Sahale Snacks co-founders Edmond Sanctis, and Josh Schroeter, who used to carry olive oil and saffron to cook fish on their hikes, spice up their six-nut mixes with everything from Moroccan harissa to lavender, balsamic vinegar and tapioca syrup.
The day after Edmond Sanctis and Josh Schroeter climbed Mount Rainier in 2003, they weren't soaking in a hot tub or getting massages. They were rummaging through Schroeter's kitchen cabinets, mixing nuts with pepper and cranberries and a host of other ingredients in a quest for better trail mix.
That's how disappointed they were by the food on their Rainier hike. After years of stocking their daypacks with cheese, salami and other treats, the pair had taken their guides' advice and brought traditional trail mix, nutrition bars and jerky for their big climb.
The letdown changed their careers.
Within months, the former TV broadcasters had spent $100,000 to form a company that was selling unusual, gourmet-style nut mixes at Leschi Market. PCC Natural Markets quickly signed up.
Just four summers after that fated Rainier climb, Sahale Snacks has nut mixes at Target, Whole Foods, airports, museums and other retailers all over the country. The founders won't say whether they have turned a profit yet, but they employ about 40 people, most of them mixing nuts at a factory south of downtown Seattle.
Their blends are pricey -- about a dollar an ounce, unless you find the 15-ounce packs at Costco for $6.99 to $8.99.
Expensive ingredients play a part. Sanctis and Schroeter, who used to carry olive oil and saffron to cook fish on their hikes, spice up their six-nut mixes with everything from Moroccan harissa to lavender, balsamic vinegar and organic tapioca syrup.
"It's a healthy indulgence," says Sanctis, sounding a lot like Starbucks' Howard Schultz. "Starbucks taught us a lot about what people will do."
Schroeter, his friend for 20 years, finishes the sentence: "if you give them a great product and a fantastic experience."
Last year, they handed out samples atop Sahale Peak, a popular spot in the North Cascades for which their company is named.
They know that a lot of people, especially outside the Northwest, can't pronounce Sahale (sa-HA-lee). The names of their nut mixes are similarly obscure, like Socorro (sic-CORE-oh), a town in central New Mexico, and Valdosta (val-DOS-ta), a town in southern Georgia.
Sanctis found names for the first four blends after looking at Microsoft's "Streets & Trips" software for 20 minutes.
"We're not too literal with anything," he said. "The customers we were thinking about would enjoy the process of discovery. The back story is part of what makes it fun."
Sahale's founders, who each have three children, say it was initially scary to sink their money into the venture. Now the company has about 20 investors, including Palladium Equity Partners in New York.
Kendall Ross, the Seattle brand-development and design firm, recently revamped Sahale's packaging, which became easier to read and features the words "nut blend." Non-nut foods are coming soon, but Sahale's founders won't say what kind.
Sahale also just hired an international sales rep, because the company wants to be so big that people around the world will know how to pronounce its name.
--Melissa Allison
Read the full article, as featured in the "Seattle Times" - June 2007
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