From St. John’s market to grocery stores all over

The Oat Company’s healthy snacks sold throughout Atlantic Canada

In Gower Street United Church’s commercial kitchen, entrepreneur Pat Griffin is whipping together some heavenly — and healthy — creations.

The owner of The Oat Company started out making healthy snacks at home in St. John’s, simply to share with the family as an alternative to those that relied on added sugar and artificial sweeteners.

“We just wanted to eat better,” said Griffin.

“We started making snacks, little oatmeal blends and granola — just healthy stuff.”

About six years ago, Griffin’s daughter suggested those snacks were good enough to sell at a summer market.

Today, The Oat Company’s line of oatmeal packages, bites and bars can be found in health food stores and grocery stores throughout Atlantic Canada, including more than 40 Sobeys locations in the region.

Griffin’s modus operandi is to sell food made with 100 per cent natural ingredients that are also dairy-free, gluten-free and vegan, and taste great, without needing added sugar or artificial sweeteners.

He made his first trip to a market in April 2019 at St. Thomas Church on Military Road in St. John’s, and the business grew from there.

“It was a problem we had as a family, and then I guess the entrepreneurial thinking was, well, if it’s a problem for us, maybe it’s a problem for other people,” he said.

ONE STORE AT A TIME

The brand’s push beyond Newfoundland and Labrador came about in a unique manner.

After doing well at the St. John’s Farmers’ Market, The Oat Company convinced the local Simply For Life store to stock their products. Griffin then started pitching his products, one store at a time, eventually making a successful pitch to Newfoundland-based grocery chain Colemans.

Griffin then got into Sobeys’ program for local sellers, and after they started selling The Oat Company’s products, Dominion came calling. A pitch was made to Sobeys about carrying The Oat Company throughout the Maritimes, and three months later, it was a done deal.

“The one in the Maritimes was a big one for us, because when we got the green light from Sobeys, then a distributor — which is your truck drivers, essentially — they said, sure, we’ll carry it. But we’ll also expose your product to the other 50 stores they deliver to every week.”

EXPANDING REACH

The fact he was able to show The Oat Company’s products were selling in other stores helped expand the brand’s reach throughout the region. The company now has a sales broker in Ontario and is eager to reach more customers in that massive market and elsewhere.

“In the last six months, we’ve done food shows in Halifax, in Toronto and in Vancouver. The response to the product and the opportunities coming out of it were thrilling,” Griffin said.

“We could keep growing this thing. It’s my full-time job. It’s exciting as hell growing it. It’s exciting hiring people. My daughter still works with the business — I pay her.

“It’s a lot of fun. It’s hard, too, running a small business. But I feel like what we make, there’s people looking for it. Finding those people and getting your product in front of them, it’s a blast.”

WORKING IN A CHURCH

The Oat Company moved into the commercial kitchen at Gower Street United three years ago.

Griffin, who also chairs the board responsible for the church, said he was initially working with a single blender and cutting bars himself with pizza cutters. As demand grew, the machinery got bigger and more bodies became involved.

He has one full-time employee and brings in student workers periodically, purchased additional shelving and tables as needed, and now has a flow wrap packaging machine at the church (Griffin said this purchase really helped increase capacity).

Production takes place four to five days weekly.

He has mulled over the possibility of finding a space elsewhere to move into and grow, but he reckons doing so would require tens of thousands of dollars of investment to get a space ready.

“I’ll stay here until we really, really can’t fit anymore,” he said.

ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT

Griffin had never started his own business prior to launching The Oat Company, but he did have experience working with a research and development corporation that was heavily involved with entrepreneurs and engaging with people trying out new things.

“I didn’t really see entrepreneurship or business ownership in my future say, 10 years ago, but now, I can’t imagine it any other way,” he said.

“Doing your own thing and figuring out your own problems, it’s stressful, but it’s rewarding, too.”