Tapping into consumers’ inner child is turning out to be a solid strategy for PB&J maker Chubby Snacks. The California-based brand is on an upward track after building momentum and market demand for its better-for-you nostalgic products over the past three years. Chubby’s makes a four-SKU line of crustless sandwiches using organic wheat bread, date-sweetened jam and either peanut or almond butter. This year the brand took one of its largest leaps, however.
Over the past year, Chubby’s has seen rapid growth, moving beyond commercial kitchen production to co-packing and now, automation. As part of a switch to self-manufacturing, Chubby’s recently brought its first sandwich-making-machine online, increasing product output from 120,000 sandwiches per month to 2 million in that same timeframe. But it took time, trial and some investor dollars to get to that point. Chubby’s began building the business on handmade PB&Js, and during its three years on the market, the team has created new processes to scale up production while operating on a lean budget.
Earlier this year Chubby’s even had to pause online sales in order to allocate inventory to grocery partners. Now, between the new machine and its clean ingredient, low sugar market appeal, it's safe to say Chubby’s is on track to jumpstart its omnichannel business once again in the new year.
