thing and I was in the wrong place. And there were signs probably all my life leading to this, that I needed to develop these skills. I needed to understand perseverance and empathy and using my voice and selling and all this stuff to get to this point. But I would say that if there is an inkling that you are not in the right place, you probably aren't. And I feel like I was living this life that was dictated by what culture expected me to be doing and that wasn't right. And this just — I keep saying it, it just feels right.

[00:23:46.170] - Kate

Yes. Trust yourself and what you're meant to do and what your purpose is.

[00:23:52.330] - Amy

Yeah, exactly.

[00:23:54.410] - Kate

I like it. Well, Amy, thank you so much for being on the show.

[00:23:59.710] - Amy

It's my pleasure, anytime.

[00:24:02.010] - Kate

Thank you. This is Kate Jones with The Gale Hill Radio Hour. Until next time. Thanks for joining us. Please share this episode with anyone who wants to try a delicious and healthful option for breakfast or a snack.